Although you might have seen it already, here’s a great picture of 2013′s biggest releases, divided by their console/PC debuts, from internet user KingNL. This picture just encompasses releases on consoles and PC — no portables involved.

Right now, 2013 is looking like a great year for multiplatform convergence, and PC games in general. Just look at the staggering amount of PC games already announced for this year.

Of course, we’ll most likely see many more exclusives on the 360, PS3, and Nintendo side of things this E3, but as it stands, it’s a great time to be a PC gamer, and PC gaming in general is far from “dead.”

Get your wallets ready!

source Destructoid

Today is an exciting day for the Wii U — it’s actually getting something new! Balloon Fight has hit the eShop for 30 cents, and it has full GamePad support and fully customizable controls.

Ok, so a 30 year old game re-release it isn’t actually new, and the Wii U eShop still has no unique non-multiplatform releases since week one, but I’m just glad Nintendo broke the silence on the Wii U Virtual Console.

As for everything else, the Wii U eShop is getting The Cave, and a full Funky Barn download. The 3DS is getting Cocoto Alien Brick Breaker, a Brain Age: Concentration Training demo, Tom Clancy’s Ghost Recon Shadow Wars, and Super C.

I’ll always remember Super C as the first game my wife and I played together, when we met many years ago.

If you missed last week’s installment, here it is.

As for what I’m getting, I already have The Cave on PC, but I’ve already bought Balloon Fight (it works great!), and I’ll be picking up Super C later for nostalgic purposes.

source Destructoid

This has been a long time in the coming. The marvelous localization masters at XSEED have seen fit to bring Pandora’s Tower to North America this Spring. While that’s awfully vague, a GameStop listing has a more specific date in mind. According to the retail behemoth, this hotly anticipated action role-player will be available March 26th, 2013 for $39.99. Oh and they’re taking pre-orders, because of course they are.

That’s far from an official confirmation, mind you. Retailer listings aren’t always correct and dates certainly are subject to change. That said, these types of things generally have a ring of truth to them.

GameStop – Pandora’s Tower preorder page open [GoNintendo]

source Destructoid

An hour after taking the stage to unveil Disney Infinity, “Disney’s most ambitious video game initiative ever” (a press release states), I sat down with Avalanche Studios chief creative officer John Blackburn to discuss where Pixar’s influence meets his own kids’ influence on this massive undertaking.

We discussed the difference between platforms, the difficulties of making a sandbox to play in, and what kids like to do with their toys.

Does watching your kids play affect your work?

When we went out to Pixar the first time — this was for Toy Story 3 — they did a short 20-min presentation on what the storyline for Toy Story 3 would be and in that there was a little bit of Andy playing with his toys. When we left, we started looking at how our own kids play. Particularly my kids. They play this game where they have their castle, they have their stuffed animals, and they got these Geomags that they put together The animals come out and attack the castle, and then these Geomags become cages for these animals they got, but they also then bring completely different toys as they play.

It’s a type of game they play, but they are creating a new story every time they do it. Our idea behind this — in watching them — was like, most of the gameplay is in the setup of this. They set up this huge thing in their mind, and they are telling each other about the setup as they go, and we are like, if we can get to that, that’s what they are actually enjoying. Before they knock everything over, it’s that moment when they are creating this new scenario that they get to play.

Did you design this game thinking, “This is what my kids will enjoy?” or, “This is what I would enjoy playing with them?”

It’s a little bit of both. When we first started working with [Pixar CCO] John Lasseter, we pitched him an idea, “You know, we are going to put in some more girl-based gameplay in here,” and he’s like, “No, no, no! Go make gameplay that you guys want to play!” So we got into this whole philosophy like the guys at Pixar who are like, “We make movies for ourselves. We don’t make movies for a demographic in mind. We make a movie we want to see, and kids happen to enjoy those. The reason it’s funny to parents is because it’s a movie for us. Now go do the same thing here. That’s how you’re going to be successful. Go make a game that you want to play that is deep enough that you want to play and make it easy enough for kids to play too.”

And so, we feel like we are going out on two different levels here. As a parent, I love making content that I can play with my kid, so that’s really what we have in mind. I want to be having fun while they are having fun. We are doing two different things, but that’s what makes it special.

For multiplayer, do you have any sort of systems that will guide players and tell them “you might get along with this person”?

We don’t do matchmaking on the online portion of the game. This is something that is potentially a safety concern. As a parent and a consumer, I want to know when my child goes to play this, they will be safe. We only allow players to play with people already on their friends list that already know you. There will be no generic matchmaking.

How are you going to moderate what gets uploaded? Are there any hard rules?

There are absolutely hard rules. There are two different things: There is safety, but we also think about appropriateness in content. That’s what we are really concerned about when someone submits something to us. You cannot share something with your friend unless you are in a room with a friend, sharing it with them at that point in time. We really can’t moderate content in that way. It is cool because it’s drop-in, drop-out. You can create something for an hour, invite to a room, and then boom. I’m there and we download the whole thing. It’s very easy to share.

But when you are talking about “I saved a file and I’m going to try to share that experience,” that will go through a moderating process with Disney and us. We go through and moderate those things. We are looking at this more as a curative content process, where we display the best content and give back to the community. So there will be an ever-expanding body of content there, but the idea behind that is appropriate for a Disney audience.

One of the fun things about Halo‘s Forge mode is that you can kind of break the game, mess with the physics and such. How did you approach limiting or not limiting what players can do in Toy Box?

When we designed it, there was definitely a lot of inspiration that came out of some of those other experiences. I mean, Halo 4 was actually one of the ones where it was amazing that my kids could play it for hours and yet they really don’t have anything in mind — they aren’t trying to build a level. They are exploring what you can do. That’s really the same kind of mentality you get into with this, so we’ve gone back and forth in the design process in how restrictive we want to be. Should we go more toward usability and restrictiveness, or should we go towards free play and let you get yourself in a tough spot that may be harder to get out of — we’ve actually gone in that direction.

We think it’s more fun. In a way, causing that problem is sometimes the objective. My kids would sometimes grab me and say, “Oh dad, watch this. it’s really cool that you can do this.” A total bug, but it was fun. The goal is to be entertained. At the end of the day, we want you to play the way you want to play. So we really want to reduce the number of rules.

A developer demoing Toy Box mode was telling me that he enjoys it because he’s good at the game and he can create real difficult levels with it, as opposed to the more elementary story missions.

It’s funny because we both watch kids play and then we play ourselves. We go through and as adults, nine times out of ten, we have these conflicts that get going between people, but you lose track of your objective really quickly. If we go in and tell kids go build a castle together, some kids that are rule-followers will go build it, but then there will be some other kid that is like, “Look at all this crap you can pull out of the Toy Box!” and [they] start bringing those things out and experimenting with them, and that’s part of the fun too. That’s part of why you are building a big toy collection: How many things can you bring, and how many experiences can you have playing with them? I really feel like it’s a kind of new gameplay pattern I haven’t seen at this level before. Forge had it a little bit, but that wasn’t the intention behind Forge. This actually is the intention. The sky is the limit. Let’s see how many things we can do.

Can you detail how the mobile and handheld versions will differ?

The 3DS is a very different experience. They memory can’t handle all that stuff, so technologically we couldn’t do the same thing there. It’s more of a game you expect on a 3DS: You build teams with characters and they each have a mini-game that comes along with them. You can go and build out the different play fields that you’ll go through with your team, so there is a strategy component when you play with someone else. The mobile versions are actually more attuned to touch controls. We aren’t ready to share that yet, but it will be tied to the economy and the experience with all the characters you have. We’ll leave that it at that.

PC version will be the same, but you use web codes to unlock.

With Lucas and Marvel, is there anything down the line and will there ever be a non-Disney collaboration?

This is my favorite question as a developer [laughs]. I hope so! There have been discussions about that, but it’s above my level in the company. Everyone looks at this and says, “Wow, you can add a whole bunch of cool stuff in here,” but we need to make sure it’s right for the brands, right for the players, and right for everyone that loves those properties too.

source Destructoid

I got more than a little excited during the opening cutscene of Skyward Sword when Zelda started singing “Ballad of the Goddess.” With an actual voice! The lyrics were gibberish, meant to represent whatever pre-Hylian language the Skyloft people spoke, but it was still beautiful. And then she never sings again! The hell is this!?

Nintendo may not want to give us an extended vocal version of “Ballad of the Goddess,” but the super adorable composer of Plants vs. Zombies, Laura Shigihara, is more than happy to take a crack at it. She lays down a piano track, makes up some fake Japanese-sounding words, and bada bing bada boom!

Take that, Nintendo!

Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword – Ballad of the Goddess (vocal remix) [YouTube]

source Destructoid

“Out with the old, in with the new,” as they say. Capcom is getting ready to launch Monster Hunter 3 Ultimate, and in return, they’re shutting down the servers for the Wii’s Monster Hunter Tri on April 30th.

You’ll have six weeks after the launch of Monster Hunter 3 Ultimate. Six weeks to get your shi*t together, and prepare for the inevitable transition.

I feel for all of you who are still playing, as Monster Hunter Tri was one of the best online Wii games out there.

Whether the move is to legitimately cut costs or force people to play the new game is unknown, but April 30th will be a sad day, nonetheless.

Yuri (Dubindoh) [Capcom Unity]

source Destructoid

Yes, finally! I’ve been waiting quite some time for the US re-release of Kirby’s Star Stacker (3DS eShop), and now it’s finally upon us.

As for everything else, it’s not a whole lot this week. There’s a free demo for Fire Emblem Awakening (3DS eShop), Disney/Pixar Finding Nemo Escape to the Big Blue (3DS eShop), Deer Drive Legends (3DS eShop), and the Amazon Instant Video update for the Wii.

Lastly, Tokyo Crash Mobs finally hits the 3DS, which fans have been waiting on for quite some time.

If you missed last week’s installment, here it is. As for what I’m getting, I’m already working on a Fire Emblem: Awakening review (otherwise I’d get the demo), and I’m pretty excited for Kirby’s Star Stacker. It’ll come in handy when I plan my Kirby Quest.

source Destructoid

XSEED has announced that it plans to bring Pandora’s Tower to North American Wiis in Spring 2013. The game was one of the three Wii RPGs Nintendo of America refused to localize, alongside The Last Story and Xenoblade. 

“It’s fantastic to be bringing such a highly-anticipated title like Pandora’s Tower to such a vocal fan base,” said XSEED boss-guy Shinichi Suzuki, President. “North American gamers have been very patient in waiting for this game to be released, and we’re confident they will be pleased when they get their hands on the title.”

More launch details are coming soon, according to the publisher. 

With the Wii U having been out for a while, I must admit I’d totally forgotten about this final installment in the Wii trinity. Well, good. Good for us!

source Destructoid

If you could somehow combine the addictiveness of micro-transactions with the uncertainty of card packs, you’d probably make a lot of money. Disney is going to make a lot of money. Just a hunch.

In June, Disney Infinity, Avalanche Studios’ ambitious, non-linear sandbox with self-contained linear campaigns (confusing, no?) will come to consoles, PC, handhelds, and mobile devices.

PS3, Xbox 360, Wii, and Wii U will be near identical, but there is no plan for cross-play between platforms at this time. PC will follow suit, but codes (purchased online) will take the place of the Infinity base reader, figurines (characters), and discs (buffs, mounts, etc.).

The 3DS version will be a much different game with a focus on strategy and building a team of characters, each having their own mini-game that adds to a level. The mobile release, which may come before the other releases, will be a different game that ties into the economy and character progression of the console versions.

Here’s how much the game and its various attachments will cost:

Starter Pack (3 figures, reader base, and game): $74.99
Play Set Pack (basically a level hub and campaign, think DLC): $34.99
Disney Infinity Figure: $12.99
Figure 3-Pack: $29.99
Power Disc Pack (blind purchases): $4.99

Players may also be interested to hear that online play will only be possible with those already on a player’s friends list, in an attempt to safeguard children from the twisted Dtoid commenters of the world. You also probably shouldn’t count on your private penis palace to make it past the moderation process when you upload a level, even if Disney can get away with it.

source Destructoid

There’s not a lot I remember about the rampant imagination of childhood, but most of the good memories came from the depths of my toy chest. Pitting Aliens against Transformers. Imagining Cloud Strife’s sword slicing through Foxhound’s ranks. On occasion, a friend would come over and contribute to the chaos until it ended with crying, a fight, and a broken yet replaceable (but totally irreplaceable in my eight-year-old mind) figurine.

This basis of mashing properties together is probably why we have M.U.G.E.N, Girl Talk, and comic book crossovers. There is something forbidden and alluring about bringing together things that were conceived in different worlds. So when Disney Interactive brings together its movies, TV shows, and Pixar hits this summer for Infinity and provides an allotted virtual space for play, will it be like the messy, epic battles that once happened on my living room floor? Or will it feel like a cash grab riding on the coattails of Skylanders?

Disney Infinity (3DS, PC, PlayStation 3, Mobile, Wii , Wii U, Xbox 360)
Developer: Avalanche Software
Publisher: Disney Interactive
Release: June 2013

Here’s a general rule I have when previewing a game, one that investors (only the ones who play games) would be wise to adopt: If I have to use more than three games as a basis of comparison to describe an upcoming title, then it’s something special but not necessarily something good. A game that does everything yet pleases no one is an ambitious mess. With only a limited demo and no hands-on time, I can’t accurately state where Infinity falls between these two extremes — one being a fun creative stroke of innovation and the other an incomprehensible turd — but that the explanation doesn’t begin and end with “Skylanders rip-off” is an achievement in and of itself.

(For the short version of what makes Infinity special, jump to **** below.)

I’m glad I’m not doing PR for this game

It’s awesome that long-standing Disney developer Avalanche Software isn’t settling for a Skylanders clone. It’s also awesome that it’s not my job to sell this game and ensure its success. A 45-minute presentation for a family title should be overkill, but it felt as if Disney only scraped the surface during Infinity’s reveal at Los Angeles’s El Capitan Theater, leaving many questions unanswered and seemingly deep aspects only teased.

Though the game can only be played co-op with players on your friends list, there are some MMO roots to Infinity‘s design:

1. The game is composed of isolated, property-specific worlds.
2. Emphasis is placed on unlocking gear and attire.
3. You acquire new stuff through real-world purchases (though it doesn’t follow the traditional pay-for-currency model of MMOs)
4. Participation ranges from hand-to-hand combat to exploring a large area by boat.

Perhaps MMO is the wrong genre to compare it to, but there certainly isn’t a right one. Hack ‘n slash action in the world of Pirates of the Caribbean, creeping across campus in a Monster University stealth mission, platforming across a series of death traps a friend uploaded, trying to break the game’s physics with three friends in Toy Box mode — you can’t explain Infinity‘s design any easier than you can explain how children play with their toys. It begins with emptying out every single thing onto the bedroom floor, G.I. Joes prodding out from beneath the sprawl of Ninja Turtles and Smurfs figurines, hoping something fun will follow.

Where to begin

No two players may have the same takeaway from Infinity, but all players will experience the same beginning. The intro opens with Jack Sparrow — re-stylized in the pastel colors, saucer eyes, and vaguely Korean character design look that graces all Disney characters in Infinity — rowing a boat through a pirate town under cannonball fire. After accepting a mission quest to rescue Gibbs, Infinity throws a series of tried-and-true mechanics at you: ground pound for an area-of-effect attack, cling and jump along ledges, fire a pistol at a locked gate, and always, always, always follow the big persistent purple arrow. To be fair, the game has a tasteful HUD that hides elements and contextualizes them in the world, such as a Blur-like health bar that temporarily appears around the player.

Upon rescuing Gibbs, you are offered other islands and worlds to explore. Completion rewards the player with a ship for purchase in the toy kiosk at the center of town, a constant landmark across the game’s worlds. With the coins acquired from defeating enemies and hitting the crap out of barrels, one mighty pirate ship can be purchased and boarded. From there, you can jump into a different section of the game (Pirates, The Incredibles, and Monsters University were shown off), play around in Toy Box, or customize your seaworthy vessel with items you acquired from red capsules hidden throughout. A new sail here, a fresh coat of paint there, and you’re ready to island hop or have a naval battle. If a friend happens to join you, they can help man the cannons or go on their own adventure elsewhere in the world (without breaking the split-screen play).

The Disney chokehold

This is the company that had the government rewrite copyright law so it can hold onto its empire until the Earth enters the next ice age. While I can’t say I ever met an unhappy Disney employee, the company itself has a habit of biting its own tail, and this is perfectly on display in Infinity. Avalanche Studios seems to be wholly content and grateful to be tied to such an ambitious project after many years of making games timed to movie releases. For an outsider, it wasn’t hard to tell that Avalanche isn’t being given the keys to the kingdom. I also get the sense it isn’t being given the trust or freedom it needs to make Infinity a home run success, either.

Looking beyond the elephant in the room (i.e. “Will Marvel or Lucas characters appear in the game?” Avalanche developers smiling, nodding, and saying, “We’ll see.”), it’s baffling that Infinity‘s main concept is bringing the many worlds of Pixar and Disney together, yet no mission in the game will allow characters from another property to enter. There is an argument to be made that Monsters Inc. characters entering Pirates in the Caribbean may be out of character and a ham-fisted maturation of the property. That argument can be ended by pointing out that anything and everything is possible with the game’s assets in Toy Box (read on below).

If Disney was hoping I wouldn’t notice the almost complete absence of classic Disney animated characters and expected that platypus from TV series Phineas and Ferb to fit right in with Pirates of the Caribbean and Toy Story, Disney is mistaken. So far, appearances from animated Disney films has been limited to minor aspects in the game world that can be applied in Toy Box. These range from the mundane (the Cave of Wonder’s tiger entrance from Aladdin) to the fantastic (can I get a heck yeah for the inclusion of Tron‘s Recognizers?).

Moderating player uploads and limiting players to only connecting with those on their friends list are to be expected. Limiting Avalanche’s Toy Box, and in effect the player’s, to only recent Disney CG properties — really, who wants Bolt and Frankenweenie before The Lion King and Mulan? — makes it appear as if Disney doesn’t have a great deal of confidence in Avalanche to handle its top-tier properties, and it makes me wonder why. More importantly, it makes me wonder if the game will feel incomplete upon release, not fully making good on its grand concept of representing a child’s play box where CHARACTERS from DIFFERENT PROPERTIES can PLAY TOGETHER. Right?

Perhaps the rest is yet to come in a conveniently timed to E3 reveal. Let’s hope.

Once more into the toy chest

I don’t have kids, I don’t adopt kids, I don’t kidnap kids, and I don’t have any young relatives or siblings. I am part of a demographic that isn’t Disney’s bread and butter. The same can be said of most game journalists, which is probably why Disney offered beer by the crate and dessert at 10am during the event. Such indulgent treats weren’t necessary when Avalanche has an ace up its sleeve with Toy Box.

****Hey, you found your way down here. Good to see you again!****

Whether the included linear missions and secluded worlds are the origin or late additions of Infinity, it is Toy Box that realizes the game’s namesake. Inspired by Avalanche’s previous work on Toy Story 3, Infinity‘s revamped Toy Box mode is a hodgepodge of popular commercial level building sets. It’s “Disney Forge” mode. It’s “LittleDisneyPlanet.” It’s “Disneycraft.” It’s all those things and whatever else players will make it to be.

At its simplest, Toy Box is a place where three players can join online and goof around, settle “What if?” scenarios between Mr. Incredible and Buzz Lightyear, build impossible obstacle courses, or construct a world that can be called home out of parts from 20+ Disney franchises. At its most complex, Toy Box can become a toolset that allows players to create puzzles via a logic editor that connects triggers to the environment, reposition the camera to make a traditional 2D side-scrolling platformer, or recreate Bowser’s Castle from Mario Kart for others to race on.

Toy Box is the one place where all of Infinity‘s items, art assets, and heroes come together to form a virtual space for kids to break, explore, build, and share. Combine all this with plans to run community contests, like one centered around building the craziest castle, and introductory templates and blueprints to ease players in, and Infinity has a real chance of presenting lessons learned from Halo’s Forge mode, Minecraft, and LittleBigPlanet to a younger and possibly wider audience.

And all of this for the price of …

SCUMBAG GAME JOURNALIST turns to developer, who is explaining how to spend coins to purchase in-game items, and says with a smirk, “So, you can also buy those coins with real world money, right?”

“No.”

That would be too obvious for Disney, which has a far more insidious plan. If Disney’s plan comes together, it could create a perfect storm that will make the Elmopocalypse of 1997, Furbygeddon of 1998, and Skylanders drought of 2011 look like small footnotes in hungry-consumers-turned-stampeding-angry-parents history.

Here’s how you do it: You take Skylander‘s base reader and well-crafted figurine collectibles, then you add a third slot to the reader (the second slot is for a second player) which unlocks items, custom packs, buffs, and abilities, and finally — this one is the real kicker — you offer those franchise-specific tokens through blind purchase packs that leave kids frustrated over getting Frankenweenie for the fifth time and parents without any money to spend on Grandma come Christmas time. Like I said, it’s insidious but not without a dash of genius on top.

Whether you think it’s better or worse than a pay-to-play structure, this aspect of collectible tokens and figurines brings the whole toy box concept full circle. Kids at playgrounds will make sacred trades, covet the impossibly rare Howard the Duck costume pack (not real), and become increasingly giddy each time they spill out the contents of their virtual toy chest onto their private play space — one that may contain the iconic Disney castle in the background and Wreck-It Ralph‘s Sugar Rush track in the foreground. But it’s also a space where memories can be made, not unlike the ones I made on a living room floor, once upon a time.

Just don’t expect to see Ariel make out with a facehugger.

source Destructoid