Some of the world's best Dota 2 players are doing battle at Valve's The International esports tournament, but they may need some more practice when they get home. That's because the company just announced it will add two more characters soon in its "The Dueling Fates" update. Neither hero has a name yet, but in the preview trailer the first attacked enemies both by rolling over them Sonic the Hedgehog-style and with a sword, while the other one flew in on fairy wings before releasing a minion to attack.

Source: Dota 2 (Twitter)

Even though we've kept up with Swery65 in the years since D4: Dark Dreams Don't Die and Deadly Premonition, it feels like it's been far too long since we've been able to talk about an active, in-production game from the director. The opportunity to do exactly that is fast approaching at PAX.

During the PAX Prime panel "Coffee Time With Swery65" on Saturday, September 2, we'll get to hear Hidetaka Suehiro discuss his first new game in three years. And, better yet, there's this:

"I will have a cup of coffee at the talk, so please bring your cup of coffee as well. When you first come up to ask me a question, I'll ask you about what kind of coffee you like. I don't care who you are, if you don't love coffee like I love coffee, I'll ask you to leave. (Pending policy approval from PAX management)."

With a description like that, I've got to set some time aside Saturday afternoon.

Swery65 [Twitter]

If you're a PC gamer and your wallet is still intact after the various summer sales from multiple digital retailers, we've got great news for you: there's yet another sale this week! Starting earlier this week, Bundle Stars kicked off a two-week long sales fest with titles from Sega, Warner Bros., 2K, and everything else in between.

While there are over hundreds of titles on tap (which you can check out here), we've picked out the top deals thus far to make your life easier. Note that the sale runs until August 21 but some select titles below will expire earlier. Make sure you use the 10% coupon listed below at Bundle Stars to get the prices listed below.

Goodies include the always excellent SEGA Mega Drive and Genesis Classics collection for only $13.39 (a new low price), and Atari Vault for only $3 and change. There's also new low price on Resident Evil 7 and if you still don't have Civilization VI, the game is on tap for almost half-off. (To be honest at this point you might as well wait for Civilization VI Complete.) You'll also find dirt-cheap Shadow of Mordor GOTY at only $3.59, Tropico 5 Complete for $5.39, and Jackbox Party 3 for $11.24.

Use coupon: SUMMER10

Top Offers

• Sid Meier’s Civilization VI Digital Deluxe (Steam) — $43.19  (list price $80)
• Sid Meier’s Civilization VI (Steam) — $32.39  (list price $60)
• Resident Evil 7 (Steam) — $29.69  (list price $60)
• SEGA Mega Drive and Genesis Classics — $13.39  (list price $62)
• Alien: Isolation Collection (Steam) — $10.79  (list price $50)
• Batman: Arkham Knight Premium Edition (Steam) — $8.99  (list price $40)
• Batman: Arkham VR (Steam) — $8.99  (list price $20)
• S.T.A.L.K.E.R. Complete Bundle (Steam) — $8.99  (list price $40)
• Tropico 5: Complete Collection (Steam) — $5.39  (list price $40)
• Middle-Earth: Shadow of Mordor GOTY (Steam) — $3.59  (list price $20)
• Atari Vault (Steam) — $3.05  (list price $10)
• Skullgirls (Steam) — $1.34  (list price $10)

More Bundel Stars Summer Sale Deals

• XCOM 2: Digital Deluxe (Steam) — $24.97  (list price $75)
• XCOM 2 (Steam) — $19.97  (list price $60)
• Quantum Break (Steam) — $17.99  (list price $40)
• The Jackbox Party 3 (Steam) — $11.24  (list price $25)
• Borderlands: The Pre-Sequel (Steam) — $10.07  (list price $40)
• Day of Infamy (Steam) — $9.89  (list price $20)
• Mortal Kombat XL (Steam) — $8.99  (list price $40)
• State of Decay: Year One Survival Edition (Steam) — $8.90  (list price $30)
• Company of Heroes 2: Master Collection (Steam) — $8.63  (list price $40)
• Alien: Isolation (Steam) — $8.63  (list price $40)
• This Is the Police (Steam) — $6.74  (list price $15)
• Darksiders II: Deathinitive Edition (Steam) — $5.39  (list price $30)
• Lords of the Fallen - Game of the Year Edition (Steam) — $5.39  (list price $30)
• Batman: Arkham Knight Season Pass (Steam) — $4.49  (list price $20)
• Batman: Arkham Knight (Steam) — $4.49  (list price $20)
• Alien Isolation: Season Pass (Steam) — $4.31  (list price $20)
• Lords of the Fallen Digital Deluxe Edition (Steam) — $3.59  (list price $20)
• Manual Samuel (Steam) — $3.59  (list price $10)
• Train Valley (Steam) — $2.24  (list price $10)

Game deals from Dealzon. Sales help support Destructoid.

As the fall sports seasons draw closer, we're also getting more information about the fall sports games. NBA 2K18 has highlighted its position as the dominant hoops game -- and squelched the release of NBA Live 18's demo -- by drip feeding tidbits like player ratings and screenshots. This means that not only are players excitedly tweeting out their ratings to start this year's game, but we're also getting a look at what they'll wear on their feet.

Via: Sole Collector

Source: NBA 2K18 (Twitter)

When you were a kid, did you ever dream of living in an arcade? I imagine your fantasy was a little bit more glamorous than this story. Perhaps you thought more about all-night Street Fighter sessions and less about wedging yourself between cabinets to avoid the staff.

Kobe Shimbun reports that 30-year-old Kazuki Maehara was arrested for trespassing after he was allegedly discovered living in between arcade cabinets at a game center in Kobe. 

Back in 1996, the Nintendo 64 was an exciting time of innovation and the introduction of 3D graphics for a lot of people. Nintendo partnered up with Silicon Graphics to help develop the N64 and it would go on to have a solid library of games. However, I'd be lying if I told you their idea for a controller was great. I personally think the N64 trident monstrosity is up there as one of the worst controllers nowadays. I still have a hard time adjusting to it whenever I've attempted playing an N64 game in recent years.

But thanks to Retro Fighters and their successful Kickstarter, we're now getting a modern take on the N64 controller.

Welcome back to another installment of the previous week's best comments, or "Comments of the Week," as we like to call it. You all are stuck with me this week!

As always, this blog will feature all of Dere's comments, as well as any other comments that are at least half as punny!

Let's go!

Naughty Dog has a busy couple of weeks ahead of it. Like magic, time has melted away to the point that Uncharted: The Lost Legacy's launch is a mere 11 days away. As if that weren't enough pressure, Lost Legacy's release will be accompanied by a big update to Uncharted 4's multiplayer.

Today, PlayStation posted the new gameplay trailer that's embedded above. It follows the formula that we saw at E3. Lost Legacy seems to nail Uncharted 4's penchant for absurd setpiece spectacle, but, as Steven pointed out, it's really the narrative that needs to carry this game. A trailer will never convey that.

As for the multiplayer, Lost Legacy isn't getting its own online mode. Instead, it's glomming onto Uncharted 4. Owning Lost Legacy grants access to Uncharted 4's multiplayer, effectively combining the two player pools. That's largely due to the fact that Naughty Dog continues to build onto Uncharted 4's multiplayer more than a year after its release.

Right off the bat, I typically don’t like clone consoles. I’m a total retro snob for the most part; not a collector but extremely picky about the accuracy of my old games. A couple of years ago I had to sell the majority of my collection, keeping my Game Boy cartridges. And early this year I started getting back into NES collecting; still an extremely viable system to build a collection of games for if you know what to look for, and not the money sink it is typically associated with if you stick to lesser-known titles.

But you need something to play these on, and as my family grows, my personal space shrinks more and more. So to consolidate everything into one major entertainment center is crucial. That means a bulky CRT TV is out of the question, and so is the original NES. Short of expensive RGB mods and Framemeister upscaler boxes, there is no good way to play the original console on a modern TV with HDMI inputs.

Luckily, a number of companies have taken it upon themselves to create working solutions for this problem. And although it has a tough time competing with far more expensive available options, the RES Plus by Retro-Bit is an extremely affordable HD solution for playing the majority of the NES library.

Imagine a time when movie heroes were heroes not for being pretty, metrosexual types capable of playing a broad range of characters aptly displaying a broad spectrum of emotions, but because they had big muscles, or knew kung-fu. The year is 1989, and two such heroes are Sylvester Stallone and Kurt Russell. Another wildly popular trope of the time period is buddy cop movies. Do you sense what's coming here? You're sensing wrong. The team behind Tango & Cash decided that buddy cop movies had been done. It was time for a brand new type of movie: so they made one, the first ever shower buddy cop movie. You're welcome.

Friends, I know my deficiencies. I never learned to ice skate. I'm off-puttingly handsome. I can't do the worm. These are my burdens to bear, and I'll do so with a smile on my face.

Also, I'm not super great at PUBG -- except for that one time I won the whole dang game for us. Jordan and Ray are the superior Video Game Players. (They can also both do the worm and I think there's maybe a correlation between the two.) As such, I know my role and I shut my mouth.

Loot mule! I'll gladly haul around all the ammo and attachments and energy drinks while those dudes do the dirty work. With a gun in my hands, I'm nothing but a liability. With a scope in my sack, I'm a team player. Real lunch pail, blue collar, hard-workin' kind of role player. That's the grit the D-Team needs.

Here's the first look at me as a pack alpaca. Fortunately, Jordan captured video so it's more exciting than just me picking things up. This run probably would've went even better if Steven parachuted anywhere near our landing zone (but, as the Kermit meme goes, that's none of my business).

Accessibility has been a bit of a buzzword within the Fighting Game Community for a while now. Many believe that current fighting games are very complex and unwelcome to new players while simplifying them makes them lose that element that makes them great.

There have been some attempts to really simplify fighting games, such as Divekick, but that was perhaps taking things a bit too far. Well now, David Sirlin, a well-known member of the FGC, thinks he is onto something by trying to make a new fighting game which is simple yet deep enough to keep you coming for more. That is Fantasy Strike, a fighting game that does away with many staples of fighting games like low blocks and special move inputs and gives players a simple control system of just four buttons!

Currently, they are trying to crowdfund the game and are giving gamers a chance to play on PC for free this weekend! If you're curious, why not try it out and if you really like it, pledge to try and get the full game made.

Play Fantasy Strike (Pre-Alpha) Free Weekend August 11-14th on PC and Mac [Fantasy Strike]

Those boys over at IFHT Films break down the question that everyone still wonders: How do you be a '90s gamer in the current age? From picking the right console, blowing on cartridges, gaming all night at a sleep over, to "Socker Boppers" (which were basically blow-up oversized boxing gloves that encouraged kids to punch the shit out of each other).

As one of the most prolific writers of our day, Pat Benatar, said in 1980, "Hell is for Children." Danganronpa's absolutely stunning villain, Monokuma, believes in that statement to its fullest, so he constantly sets up devious games to get kids to kill each other. Think the SAW films, except with plotlines that are actually loaded with nuance and depth.

It also helps that the characters in the Danganronpa series are believable and likable, so trying to solve crimes becomes difficult simply because you don't want to admit the truth. As such, why not acquaint yourself with some of the cast before watching them die? Remember the good times and all that jazz.

Tired of hearing about Nintendo Switch ports? I hope not! I can't help but want to cover them. Two cool games you've probably heard of but maybe haven't played yet are confirmed for the system.

Extremely excited to announce Human: Fall Flat and The Flame In The Flood are headed to Nintendo Switch! http://pic.twitter.com/3AAYRX7Bsl

— Curve Digital (@CurveDigital) August 11, 2017

Human: Fall Flat is the one I'm interested in mostly because I never got around to trying it. It's a physics-based puzzle-platformer about a doughy boy. Here's Zack describing how it plays from his review:

"Even climbing up ledges in this game is a difficult treat. You have to jump, use both hands to grab the top of the edge making sure to get most of your belly up there too, and then look down to push yourself up. That sounds involved and complicated but it had to be in order for Human to be so fun. There's also co-op throughout the entire game which adds to the physical comedy aspect, and suddenly everything becomes an opportunity for dick-ish sabotage."

Until two years ago, there was no way to play with female characters in FIFA, the world's most popular gaming franchise. But EA Sports changed that with the introduction of FIFA 16. That's because, for the first time ever, the studio revealed that its flagship game would feature women soccer players. It was a great move toward diversifying the game's plot, albeit a risky one considering its core demographic: young men. That doesn't mean FIFA players aren't open-minded. But in an industry with a reputation for being misogynistic, EA Sports made itself vulnerable to potential backlash. As it turns out, the company needn't have worried: FIFA 16 quickly became one of the best-selling titles of the year.

Please Knock on My Door is a conversation about depression via video game. Developer Michael Levall created the indie title about his own experiences with depression and the mind-numbing routine of making games. "Every single thing in the game that you get to go through or read through or whatever has some kind of connection to either a true experience that I've had, just copy-pasted into the game, or it's based on an emotion that I've felt and I've extrapolated that and made a story out of it," he told Engadget back in March. The game is nearly ready; it will release for PC on Steam and Origin this September 7th.

Source: Steam

Depending on who you ask, Dragon Age is either one of the best RPG franchises to come out of BioWare in a long time or a lot of failed potential from a once great company. While I never personally cared for the series, I do admire how the PC version of the first game can be played exclusively like Icewind Dale or Baldur's Gate from an overhead viewpoint, which is really old-school. I just wish the rest of the series reveled in that attention to detail, since the games are mostly a hodge-podge of action elements with lite-RPG systems.

If you're big into the series though, you'll be happy to know that BioWare has plans for a theoretical Dragon Age 4 and 5! Mike Laidlaw, the senior creative director for BioWare, told a fan on Twitter that his team has a plan for the series that involves being two games ahead.

Digital card-game warriors are sharpening up their screen-stabbing fingers. Knights of the Frozen Throne, the latest expansion to popular Blizzard strategy game Hearthstone, is out now.

This latest addition brings some new solo-content to the game, along with 135 new cards to add to Hearthstone's now-mammoth deck. New game mechanics include Lifesteal, which converts damage dealt into health, and Hero Cards, which will actually replace your player character into a new creature with its own abilities. In this case, it will be the Death Knight.

The new solo content includes three new Missions, essentially replacements for Hearthstone's now-defunct Adventure mode. Players will embark on solo quests to receive free cards, with a Hero Card awarded upon completion of the Prologue. In addition to all of the above, anyone logging-in now will be awarded three Knights packs to get you up and running.

With a reappearance by that cheeky scamp The Lich King, these are certainly exciting times for the Hearthstone community, so grab your deck, get out there, and start dealing some damage.

Less than a month after our last buyer's guide update, we're back with a slew of new additions. This round of updates focuses mostly on audio products, including several headphones and speakers at various prices. But we also threw in some other miscellany, including the Gear VR and its reasonably priced controller accessory. We belatedly decided that the 10.5-inch iPad Pro also deserved a spot on the list, along with the Huawei Watch 2 and two Chromebooks. Next time, we'll be beefing up our list of TV picks. Stay tuned, and check out our ever-evolving buyer's guide right here.

Source: Engadget Buyer's Guide

Shortly after confirming the new Lycanroc form last week, The Pokémon Company has revealed new details about it. Set to appear in the upcoming Pokémon Ultra Sun and Pokémon Ultra Moon, it was revealed the new form would also have some stat changes. However, the biggest part was another confirmation that Dusk Form Lycanroc is not obtainable through normal means in the game.

It's a distribution-only Pokémon, which means once you miss it, god knows when it will be available again.

Kirby, the lovable pink... thing, known for inhaling his enemies and frowning whenever he visits America, turned 25 years old this month. How time flies.

It seems like only yesterday I had my head buried in my Game Boy, furiously playing Dream Land instead of doing my school work and thus ensuring a financially secure future for myself.

To celebrate the anniversary, Nintendo are offering a 25% discount on Kirby's 3DS and WiiU titles available on the European eShop. This promotion has previously been available in Japan and North America, as it has been timed to coincide with Kirby's debut in each territory.

So why not spend the weekend with one of gaming's most happy-go-lucky superstars? The promotion features twelve titles in all and will run until August 17.

Wii U 

• Kirby’s Return to Dream Land
• Kirby’s Adventure
• Kirby Super Star
• Kirby’s Dream Land 3
• Kirby & The Amazing Mirror
• Kirby: Mass Attack
• Kirby 64: The Crystal Shards

Nintendo 3DS

• Kirby: Triple Deluxe
• Kirby: Planet Robobot
• 3D Classics: Kirby’s Adventure
• Kirby’s Dream Land
• Kirby’s Dream Land 2

As announced this morning on a live stream, Sega is holding back the PC version of Sonic Mania for further optimization. It's now releasing on August 29, two weeks after the other versions of the game.

Folks who pre-purchased Mania or the collector's edition will get a Steam copy of Sonic 1 for free.

Sega confirmed that the Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, and Xbox One versions are still on track for Tuesday. I wasn't planning on going the PC route, thankfully, but I feel for those of you who were (and are now potentially considering buying elsewhere because two weeks will feel like forever).

No Man's Sky's newest patch has just landed and it brings with it a whole heap of extra content. The biggest surprise is that there is a brand new, 30-hour long campaign to work through. I'm sure fans of the game are just foaming at the mouth for more content to explore.

Along with that comes the sort-of multiplayer that was originally teased before launch. Called "joint-exploration," this feature lets you see orbs floating around on the various planets you'll encounter that indicate when another player is in the vicinity. Up to 16 orbs can appear at one time and you can even communicate with each other via voice chat.

The last major update to the game comes about as graphical tweaks. I can't say whether or not this trailer is pulling our legs (I haven't played the game), but it does seem to look a bit more lush.

It was announced this week that Apollo Justice is to be released for the 3DS, bringing the complete run of mainline Ace Attorney titles to the Nintendo handheld. To this end, Capcom have announced a box-set of all six games, and even Phoenix Wright himself would have a tough time defending its price.

The Ace Attorney Premium Edition is available to order at a whopping 150,000 yen, roughly $1300. The set, apparently made for Ted DiBiase, features all six titles, a mini-CD of the Apollo Justice soundtrack, a collection of 15 gorgeous art-cards, signed by art director Takuro Fuse, and a small sketch card by series designer Shu Takumi.

Oh, and a seven-gram, solid gold, commemorative tablet.

It's quite the visually-attractive package, I'm certainly not denying what a beautiful collector's piece it is for the ultimate Ace Attorney fan. But wow, that price tag. Regardless, you earned your money, you can spend it on whatever you choose, I'm not your dad. Unfortunately.

The Ace Attorney Premium Edition is now available for order over at Capcom's Japanese online store.

Sonic Mania, so far, has a way of hitting us with a specific chord of nostalgia that doesn't feel desperate. Christian Whitehead, a longtime Sonic fangame developer that eventually started working directly with Sega, knows what he's doing. With him as the backbone of the project Sega has followed suit, with a wonderful original soundtrack and now this adorable opening animation from director Tyson Hesse.

It has me pining for the old days when catching the [best iteration] cartoon was part of my morning routine. Sonic Mania is out on August 15 on PC, PS4, Xbox One, and Nintendo Switch. Expect our review around then!

So this is a bit strange: Over 15 years later, Blizzard has added a public test realm to its premier real-time strategy game, Warcraft 3. Overwatch (also made by Blizzard) fans know that the PTR is where experimental features and modes are tested before going wide to the full player population. In Warcraft's case, this is to test out new map pools for 1v1, 2v2, 3v3 and 4v4 multiplayer. Updates that address slow matchmaking, lag and that add automated tournaments and a "ladder board" are planned as well.

Via: Eurogamer

Source: Blizzard