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Hats off to the latest kombatant added to Mortal Kombat X… Kung Lao

mortalkombat10-dragonlogoGamesMaster, one of the United Kingdom’s most popular gaming magazines, had promised to reveal a brand new Mortal Kombat X character on or around the first of the year. But it’s very possible that Pelaaja, a Finnish gaming magazine, has scooped them by a single day.

According to Pelaaja (as translated by Test Your Might), the man with the razor-rimmed hat, Kung Lao, will take part in Mortal Kombat X’s far-future fight for the fate of the realm. Owing to the game’s time skip, this Kung Lao will be considerably older than the one that gamers are used to. Though how NetherRealm will explain away Kung Lao’s death during the events of 2011’s Mortal Kombat remains to be seen. But that didn’t stop Perlaaja from discussing Kung Lao’s three variations:

The differences between Kung Lao’s “Tempest,” “Buzz Saw” and “Hat Trick” variations happen to be the biggest ones yet. With “Tempest” Kung Lao uses more spinning attacks and has the ability to set his hat to spin around him as a shield of sorts. In his “Buzz Saw” variation his hat is sharpened with razor blade edges and allows the player to control his hat throws more. “Hat Trick” is the most experimental of the three, because you can throw and call back your hat at any point you want. This keeps the opponent on their toes, because the hat can extend combos.

The article also contains the first details about the game’s online faction system and the return of the Challenge Tower. Players will choose a faction when they first launch the game (Lin Kuei, White Lotus, Brotherhood of Shadows, Special Forces, or Black Dragon) and the system will control how the menus look based on the number Battle Points earned by players. How you earn Battle Points, and if they’ll have any impact on the game beyond the menus, is unknown. And as for the Challenge Tower, Pelaaja reports that “the towers and their challenges change constantly, even by the hour.”

Mortal Kombat X will be released for the PC, PS3, PS4, Xbox 360, and Xbox One on April 14.

Posted in News, PC, PS3, PS4, Xbox 360, Xbox One | Tagged

Insert Quarter: A History of Fan-Made Mario Games

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Insert Quarter is our showcase for some of the best and most interesting writing about video games on the Internet.

There’s no reason to hide it, Mario Maker is one of my most anticipated games for 2015. The ability to create my own Mario courses (and play courses created by others) has got me giddy with excitement. Writing for Joystiq, Lawrence Bonk has revealed that he’s just as giddy as I am. He is so giddy that he dove into the shadowy world of unauthorized ROM hacks of Super Mario Bros. and other games in the series. These fan-made creations are sometimes scary, but they’re always interesting:

Of course, long before there were dedicated toolsets, there was the humble game ROM. In addition to allowing people to finally brag about beating Ghosts N’ Goblins, NES game ROMs had/have the added bonus of being fairly easy to manipulate. What better title to screw around with than the original Super Mario Bros.? It didn’t have too many sprites and, oh yeah, there’s that whole “pretty much defined video games for an entire generation” thing.

The full article is available for your perusal at Joystiq.

Posted in Insert Quarter, Retro, Wii U | Tagged ,

Daily Scoop: December 30, 2014 – Last days to nab good sales

As the year comes to a close, the end-of-year sales come to an end as well! So snag them all while you can.

Steam‘s big sales today include The Witcher 2: Assassins of Kings Enhanced Edition for $2.99, Wasteland 2 for $19.99, and Lichdom Battlemage for $9.99. Over at the Humble Store, pick up Endless Legend for $23.32, Lara Croft and the Temple of Osiris for $9.99, and Life of Pixel for $3.49.

Also over at Humble is a new Humble Weekly Bundle. Pay what you want for Muri, Ittle Dew, Imagine Me, and Bardbarian. Pay $6 or more to unlock Race the Sun, Drunken Robot Pornography, and Tiny Brains. Pay $15 or more to unlock King’s Bounty: Dark Side.

Just one shirt today… (more…)

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Behold the adorableness of this Kirby and the Rainbow Curse trailer from Nintendo Japan

This video for Kirby and the Rainbow Curse was so cute I nearly vomited rainbows out of my eyes. I have to be honest – I much prefer the Japanese title, which is Touch! Kirby Super Rainbow. So much more exciting!

Kirby and the Rainbow Curse will be out in North America for Wii U on February 13. Look also for me to cave and get a Wii U around that date.

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Daily Scoop: December 29, 2014 – Last days of 2014

This is the last week of 2014. How are you going to spend it? Right now I’ve got tons of gaming planned, but I’m also cleaning, working on our Kickstarter for RESISTOR_, and experiencing some culture by doing things like going to magic shows. I’m trying to let 2014 go out as radly as possible.

Speaking of stuff that’s rad, let’s talk about deals. At Steam, you can get Don’t Starve for $3.74, The Stanley Parable for $4.49, and Battleblock Theater for $1.49, among many others.

That’s not all. Head to the Humble Store for even more sales. The Tomb Raider Collection is $15.99, and includes 11 games. You can also nab The Escapists for $9.99, early access to Vector Thrust for $9.74, and Sportsfriends for $13.49. That last one isn’t much of a deal, but trust me – that package is well worth it.

There are lots of great shirts today! (more…)

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Mario Kart 8: The Legend of Zelda X Mario Kart 8 DLC Pack Review: Now With Link

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Nintendo has been late to the party with regards to adding DLC to their games, but in Mario Kart 8 they have managed to tackle my biggest gripe since the term “DLC” rose its monstrous head and became an ugly word that meant a new way for developers to rip-off gamers… and that’s the amount of content. The Legend of Zelda X Mario Kart 8 DLC Pack comes with eight new tracks, as well as a few new characters, karts, and customisations. Another DLC pack based around Animal Crossing is due out in May 2015. Both DLC Packs are individually priced at $7.99 each or you can buy both together for $11.99, which means you are getting half the game’s original content at a quarter of the price. Value for the money, indeed! (more…)

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Insert Quarter: Publishers Need to be More Upfront About DLC

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Insert Quarter is our showcase for some of the best and most interesting writing about video games on the Internet.

Downloadable Content. If you didn’t consider it the scourge of the gaming industry before, you probably do now. With games like Assassin’s Creed: Unity and DriveClub shipping to stores in a less-than-playable state, the downloadable content that publishers have planned begins to lose its luster. But that hasn’t stopped these publishers from asking for your money in the form of season passes. Sometimes, like in the case of 2K’s Borderlands: The Pre-Sequel, without detailing exactly what content these passes will include.

Game Informer’s Mike Futter believes that it is time for publishers to be more upfront with their DLC plans in an effort to rebuild a level of trust with the gamers of the world. Even though DLC has become a very important part of the business side of the industry:

I am guilty. I have pre-ordered games. I have purchased season passes without full details of the contents. I have done these things based on my enthusiasm for the medium and faith in the publishers. That time has passed.

The full article is available for your perusal at Game Informer.

Posted in Insert Quarter, PC, PS3, PS4, Wii U, Xbox 360, Xbox One | Tagged

Check out this six-minute trailer for Disgaea 5 (but be warned, it’s in Japanese)

NIS America recently confirmed that Disgaea 5: Alliance of Vengeance will be released for the PS4 in Fall 2015. And now the company’s Japanese parent, Nippon Ichi Software, has released this absolutely insane six-minute trailer for the game. I have no idea what’s going on, but I’m sure that Disgaea fans will love it.

Disgaea 5: Alliance of Vengeance will be available in Japan on March 26.

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