Tag: konami

Geekscape Games Level 194: “I’m Never Taking A Digital Delivery Suggestion From You Again”

by Derek Kraneveldt

Join the Geekscape crew for a bi-weekly discussion about video games (and more often than not, things that have nothing to do with video games)!

Derek, Shane, and Katie talk about the fact that you have to download games now, Chris Pratt as Super Mario, never-ending Konami rumours, and so much more!

Listen to the latest episode below, and keep scrolling for links to subscribe to the Geekscape Games podcast!

What Happened?

The New Super Mario Movie
Genesis / N64 coming to Switch Online
Animal Crossing Direct coming next week
Sora is the last Smash Bros. character
O’Hare vs. Kraneveldt Upgrade Edition
Death Stranding is great
PS5 gets trials but Shane’s internet is too slow
Ghost of Tsushima Iki island DLC
Fortnite
Shane loves Industria
The Konami rumors never end
Ghost Recon gets a battle royale
Kids are making Squid Game games in Roblox
Life Is Strange: True Colors gets 60FPS mode for Series X, PS5

Where can I follow Geekscape Games?

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Want to give us feedback? Drop us a line at geekscapegames@geekscape.net!

Link Summoning Arrives With Our Yu-Gi-Oh Link Strike Unboxing!

by Josh Jackson

Every few years, the Yu-Gi-Oh card game gains some sort of new mechanic that’s meant to shake the game up. With Link Summoning however, fundamental rules have been changed to make way for the new type of monster, making positioning on the field much more important.

Check out our video below where we detail all of the new cards in the first Link Summon focused structure deck and go over some of the format changes making their way into the game. What do you think about this new era of dueling? Let us know in the comments!

E3 2017: That Post-Kojima ‘Metal Gear’ Game Will Not Release This Year

by Derek Kraneveldt

Briefly: Last Summer, Josh asked just what the hell was wrong with Konami after the reveal of Metal Gear Survive, a WTF-inducing Solid Snake and friends fighting zombies game that Hideo Kojima clearly had nothing to do with.

We’ve seen little else from the title since its reveal at GamesCom 2016, to the point where we’d almost forgotten that it even existed (leaving the world a slightly brighter place). It turns out, however, that the title is playable on the show floor amidst the giant lines at this year’s ongoing E3, but at this point the game will not be hitting your platform of choice until next year.p

Polygon learned earlier today that the development team requires a little more time to polish the game, and thus the title has been “pushed back a few months.” Naturally, Metal Gear games and delays are no stranger to one another — this game’s existence at all however, remains a mystery to all of us. What would it have been like to be a fly on the wall when this concept came up?

Forgot what it’s all about? Watch the reveal trailer below, and let us know if you’ll be picking this one up in early 2018.

Here’s The First Teaser Poster For Netflix’s Upcoming ‘Castlevania’ Series!

by Derek Kraneveldt

Briefly: We’ve only known that the series is officially in the works for a couple of weeks at this point, but Netflix has just released the very first teaser poster for its upcoming Castlevania series.

Inspired by the classic video game series, “Castlevania” is a dark medieval fantasy following the last surviving member of the disgraced Belmont clan, trying to save Eastern Europe from extinction at the hand of Vlad Dracula Tepe himself. The animated series is from Frederator Studios, a Wow! Unlimited Media company, written by best-selling author and comic book icon Warren Ellis and executive produced by Warren Ellis, Kevin Kolde, Fred Seibert, and Adi Shankar.

Shankar took to Facebook late last night to reveal the image and to reiterate that the series will launch later this year.

It’s been some time since I’ve really played a Castlevania title, but as a huge fan of the series growing up, with the incredible team behind the project, this is going to be bad ass.

Take a look at the image below, and let us know if you’re excited!

https://www.facebook.com/theadishankarbrand/photos/a.1595984600635168.1073741829.1425430891023874/1882190505347908/?type=3&theater

Netflix Releasing A ‘Castlevania’ Series This Year!

by The_acz

After over 10 years in development, Castlevania will finally be getting its due.

This evening while talking about their upcoming project, Netflix announced that they are hard at work on a Netflix series for the critically acclaimed Konami series created by Koji Igarashi. No specific date has been announced, but they’re hoping to have it out by 2017. The series will be split into 4 parts and will be written and produced by one of the original Dead Space writers, and pretty major comic book writer and all around idea man, Warren Ellis. Are you excited about this announcement? What game series are you hoping Netflix tackles afterwards? Tell us in the comments below!

The Yu-Gi-Oh Legendary Decks 2 Collection Breathes Life Into Old Favorites!

by Josh Jackson

It’s become an annual tradition for Yu-Gi-Oh players to expect some kind of grand collection when the end of the year starts to creep up on us. 2016 is no exception, following last year’s trend of releasing a series of theme decks all in one box. Sharing the spotlight with Joey and Kaiba this time around, Yugi and his two Battle City rivals return with decks blending new and old cards, many of which have become much harder to find through other means.

Starting with Joey, who had his own Joey’s World collection a few years ago, his deck naturally focuses on his Red Eyes Black Dragon. His featured cards include The Black Stone of Legend, a card that can be tributed to special summon a powerful Red Eyes monster from the deck. When in the Graveyard, it allows a Red-Eyes in the Graveyard to be shuffled back into the deck while the Stone itself goes back into your hand. Creating an easy way to continuously cycle Red-Eyes monsters in and out of your deck, it’s handy to have both in and out of the grave! Thesecond card, Return of the Red Eyes, is a continuous Trap Card that allows you to Special Summon a Normal Monster in your Graveyard while on the field. When destroyed, you can Special Summon a Red-Eyes monster from your Graveyard to the Field, providing a second way to filter in powerful monsters constantly. Lastly, Red-Eyes Flare Metal Dragon is an Xyz Monster from the Clash of Rebellions set that can’t be destroyed by card effects AND inflicts 500 damage every time your opponent activates a card or effect after it resolves as long as it has Xyz material attached. When material is removed, you can Special Summon one Normal Red-Eyes monster from the grave, making sure it always has backup in a fight.

The rest of Joey’s deck features many of the classic cards he used throughout the original series, including common variant favorites of Jinzo, Scapegoats, Baby Dragon and Kunai with Chain. Top that off with some powerful staple support cards such as Torrential Tribute and Mystical Space Typhoon, and you have a ready made Red-Eyes deck that can become even more powerful once cards from other booster sets are mixed in.

Next up is Kaiba, who’s trademark Blue-Eyes cards had a resurgence this year thanks to a plethora of new support cards, many of which are represented here. Maiden with Eyes of Blue kicks things off, with the popular card from the Saga of Blue-Eyes White Dragon structure deck bringing its tricks into this package. Don’t let its 0 attack and 0 defense fool you, because it’s used to bait players into attacking it in order to easily summon the powerful Blue-Eyes instantly. When attacked, the move is negated, leading to one of the dragons being Special Summoned from the Hand, Deck or Graveyard. When targeted by a card effect, the same effect comes into play, minus the negation. This can take place once per turn during either player’s turn, so one cycle can have the maximum of three Blue-Eyes White Dragon cards on the field at once! If your opponent isn’t taking your bait, you can always target your own Maiden too! The Melody of Awakening Dragons provides a second option to get your dragons out of your deck, allowing you to add up to two Dragon-Type monsters with 3000 or more attack and 2500 or less defense. This is a perfect set up for Blue-Eyes Ultimate Dragon, the classic fusion monster that’s become a staple of Kaiba’s offense focused strategy. At 4500 attack and 3800 defense, good luck taking it down without a spell handy.

Like Joey, Kaiba’s deck is rounded out by new and old favorites, including the Synchro Monster, Azure-Eyes Silver Dragon, Protector with Eyes of Blue, Master with Eyes of Blue, Beacon of White, La-Jinn- Mystical Genie of the Lamp, Battle Ox, Burst Stream of Destruction and Enemy Controller to name a few. Naturally, it’s also packed with three Blue-Eyes White Dragon cards, each of which are common variants of the first three art styles used for the iconic monster.

But as always, Yugi is the star of the show, which is why he gets six featured cards, three of which are exclusive to this set! The first three are a trio most should be familiar with by now, with the classic designs for Slifer the Sky Dragon, Obelisk the Tormentor and The Winged Dragon of Ra sitting on top of the deck with their Ultra Rare variants. His exclusive cards revolve around Exodia, the all powerful god / meme that Yugi famously defeated Kaiba with in the first episode of the Duel Monsters anime. The Legendary Exodia Incarnate allows you to summon the monster as its own creature rather than the instant win device it has become known for when all of its body parts have been assembled. With 0 defense and fluctuating attack strength, it gains 1000 attack points for every “Forbidden One” card in your Graveyard. At the end of its user’s turn, it asks them to add one “Forbidden One” card from the grave to their hand, making Exodia weaker in the process. While it can’t be affected by card effects, destroying it in battle lets its user draw a card for every “Forbidden One” card in their hand, allowing them to cycle through their deck faster for that precious instant win, all while bringing cards back from the grave that might have been lost otherwise. Ties of the Brethren is a Spell Card that Special Summons two cards of the same attribute and type with different names to the field at the cost of 2000 Life Points, obviously meant to set up two Exodia pieces. Finally, the Obliterate!!! Continuous Trap Card allows you to discard a “Forbidden One” card from your hand or deck to send a monster on the field back to its user’s hand. When destroyed, you can add one “Forbidden One” card from the gave to your hand, but only one of the two effects can be used per turn.

To be honest, I’m struggling with finding the usefulness of these exclusive cards, mainly because their effects don’t seem worth the cost of losing your Exodia pieces, especially when they seem counter productive to other cards in the deck like Exodia Necross, which is destroyed if all pieces aren’t in the Graveyard. It seems like many of the stall and draw decks that currently exist would work much better to accomplish what these cards seem to set up. Outside of Exodia: The Forbidden One and its four limbs, Yugi’s deck also comes with cards used by both his normal form and Atem, including the Dark Magician, Dark Magician Girl, the Silent Magician series, Swords of Revealing Light, Magic Cylinder  and Mirror Force. These should give players plenty to work with when building custom decks, especially to compliment the new magician cards that came out earlier in the year.

The decks aren’t all that come packed with these legendary decks, since three promos and three tokens are included in each set exclusively. Consisting of two Spell Cards and one Trap Card that are meant to power up the Dark Magician and Dark Magician Girl, Dark Burning Attack destroys all face up monsters your opponent controls if you control the female variant. If you control both, Dark Burning Magic can act as a quick play spell, letting you destroy all cards on your opponent’s field during either of your turns. Mimicking the magician’s eternal loyalty for the Pharoh in the anime and manga, the Eternal Soul continuous trap card makes sure you always have a Dark Magician at your side. While on the field, Dark Magician can’t be affected by card effects from your opponent, while allowing you to either Special Summon a Dark Magician from your hand or Graveyard, or add Thousand Knives or Dark Magic Attack spells from your deck to your hand. The only drawback is if the trap is destroyed, all monsters on your side of the field go with it. Outside of these cards, tokens featuring the three heroes this set is built on round out this jam packed set, which I’m sure comes in handy for someone like Joey, who would want to line up four Kaiba tokens to have them get taken down during one of his notorious Scapegoat plays.

Overall, this is an excellent set for people who are mostly familiar with the old cards, but want some new ones mixed in to help them get re-acquainted with the game. While the Yugi set is confusing in the way its set up, the other two have excellent synergy, and the three promo cards that support the magicians more than make up for any shortcomings the Yugi deck has. While it pains me to say this as a Blue-Eyes fan, the Red-Eyes deck is the all star this time around, with some fantastic cards that not only play well, but are much harder to get outside of this set

My biggest concern however, is that we might be going to the nostalgia well a bit too often with these sets. Last year’s Legendary Decks had three Yugi decks, and many of the cards here were already released back then. When you add in the previously mentioned Joey’s World, the many Battle City re-releases, the movie cards that offered some reprints of classic monsters, the Duelist Packs featuring Yugi and Kaiba, and the theme decks featuring these characters, it’s starting to feel like we’re buying the same cards over and over again rather than being introduced to new ones. Now I might be biased since I love Kaiba, but this year felt like the perfect time to give him his own set with all of the brand new Blue-Eyes support that has released. Maybe next year?

Nonetheless, you can’t got wrong with over 150 cards of Yu-Gi-Oh goodness. At the retail price of $29.99, you’re getting more than what you paid for considering some of the rare cards that are in this set. What are your favorite cards from the box, and what do you want to see in the future? Let us know in the comments!

‘Super Bomberman R’ Announced For Nintendo Switch! Developed By Original Hudson Devs!

by The_acz

One of the biggest surprises from last weeks Nintendo Switch presentation was the reveal of Super Bomberman R. ‘Developed and published by Konami, Super Bomberman R is a brand new Bomberman game developed by the original Hudson devs who made the series! The game will feature a full on story mode, along with an 8 player battle mode online or local!

The game is set to be a Switch exclusive, and is planned for launch of the console, but doesn’t have a concrete price yet. This is a pretty crazy turn for Konami as the company hasn’t been getting much positive press coverage for the past 2 years. This is a great first step that shows Konami is serious about changing their ways and actually giving back to their fans that hunger for their older I.P’s. Check out the trailer below and get hyped!

Power Up Your Old School Decks With The YuGiOh 2016 Mega Tins!

by Josh Jackson

Much of this year in YuGiOh has revolved around nostalgia. Shining Victories and The Dark Illusion booster sets have firmly revived the Blue Eyes White Dragon and Dark Magician archtypes from the beginnings of the game, while older monsters from the 5D‘s and GX eras have gotten plenty of love over the last 12 months. Now that the year is wrapping up, it’s time for another set of Mega Tins to compile all the best cards over that period, for a more economical way to compile what otherwise would be an expensive deck to build. With Yugi and Kaiba at the forefront of the sets this year, this means we’ll have an even easier time finishing off our retro builds, with some brand new cards thrown in for good measure.

As with every annual tin, each one has its own set of guaranteed promo cards outside of the three 16 card Mega Packs. As you would guess, Yugi’s tin focuses on the cards that his deck was famous for, with some new ones thrown in to make them more competitive to the modern game. Aside from Ultra and Secret Rare variants the old school Dark Magician design and Yugi’s God Card, Slifer The Sky Dragon respectively, the sought after Ebon High Magician from The Dark Illusion and Performapal Pendulum Sorcerer, the highlight of the Breakers of Shadow set are the real stars, ensuring you can get your hands on these cornerstone cards. Ebon in particular brings Dark Magician to the realm of Xyz monsters, allowing you to play Quick Play Spells and Trap Cards from your hand as long as it has Xyz material to use, protecting them from being destroyed on the field. Throw in its ability to Special Summon a Spellcaster when its destroyed, and you get a card that can spell disaster for the opponent.

In addition to these monsters, the set has two original cards that can only be found in this tin. D/D/D Flame King Genghis is a Fusion Monster that can only be summoned when fusing two D/D monsters, but Genghis gives you an easy way to bring them back. As long as you Special Summon D/D monster, the Flame King can bring back a D/D monster from the Graveyard once per turn. The hard part when it comes to this combo might be to keep him alive, but if he is destroyed, you can add a Dark Contract card from the Graveyard to your Hand, giving you a bit of retribution. Dragonox, The Empowered Warrior, can also make the Graveyard your playground, with its ability to Special Summon one Spellcaster with 2000 or less attack in Face Down Defense Position. Its meager 1500 attack and defense makes it easy to kill, but as a Pendulum Monster, it can also be played as a Scale 7 Spell on either side of the Pendulum Zone. When placed there, Dragonox can be discarded to end the opponent’s battle phase when they declare an attack. So basically, Negate Attack in Monster form.

Over on Kaiba’s side of the field, the power obsessed CEO of Kaibacorp has his own upgrades since the last time we saw him. While we would never expect Obelisk The Tormentor or his trademark Blue Eyes White Dragon to be left behind in a set like this, his new Synchro Monster, Blue-Eyes Spirit Dragon, is the highlight among the promo cards. As one of the top cards in the Shining Victories set, not only does it pack a punch attack wise at 2500, but once on the field via Synchro Summoning, it can negate the activation of effects in the Graveyard, which has become a popular tactic in recent versions of the game. Tributing it also lets you Special Summon any Light type Synchro Monster during either player’s turn, which can get you out of some serious jams if played right. The trick is knowing when to use it, since the monster is destroyed at the End Phase of the turn it was summoned.

Rounding out Kaiba’s promo cards are two original cards and an old favorite. Starting with Ghost Ogre & Snow Rabbit, a Secret Rare from the Crossed Souls set from 2015, this card is essentially a free Solemn card disguised as a monster. If it’s either on your field or IN YOUR HAND, you can destroy the card that was activated, allowing you to catch your opponent off guard. As far as the original entries, D/D/D King Gust Alexander is a Synchro card that has a similar effect to Yugi’s Genghis, but with more more flexibility and durability. With 2500 attack points, he can Special Summon a D/D Monster from the Graveyard when you Special Summon OR Normal Summon a D/D Monster. While he doesn’t have a secondary effect like Genghis’ Dark Contract ability, I’m liking Gust better since you can swarm much easier with his ability. Lastly, Aether, The Evil Empowering Dragon, is a Scale 4 Pendulum Monster with some nasty effects. By Special or Normal Summoning this level six monster, it allows you to flat out banish a monster on the field with no cost outside of what you used to summon it. Once in the Pendulum Zone, it allows you to destroy one card on the field once per turn by banishing an Empowered Warrior monster from your own Graveyard. Once it gets going, it looks like Aether would be a huge threat with the right support cards protecting it.

Rounding out the sets are the Mega Packs themselves, which each include three all star boosters. Containing highlights from the Crossed Souls, Clash of Rebellions, Dimension of Chaos and Breakers of Shadow sets, these cover a lot of ground. You’ll find plenty to love, such as the many Performapal cards, additional support for the Blackwing and Red Dragon Archfiend lines of monsters, and individual powerhouses such as the Odd Eyes Rebellion Dragon to name a few in the long list of viable cards. There’s no better way to catch up with the recent card releases than through this set. My personal pull highlights included Neptabyss, The Atlantean Prince, which single-handedly revived Atlantean and Mermail monsters earlier this year, and Jar of Avarice, which lets you recycle five Graveyard cards followed by a one card draw. If someone with luck as bad as mine can draw those, then there’s no reason why other pulls out there won’t be even better!

That about does it for the 2015-2016 YuGiOh season. What were your highs and lows, and what are your favorite cards from these sets? Sound off below and let us know!

Geekscape Games Podcast: Level 87 – ‘Cannons For Kenny’

by GeekscapeStaff

Join Josh and Shane as they discuss the last week in video games!

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This Week:

Final Fantasy XV delayed.

Konami ruins Metal Gear franchise with the announce of Metal Gear Survive.

Yooka Layee Gamescom trailer is nostalgic fun.

Death Star DLC announced for Star Wars: Battlefront.

Overwatch gets a new map.

Supergirl is an exclusive starer pack for Lego Dimensions.

Deadshot and Harley Quinn revealed for Injustice 2.

Detective Pikachu Movie get’s it’s writers.

Gal Gun.

Tokyo Mirage Sessions.

Overwatch.

Evolve Stage 2.

Syndicate.

Mission Objective:

“With Konami ruining the Metal Gear franchise with Metal Gear Survive, how would YOU ruing a game franchise?”

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What The Hell Is Wrong With Konami? ‘Metal Gear Survive’ And The Dangers Of Being Out Of Touch

by Josh Jackson

The big news coming out of Gamescom this morning seems to be the reveal of Metal Gear Survive, the first Kojima-less Metal Gear title after the very public split between the famed creator and his overseers at Konami. A quick look at the trailer leaves no question as to why the reaction so far seems to range between “lol Konami”, and “something something franchise killer”. We all know that Kojima was known for introducing some ridiculous scenarios into his games, but I would imagine that even he would laugh at the concept of taking the survivors of the attack on Mother Base and inexplicably sucking them into an inter-dimensional portal, placing them in a post apocalyptic wasteland where they’re forced to fight hordes of zombies. Yes, that’s the premise.

Currently sitting at nearly 30,000 dislikes on IGN’s YouTube page in less than 12 hours, it’s safe to say that after thoroughly killing any goodwill the company had with their fans courtesy of crowd pleasing moves like cancelling Silent Hills, removing the PT demo from the PlayStation Store, preventing Kojima from accepting an award he earned for his work, and turning some of their beloved franchises into pachinko machines rather than produce new games, this latest reveal isn’t going to win back anybody. Almost approaching parody levels of absurdity, it’s hard to imagine how anyone would have green lit a game in a franchise as big as this and take it in such a wildly different direction. But when we stop and think about how not only Konami, but the entertainment industry as a whole handles the concept of audience demand, should we really be surprised?

Norman Reedus PT

Oh, what could have been…

Watching this trailer for the first time, it felt like a checklist of what an out of touch executive would do when conceptualizing a game. Let’s see, zombies are still popular, right? Mad Max and Fallout are big! Why not place it in a barren, desolate space? Let’s have a group of no-nonsense soldiers take them down like it’s no big deal while we’re at it. But most importantly, new IP’s are way too risky. I know! Let’s slap Metal Gear Solid on the title and watch it fly off the shelves! We can even reuse assets to save some money while recouping cash on the money sink that was MGS V!

I mean, what could go wrong?

The worst part is that the people in charge will never look in the mirror and realize that they’re the reason for these failures, and we see it time and time again across the entertainment spectrum. Nintendo is going through a similar issue with Metroid Prime: Federation Force, a game that plays just fine on its own. But thanks to their own tone def assertion that making it a Metroid game would build enthusiasm is likely going to ensure that the promising multiplayer title will be dead on arrival. Why? Because the company decided to take a franchise that hasn’t seen a new game since the widely panned Other M in 2010, one that they’ve teased sequels to for years thanks to the rumored Metroid Dread, only to never deliver. What we’re left with is a light hearted spin-off that has next to nothing in common with its main games. While drastically different side games aren’t a bad thing on their own, how can you dangle a carrot in front of your fan base for so long, then be surprised at the backlash when you bait-and-switch them?

As many gamers will tell you, Nintendo has a history of making head scratching decisions such as this, ranging from self fulfilling prophecies like forcing fans to scratch and claw for “risky” games like Fatal Frame, only to run next to no advertisement for them, to the Villager amiibo being among a set of high demand figures that they didn’t deem popular enough to take away shelf space from Mario and Link, creating a huge scalper market for the figurines. This is despite the fact that Animal Crossing: New Leaf is currently sitting at number six on the list of best selling 3DS games of all time, (and might have been higher if they didn’t include each version of Pokemon as one total). You know what sold nearly six million fewer copies? Zelda. I’m no CEO, but this is *THEIR* data! To Nintendo’s credit, they finally restocked it exclusively at Toys R Us in the States about a year later, with a whole line of Animal Crossing figures and cards showing that they finally acknowledged what was right in front of them. The only way they could realistically claim that they didn’t anticipate demand is if they don’t read their own financial reports like the rest of us.

Villager Amiibo

You got any of them Villagers?

This lack of foresight and these reactionary decisions aren’t isolated to the gaming industry either. I’m sure we don’t need to be reminded of how the Suicide Squad film was allegedly re-shot to include more humor after the success of Deadpool. An ironic prospect when you remember that Fox’s project had its own set of challenges when its creators had to fight for the film to be true to the source material with an R rated action flick, reportedly due to studios refusing to believe that a violent, vulgar superhero could sell tickets. Even Marvel, as great as they have been in recent years, isn’t immune to this disconnect. When Sony’s email leak revealed that CEO Ike Perlmutter was seemingly supplying “proof” that female led superhero movies are traditionally failures, he cites Catwoman and Electra, apparently placing the blame on them featuring female leads while ignoring that these were both critically panned. On the flip side, based on the advertisements, the Ghostbusters reboot sold itself almost entirely on the fact that it was led by an all female team, as opposed to the merits of the film itself. Turns out, that wasn’t enough.

Daredevil Movie Poster

I’m sure this had more to do with Electra‘s failure than Jennifer Garner’s vagina.

The examples are seemingly endless, from Capcom’s storied history to Lego Dimensions and the recent reveal that Supergirl will be exclusive to reissues of last year’s starter pack, leaving early adopters in the dust. But will these companies learn their lesson? Probably not. It’s much easier to fail when your job security doesn’t rely on making good decisions, especially when you can pass the blame down to your subordinates. In Konami’s case, I’m sure they see Metal Gear Survive as their saving grace. The game that will prove that they don’t need Kojima to carry on with their biggest franchise. It has everything that’s popular mashed together, and the tens of thousands of dislikes will be attributed to being from “haters” and “trolls” who will buy the game anyway. And naturally, when none of this happens and Survive ends up flopping, the obvious takeaway will be that fans have lost interest in the Metal Gear franchise. Not that their decision makers have no idea what their doing and are out of touch.

Oh well, there’s always pachinko!

Konami Announces New ‘Metal Gear’ Game!!. . . . . . . . . .With Zombies

by The_acz

Another hot and ready announcement to come out of Gamescom this morning is the reveal of a brand new Metal Gear game by Konami!

No, it’s not a Pachinko or mobile game either, but a real console Metal Gear game! Let’s check it out shall we? (Wow Golly this sure is exciting. Obviously nothing can go wrong.)

Z………..Zombie game? I-it’s just a zombie game? Oh, ok. I-it’s not like I wanted an actual Metal Gear game with an original story or anything. I mean, obviously this is the right move. Online multiplayer survival games are all the rage right now. Just take a look at the amazing success and critical/user darling that is Resident Evil: Umbrella Corp.

Umbrella Corp

SERVERS ARE BOOMING AND ARE AT AN ALL TIME HIGH!
SERVERS ARE BOOMING AND ARE AT AN ALL TIME HIGH!

Anyways, Metal Gear Survive  is expected to launch sometime in 2017 and crush peoples hopes and dreams of ever getting a proper MGS game within the next 10 years. The disappointment is expected to launch for Xbox One, PS4, and PC.

Sad Bosman

Preview The Upcoming Yu-Gi-Oh Expansion With The ‘Clash Of Rebellions’ Special Edition

by Josh Jackson

If you follow the Yu-Gi-Oh trading card game, you’re probably hyped for the upcoming Breakers of Shadow booster set, which promises to flood the game with a wave of viable cards that are looking to improve existing decks while reviving old ones. If you wanted a small taste of what that set will offer, the Clash Of Rebellions special edition is looking to tide you over until the full set is released.

As with most every special edition set, $10 MSRP gets you three booster packs of the previous set, which includes a new deck’s worth of new Red Eyes Black Dragon cards, such as The Black Stone Of Legend, Red-Eyes Archfiend Of Lightning, and Cards of the Red Stone, and the cover monster that’s both a Pendulum and Xyz card, Odd-Eyes Rebellion Dragon. In addition to the standard boosters however, each box now comes with two of four promotional inserts, one of which is a reprint of a hard to find card, and the other releasing as a Super Rare variant of the next major expansion.

Starting with the preview cards, here are Engraver of the Mark and the Trap Card, Destruction Sword Flash. Engraver is a spellcaster with a decent amount of attack points and an odd set of abilities. If the opponent plays a card that asks them to name a specific card as part of its effect, Engraver allows its controller to discard it from their hand to the graveyard in order to change the name of the card to one of your choosing. When on the field, Engraver can destroy any one card on the field at the end of the following End Phase, forcing the opponent to either use it before they’re ready, or see it destroyed.

YuGiOh Engraver of the Mark

Destruction Sword Flash gives duelists an even bigger reason to dust off their Buster Blader cards from 10 years ago and breathes fresh life into them with a powerful effect. When using a Fusion Monster that used Buster Blader as its material, you can flip this card to banish your opponent’s entire field. Once in the graveyard, this card can be used AGAIN by triggering its secondary effect if you banish it. In this case, if a Buster Blader monster you control is targeted by an effect, this card can negate the effect and destroy that card. Buster Blader is sounding pretty awesome right about now!

YuGiOh Destruction Sword Flash

Not to be left out, the two Shonen-Jump promo reprints, Ultimaya Tzolkin and Frightfur Tiger, each of these monsters offer huge benefits to their respective decks when in the right situation. Tzolkin, (known as the Crimson Dragon who served as a guide for Yusei and his friends in the 5D‘s anime,) can use its effect to special summon a level 7 or 8 dragon type Synchro monster, or a Power Tool Synchro monster without fear of follow up effects to the card that’s special summoned. A perfect set up for cards like Azure Eyes Silver Dragon, Tzolkin looks like it could be a huge asset to any Synchro heavy dragon deck.

YuGiOh Ultimaya Tzolkin

Freightfur Tiger also has a very specific benefit, but it’s one you’ll want to pay attention to. As a fusion monster that can destroy one card of the field for every Fluffal monster used as its material, potentially allowing you to wipe the field and clear the way for a powerful series of attacks. When you consider that Freightfur Tiger also boosts the attack strength of every Fluffal card it shares the field with, and you have a chance to deal a finishing blow to your opponent pretty easily with the right cards.

YuGiOh Frightfur Tiger

What say you, duelists? What are your highlights within the Clash Of Rebellions Special Editon? Comment below and share your thoughts!

 

 

Hideo Kojima Has Officially Left Konami, Opens New Studio! UPDATE: Officially Working With Sony!

by Derek Kraneveldt

Briefly: After a long and tumultuous 2015, it appears that the lengthy battle between Konami and Hideo Kojima is now over.

Based on a new repot from Japanese financial publication Nikkei, as of December 15th, Kojima has officially parted ways with Konami, and already has plans to open up a new studio. According to the reports, he’s already in talks with Sony Computer Entertainment in regards to publishing whatever he and his new team crafts next.

Of course, fans and gamers everywhere are still essentially in the dark in regards to what happened between Kojima and Konami. Back in March, Kojima Productions branding was removed from essentially all Metal Gear products. The very next month Silent Hills was cancelled and I’m still crying about it, and just a few weeks back Konami legally prevented Kojima from attending The Game Awards.

Hopefully it’s greener grasses for Kojima and friends from here on out. We’ll fill you in on any further Kojima-related news as it comes in.

UPDATE: And, he’s officially working with Sony, and has formed a new iteration of Kojima Productions. I can’t even contain my excitement.

Geekscape Games Podcast: Level 56 – ‘Stand With Kojima’

by GeekscapeStaff

Join Josh, Juan and Shane as they discuss the last week in video games!

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This Week:

The Game Awards happened.

Konami’s lawyers banned Hideo Kojima from attending Game Awards.

FarCry: Primal.

Shaq Fu sequel.

Psychonauts 2 crowd funding starts.

/r/slutoon.

Game Award Winners.

Mortal Kombat X get’s Leatherface & Xenomorph DLC.

Project M canceled.

Platinum Games announces TMNT arcade brawler.

Call of Duty: Black Ops III.

Splatoon.

Nintendo Badge Center.

Listener Mission Objective:

What is your game of the year?

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@dkraneveldt

@InuJoshua

@TheKingOfMars

@shaneohare

So Konami Didn’t Let Hideo Kojima Attend The Game Awards…

by Derek Kraneveldt

Briefly: I knew that Metal Gear Solid V would win some awards last night. The game is chock-full of near perfect mechanics, and while the storyline leaves something to be desired for MGS fans expecting plenty of long, convoluted cutscenes, Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain is still easily one of the best games of the year.

When it won the award for Best Action / Adventure game at last night’s The Game Awards, fans in audience and watching around the world expected series creator Hideo Kojima to take the stage in order to accept the award for what was likely to be the last true Metal Gear title that we’ll ever see.

Turns out, that was the plan, until Konami stopped Kojima from attending the awards at the last minute.

Host Geoff Keighley explained that “Mr. Kojima had every intention of being with us tonight, but unfortunately he was informed by a lawyer representing Konami just recently that he would not be allowed to travel to tonight’s award ceremony to accept any awards. He’s still under an employment contract and it’s disappointing.”

Here’s the video, where Keighley looks legitimately upset at the announcement, and the entire Microsoft Theatre boos Konami:

It’s absolutely insane just how much hate Konami has garnered over the past year, and with last night’s barring of Kojima, it seems as though they just keep digging that hole deeper.

Mere seconds after the decision was revealed on the livestream, Twitter was filled with #FuckKonami posts, and a myriad of support for Kojima and Kojima Productions.

It was pretty clear that Kojima was looking forward to the ceremony as well, as he’d been retweeting The Game Awards news all week.

Sad, sad stuff.

Yu-Gi-Oh Aims For Our Nostalgia Glands With ‘Yugi’s Legendary Decks’

by Josh Jackson

This year’s Yu-Gi-Oh Legendary Collection is targeting our inner child.

Rather than include sets of cards surrounding a particular theme like in previous years, Yugi’s Legendary Decks supplies duelists with three different 41 card decks, each of which covering a different story arc from the original Yu-Gi-Oh animated series.

Following the evolution of Yugi’s decks, from his Exodia and Dark Magician focused deck in the Duelist Kingdom arc, to his Knight and Magnet Warrior set in Battle City, and all the way to his final battle against The Pharaoh, Atem, focusing on the progressively stronger Silent Magician cards, this set is perfect for those with fond memories of the series from years past, or collectors who want to wield the power of these cards in their new forms.

Yugi's Legendary Decks Arkana Dark MagicianThe prize card of (Steve) Akana

Speaking of which, many of these reprinted cards will now come with different rarities or art styles, like every piece of Exodia being printed as an Ultra Rare, or the long sought after red Dark Magician used by Arkana. Adding to an already huge set of 123 cards are extra cards throughout Yugi’s history, such as the three God Cards and the Duelist Kingdom prize cards. Sadly, Glory Of The King’s Hand can’t be traded in for one million dollars, so you’re going to have to find another way to pay for your sister’s eye operation.

Yugi's Legendary Decks Glory Of The King's HandNot redeemable for actual money.

If legacy cards aren’t your thing, the set will also debut three new cards that offer more support, like Black Illusion, which protects Dark Spellcasters with 2000 or more attack points from being destroyed by battle or card effects. All this for an MSRP of $29.99. Heart of the cards not included.

For all the details, check out the press release below, then let us know what you think of this set in the comments section!

 

Just in time for the holiday gift-giving season, Konami Digital Entertainment, Inc. (KONAMI) delivers a must-have product for fans on November 13 with Yugi’s Legendary Decks. This latest Yu-Gi-Oh! TRADING CARD GAME (TCG) release is a magnificent collector’s set which contains three different Decks used by the “King of Games” himself, plus several unique, collectible foil cards, all in one gold foil-stamped box. With Yugi’s Legendary Decks, Yu-Gi-Oh! fans can re-live the memorable Duelist Kingdom and Battle City storylines with the Decks that Yugi used to defeat his rivals, rescue his Grandpa from Pegasus, protect the Pharaoh’s legacy, and save the entire world from the maniacal menace of Marik!

 

This remarkable box set is overflowing with dozens upon dozens of fan-favorite and collectible cards, easily pleasing both the veteran or budding Duelist. Filled with iconic cards such as Black Luster Solider, all five pieces of Exodia, the Forbidden One all in the Ultra Rare rarity, Valkyrion the Magna Warrior, and the special, long-awaited Arkana-style Dark Magician, each box set includes three different 41-card Decks. The first Deck is one used by Yugi in the debut season of the original Yu-Gi-Oh! animated series, including his initial Duel with Seto Kaiba and his adventures in Duelist Kingdom. The second Deck is inspired by Yugi’s Duels in the Battle City story arc from the second and third seasons of the original Yu-Gi-Oh! animated series.  Not to be outdone, the third 41-card Deck was used by Yugi as he battled The Pharaoh in the final Duel of the original series, focused on “Gadget” monsters and the “Silent” series of “LV” monsters.

 

As if three 41-card Decks weren’t enough, Yugi’s Legendary Decks also includes three brand-new Secret Rare cards: Electromagnetic Turtle, Dark Renewal, and Black Illusion; three Ultra Rare collectible (non-playable) historical cards celebrating the Duelist Kingdom storyline, including Glory of the King’s Hand, Set Sail for The Kingdom, and the Duelist Kingdom itself; and three Ultra Rare collectible (non-playable) Egyptian God Cards: Slifer the Sky Dragon, Obelisk the Tormentor, and The Winged Dragon of Ra. Plus, KONAMI has added one  Ultra Rare “Yugi” Token Card to top it off. Yugi’s Legendary Decks will be available nationwide for $29.99 MSRP.

Take A Sneak Peak At The Yu-Gi-Oh ‘Dimension of Chaos’ Booster Set This Weekend!

by Josh Jackson

Are you a duelist who needs something to do this Halloween weekend? Konami has you covered with a few treats of their own, thanks to the upcoming Dimension of Chaos booster set. Officially releasing on November 6th, card players will be able to get their usual sneak peak of the set this weekend at participating card and hobby shops.YuGiOh Dimension Of Chaos Box

Typically sold in sets of five boosters and bundled with a special promotional card for $19.99, the event will give Yu-Gi-Oh enthusiasts a first look at the new cards that will grace the game. From the introduction of Majespecters, Pendulum Monsters that use their spell casting prowess to avoid being destroyed by the effects of other Monsters, and Graydles, who can take control of other Monsters, there promises to be plenty of new strategies to rise out of the set. Plus, with the return of past archtypes like Odd-Eyes, Performapal and the popular Blackwings from the 5D’s days, existing decks are sure to get a much needed boost as well!

However, no individual card may be as sought after as much as Black Luster Soldier- Super Soldier, which I can only assume is the Black Luster Solider with its best Captain America costume just in time for Halloween. What’s really scary is its ability to punish opponents who destroy it. All you need is the right ritual conditions to bring it out!

Black Luster Soldier Super Soldier

Check out the full press release below for all the details on the upcoming set. Do you plan on attending one of the sneak peaks? Let us know in the comments!

 

Konami Digital Entertainment, Inc. (KONAMI) doles out the treats with the Dimension of Chaos booster set, releasing nationwide November 6. Yu-Gi-Oh! TRADING CARD GAME (TCG) fans can also get into the Halloween spirit by checking out the Dimension of Chaos Sneak Peek on October 31. The latest 100-card set features brand-new support for the powerful Black Luster Soldier and more, sure to elicit a scream from any opponent.

 

Dimension of Chaos gives Duelists the opportunity to power-up their Decks with an enormous arsenal of cards allowing players to make Black Luster Soldier more powerful than ever!  Plus, impressive Monster, Spell, and Trap cards bring Black Luster Soldier front and center, culminating in the powerful Black Luster Soldier – Super Soldier, a powerful Monster that punishes an opponent should they dare destroy it.

 

Dimension of Chaos also introduces cards for brand-new Deck themes sure to make Duels more exciting than ever. Players can create powerful new strategies with the Majespecters, spell-casting Pendulum Monsters that can’t be destroyed by an opponent’s Monster effects, or take control of an opponent’s Monsters with Graydles. New cards for existing themes like Blackwings, D/D, Kozmo, Frightfur, Performapal, Igknights, Odd-Eyes and much more make this set no Duelist will want to be without.

 

As another treat for fans, and a great way for them to get their hands on the latest cards early, participating Official Tournament Store (OTS) locations will be holding Sneak Peeks of Dimension of Chaos on either Saturday, October 31 or Sunday, November 1, depending on the availability of the store. Visit this link to see if an Official Tournament Store in your area is hosting a Sneak Peek: http://www.yugioh-card.com/en/events/sneakpeek.html.

 

The Dimension of Chaos booster set includes 100 cards (MSRP $3.99 per nine-card pack): 48 Common Cards, 20 Rare Cards, 14 Super Rare Cards, 10 Ultra Rare Cards, and 8 Secret Rare Cards.

Geekscape Games Podcast: Level 51 – ‘The One Where Shane Is On Time?’

by GeekscapeStaff

Join Derek, Josh, Juan and Shane as they discuss the last week in video games!

Subscribe to us in iTunes!

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This Week:

Hideo Kojima Drama.

Activision delays PS3 & Xbox 360 versions of Tony Hawk Pro Skater 5.

Harmonix putting up fake reviews of Rockband.

Pokken Tournament not doing so well in Japanese arcades.

Assassin’s Creed: Syndicate review emargo’d lifted.

Trillion God of Destruction announced for the west.

Guitar Hero: Live.

Metal Gear Solid 5.

Amnesia: Memories.

Yoshi’s Wooly World.

Fatal Frame.

Pokemon Mystery Dungeon.

FAST Racing Neo.

Geekscape Giveaway’s:

We’re giving away a copy of Tale’s From The Borderlands! Listen to this week’s episode to find out how to win!

This Week’s Listener Mission Objective:

If you could play a Telltale style game based on any property, what would it be?

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@dkraneveldt

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UPDATE: It’s Official: Hideo Kojima Leaves Konami; Becomes Free Agent In December

by Shane O'Hare

We all knew it was coming. There were plenty of rumors floating around about the legendary developers status at the company, but on October 9th Hideo Kojima left the studio he had worked at for almost 30 years for the last time.

In a writeup by The New Yorker, and insider at the company was in attendance at a going away ceremony for the legend. He said that the overall air of the event was “a rather cheerful but also emotional goodbye.”. He went on to mention the Konami’s President Hideki Hayakawa and it’s CEO Sadaaki Kaneyoshi were not in attendance. Not really a surprise is it?

The article goes on to talk about WHY Konami is doing what it’s doing. Nothing knew if you’re an avid gamer, but the long and the short of it is this: Mobile games are cheap to make, and micro transactions are insanely popular. With the first year of Konami’s mobile game “Dragon Collection” a boost of profits in the neighborhood of 80%! What would you do if you were Konami and you were looking at all that juicy Yen?

Kojima’s non-compete clause is up in December, and he becomes a free agent. You KNOW the entire industry will be clamoring to hire the developer.

Where would YOU like to see Kojima go? What company would utilize his abilities the most?

UPDATE

As of the writing of this piece, Kotaku published a translated article from TokyoSports (which directly quotes Gamespot)[There is a lot of fucking quoting and referencing going on with this whole deal.] that Konami official are directly refuting the statement that Kojima is done with the company.

Currently, Kojima and the development team are finished developing Metal Gear Solid V and are taking a long time off from work. (When asked about the going away party their response was) We’re not sure what kind of thing this was.

So maybe Kojima is still sticking around with Konami? The “vacation” line can be speculated that this is just a long gradual fadeout, as the company has a habit of taking employees and redeploying them at other posts, such as janitors or assembly line workers.

Guess we’ll know for sure in November if Kojima is working over at Nintendo.

UPDATE

This picture recently surfaced from Twitter. Looks like a going away party to me!

CRvvlQ8WwAAWZar (1)

Take A Sneak Peak At The Upcoming Yu-Gi-Oh ‘High Speed Riders’ Booster Set!

by Josh Jackson

As we posted last week, the next Yu-Gi-Oh expansion, High Speed Riders, is right around the corner. Promising to bring back some of the most popular cards of the 5D’s era, (focusing especially on some of Jack Atlas’ trademark monsters,) while introducing new monsters, spells, traps and archtypes to boost your deck, is it hard to see why we’re excited?

We got the chance to open up some preview boosters packs from the set, where we found a good mix of old an new cards alike, with the classics getting some surprising rarity changes to go with their repackaging. Here’s what we pulled from our four boosters:

 

 High Speed Riders 1

 

Common:

Red Dragon Archfiend

Synkron Resonator

PSY-Framegear Alpha

Serene Psychic Witch

Speedroid Menko

Krebons

Speedroid Double Yoyo

Dark Resonator

Speedroid Tri-Eyed Dice

PSY-Framegear Epsilon

Armoroid

Mystical Space Typhoon

Future Glow

Psychokinesis

Resonator Call

Synchro Cracker

Psychic Overload

Red Cocoon

Supercharge

Rare:

Speedroid Razorang

Speedroid Ohajikid

Shock Surprise

Dice Roll Battle

Super Rare:

Speedroid Terrortop

Hot Red Dragon Archfiend

Stardust Spark Dragon

Speed Recovery

Click below to see close ups of our Rare and Super Rare pulls:

 

 

As a nostalgia junkie, it’s great to see these 5D’s cards getting more love, complete with their straight reprints, or added support from some of the new cards featured. Even then, the best is yet to come, with featured cards like Goyo Predator, PSY-Framelord Omega, and Hot Red Dragon Archfiend Abyss still eluding us. Let’s just say you’ll know what we’ll be tearing open on the October 2nd release date.

The full set includes:

27 Commons

12 Rares

10 Super Rares

6 Ultra Rares

5 Secret Rares

Do any duelists have questions about the cards we pulled? Let us know in the comments! High Speed Riders launches on October 2nd at an MSRP of $3.99 per pack, and will include nine cards each.

Geekscape Games Podcast: Level 46 – ‘The One Where We Don’t Talk About Destiny’

by GeekscapeStaff

Join Derek, Josh and Shane as they discuss the last week in video games!

Subscribe to us in iTunes!

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This Week:

Konami ceasing all AAA console titles.

Mighty No. 9 Beta delayed.

Third party QA companies warn of buggy games this holiday.

No Divas Revolution For WWE 2K16.

Star Fox Zero delayed.

Tokyo Game Show roundup.

Persona 4 Dancing All Night.

Amnesia.

Disney Infinity 3.0.

This War of Mine iOS.

Metal Gear Solid V Ground Zeroes.

From The Depths.

Grand Theft Auto Online.

This Week’s Listener Mission Objective:

What retro console would you most like to collect for?

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@dkraneveldt

@InuJoshua

@TheKingOfMars

@shaneohare

The Yu-Gi-Oh 2015 Mega Tins Release Today!

by Josh Jackson

Attention, duelists! This year’s round of 2015 Mega Tins are now available, and they’re offering plenty of ways to spruce up your deck.

For those unfamiliar, Yu-Gi-Oh tins are holiday packages that include a variety of booster packs, one guaranteed card that were previously hard to find, and a specially designed tin to hold your cards in. While previous years offered a tiered release of four sets, this year will only see the release of the Odd-Eyes Pendulum Dragon and Dark Rebellion Xyz Dragon sets, so if you were thinking about holding off for a different set of tins, you’d be wise to pick these up before they’re gone instead.

To compensate, each tin will have two rare cards included in addition to three Mega Packs. Every Odd-Eyes tin will include a Super Rare Elder Entity Norden and Majesty’s Fiend, while the Dark Rebellion tin contains a Super Rare Old Entity Hastorr and Castel, the Skyblaster Musketeer. Outside of these promised cards, each Mega Pack contains 16 cards, including 12 Commons and one of each type of Rare, using cards from previous booster sets. Retailing at $19.99, it’s not a bad deal for the Yu-Gi-Oh players out there.

Which tin are you going with? Why not both? Let us know what you hope to get out of these sets, and check out the full press release below for all the details.

 

Yu-Gi-Oh! TRADING CARD GAME (TCG) Duelists clamoring for more awesome cards to add to their portfolios are in luck as Konami Digital Entertainment, Inc. (KONAMI), the manufacturer of the multiple world record-holding Yu-Gi-Oh! TCG, unveils the 2015 Mega-Tins on September 18. Back by popular demand, the 2015 Mega-Tins deliver a fantastic compilation of cards, featuring cards taken from a year’s worth of booster sets, several brand-new cards, and a handful of valuable variant cards – making this a set that is perfect for both beginning players and for seasoned Duelists.

 

Two cool Tin designs will be available for players, one featuring Odd-Eyes Pendulum Dragon and the other featuring Dark Rebellion Xyz Dragon. Both monsters are from the newest generation of the Yu-Gi-Oh! TV series, Yu-Gi-Oh! ARC-V, and are each available in their respective Tins as a valuable Platinum Secret Rare!

 

Each Tin includes three 16-card Mega-Packs, each containing 12 Commons, 1 Rare, 1 Super Rare, 1 Ultra Rare, and 1 Secret Rare with cards taken from past releases of booster sets including Primal Origin, Duelist Alliance, The New Challengers, and Secrets of Eternity.  The Odd-Eyes Pendulum Dragon Tin also contains one Super Rare Elder Entity Norden and one Super Rare Majesty’s Fiend. The Dark Rebellion Xyz Dragon Tin contains one Super Rare Old Entity Hastorr and one Super Rare Castel, the Skyblaster Musketeer. This will be the only Tin release this year so Duelists will want to get both designs before they sell-out. Each Tin will be available at retailers nationwide for $19.99 MSRP. Each Tin is sold separately.

The New ‘Synchron Extreme’ Structure Deck Takes Yu-Gi-Oh Back To The 5D’s Era!

by Josh Jackson

Now that Xyz, and more recently, Pendulum Summoning, has become the new way to play in the world of Yu-Gi-Oh, that doesn’t mean that Synchros have been forgotten. Debuting alongside the 5D’s anime and manga series in 2008, Synchro’s changed the game by allowing duelists to special summon powerful monsters with unheard of special abilities by using special tuner monsters, avoiding needing a special Spell or Ritual card to call them out.

In the nearly 10 years since they changed the game, Synchros have become less and less common, but that might change with the recent release of Synchron Extreme, the latest structure deck based around former protagonist, Yusei Fudo’s, signature monsters. Packaged with 10 brand new cards like Jet Synchron and Rush Warrior, old favorites which include Speed Warrior and Junk Synchron, and the brand new ace monster, Stardust Warrior, who can prevent opposing special summons on top of wielding an impressive 3000 attack points, and you have the perfect deck if you want to learn how to use Synchros, or if you want some competitive muscle to compete with the newer sets on the shelves.

YuGiOh Synchron Extreme Synchron Warrior

Including 44 cards in total, including two Ultra Rares and three Super Rares, this deck sounds like $10 well spent for any nostalgic duelist out there. Check out the full press release below, and let us know what your favorite Synchro Monster is below!

 

Inspired by Yusei Fudo’s Deck from the Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D’s manga and anime series, Synchro Summoning is at the forefront of the new Synchron Extreme Structure Deck.  And, with Synchro Summoning, comes Monsters and lots of them – three new Synchro Monsters make their debut in this set. Rounding out this new release, the Synchron Extreme Structure Deck contains a whopping 10 brand-new cards which includes two Ultra Rare Cards and three new Super Rare cards!

 

Duelists know that Synchro Summoning depends on swarming the playing field with lower level Monsters like Speed Warrior and Junk Synchron, letting players easily Synchro Summon a more powerful Monster to the field.  Helping to make things a bit more interesting at the game table, Synchron Extreme Structure Deck introduces brand-new Monsters like Jet Synchron and Rush Warrior letting players more easily Summon Synchro Monsters like Stardust Warrior, a behemoth with 3000 ATK and the power to prevent opposing Special Summons or Special Summon other Synchro Monsters.

 

This 44-card Deck includes cards that meet the needs of experienced players and those relatively new to the game. Additionally, this set will have excellent synergy with Legendary Collection 5D’s and the upcoming High-Speed Riders Booster Set. The Synchron Extreme Structure Deck (MSRP: $9.99 per Deck) contains 39 Common Cards, two Ultra Rare Cards, three Super Rare Cards, a Dueling Guide, a Rulebook and Deluxe Game Mat.

PSA: Your ‘Metal Gear Solid V: Phantom Pain’ Save Data Can Get Corrupted; Here’s How To Avoid It!

by Shane O'Hare

Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain is easily one of the most popular games this year. Even some of the best games can experience bugs, much like the one in MGSV.

Under specific circumstances, the save file of your game can halt and or get corrupted. Konami dishes on their blog today with what is the cause, and how to avoid losing your precious progress.

In “METAL GEAR SOLID V: THE PHANTOM PAIN” which was released on September 1st, 2015 there is a possibility that the game stops progress if having Quiet as a buddy while playing “Mission 29” or “Mission 42”. This situation can be avoided by not using Quiet as a buddy while playing either “Mission 29” or “Mission 42”.

 

We deeply apologize, and appreciate your patience for further announcements regarding this issue.

 

This issue is known to be present for Xbox360, XboxOne, PlayStation 3, PlayStation 4 and Steam.

Seems like an easy thing to avoid, no word on a patch or a hotfix from Konami.

Konami Removes ‘Metal Gear Solid V’ Fan Art On Twitter For Copyright

by The_acz

https://twitter.com/all_snake/status/638215295396655104

Oh Konami, what on earth happened to you? What used to be a once great and revolutionary company that helped change the face of gaming has now become an empty former shell of what it originally was.

Everything from them splitting ways with MGS creator Hideo Kojima, to announcing a full on aggressive assault to only make mobile and pachinko games, Konami seems to have all but abandon their fans and common sense.

To continue in the path of recent blunders, the company seems to have found a new hobby, hating fan art. Just recently, a fan going by the twitter name @all_snake decided to draw some fan art of the recently released game, even catching eye of Kojima himself. Obviously Konami wasn’t too happy with people enjoying their products and showing their love for it, because after a couple of days, the image was no more.

While I wish I could be surprised by this, it’s just sad to see a company near and dear to many fall from grace so hard. I guess it’s only a matter of time before Konami starts suing people for playing the game itself.

A Super Violent ‘Castlevania’ Animated Mini-Series Is On The Horizon!

by Shane O'Hare

The timing on this news couldn’t be MORE poignant, since on this week’s Geekscape we asked you what Nintendo series would you like seen made into a movie and by which director. While not a NINTENDO first party, Castlevania III: Dracula’s Curse is getting moved onto celluloid!

Producer Adi Shankhar (Power/Rangers, Punisher: Dirty Laundry, Voices) has a flair for the violent and over the top. So when it was announced that he was joining up with animation house Frederator (Adventure Time, Fairly OddParents, Chalkzone) we couldn’t have been more excited!

 

In an interview with Collider this morning, Shankar said:

There will be a lot [Violence]. The goal is to bring hard hitting anime to the America and be America’s first animated series for adults.

He went on to say that he wants the show to have the look and feel of classic Anime’s like Akira and Ninja Scroll.

I can’t be MORE hype for this project! Shankar really knows how to bring out the good in his projects, and fans of Castlevania III are all much older now and can appreciate the extra violence he is sure to bring.

No word on release date or anything, but keep an eye out here on Geekscape because you can GUARANTEE I will be keeping you up on the project!

The ‘Metal Gear Solid V’ Launch Trailer Is A Sombre Goodbye To The Series

by Derek Kraneveldt

Briefly: I never realized how emotional this moment would be.

The launch trailer for Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain has just debuted online, and more than an exciting trailer for what’s bound to be one of the best games of the year (if not the generation), this final Hideo Kojima-directed video feels like the lauded director’s sombre goodbye to his baby.

Since the first time that I played Metal Gear Solid as an eight year old in 1998, I’ve been enthralled with the series, its incredible characters, its mind-blowing gameplay, and even its convoluted and confusing story.

Now, with Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain. Hideo’s vision is all but coming to an end. After his falling out with Konami which also led to Silent Hills getting the axe, it’s pretty safe to say the next game from the creator will be picked up by another publisher.

The trailer takes us through quick glimpses of each main-series Metal Gear title, all while depressing, minor-keyed music plays in the background. Afterwards, we get a glimpse of a gigantic new Metal Gear which looks like a tough-as-nails opponent. Quick credits reveal Kojima’s name about 100 times (which would be 100 times more than the box art will), and then it all fades to black.

Anyone else wish they could give Kojima a hug?

Take a look at the trailer below, and let us know what you think. Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain releases on September 1st.

Guillermo Del Toro Will Never Work On A Video Game Again

by Derek Kraneveldt

Briefly: This is truly the darkest timeline.

Just a year ago, PS4 players everywhere were being scared shitless by Lisa and the countless terrors of the dreaded hallway in P.T., a new ‘indie’ title that actually turned out to be a ‘Playable Teaser’ for Silent Hills.

The game was set to reboot the once venerable and now beyond mediocre horror series, and was to be an incredible collaboration between three fantastic artists, Hideo Kojima, Guillermo Del Toro, and Norman Reedus.

Then, shit hit the fan, the game was cancelled, Konami all but stopped making video games (a hyperbole, but barely), and we heard rumours that Del Toro and Kojima still wanted to work together on a gaming project.

Del Toro just revealed that that’s never going to happen. In an interview with Shack News, he said the following:

I have proven to be the albatross of video games. I joined THQ, and THQ goes broke. I join Kojima, and Kojima leaves Konami. I have decided, in order not to destroy anyone else’s life, I have decided I will never again get involved in video games. Otherwise, I’ll join someone and his house will explode, or something.”

Has 2015 been the worst year for video game news? Is there a year that’s had anything worse happen? Or has it just hit me especially hard because I’m a Silent Hill fan?

Do you hope to see another Del Toro and Kojima-less Silent Hill game? Even with the series’ recent track record? Sound out below.

Geekscape Games Reviews ‘Yu-Gi-Oh: Legacy Of The Duelist’

by Josh Jackson

Platforms: PS4, Xbox One (Digital Only, Reviewed On Xbox One)

Genre: Trading Card Game

Price: $20.00

Publisher: Konami

Developer: Other Ocean Interactive

Available: Now

What used to be a franchise where multiple releases across nearly every platform every year was considered a sure thing, the world of Yu-Gi-Oh has really dialed it back in the video game department in recent years. For many, (including myself,) the games were always a great tool to gain access to hundreds of potential strategies to experiment with, while developing a firm grasp of new rules as the game evolved. With the recent release of Yu-Gi-Oh: Legacy Of The Duelist, the first game in the series for PS4 and Xbox One is a return to form for the long running series, serving as the most comprehensive game yet! Despite its card pool that reaches over a decade back and heaps of nostalgia however, a few head scratching snags keep it from being the Duelist Kingdom we were hoping for.

YuGiOh Legacy of the Duelist Review Screen 1

Pendulum Summoning is one of many summoning types in the game.

As mentioned, Yu-Gi-Oh: Legacy of the Duelist goes as far back as the beginning of the series, all the way up to cards that were released early this year. With over 6,600 cards in total,this is easily the most comprehensive console version released up to this point. If you don’t know the difference between a Blue Eyes White Dragon or a Galaxy Eyes Photon Dragon, if you think Xyz is a dragon cannon, or if the last time your dueled was when you were getting your game on with Jaden in GX, this is far from a problem. Thanks to the game’s campaign mode, (where the bulk of the single player content lies,) each of its four main stories contain about 25 duels, all of which cover the most important events through each anime series. Using text dialogue ripped straight from the show, jumping into each generation starts off with a comprehensive tutorial explaining the new mechanics that were debuted at the time. Even though it’s annoying that veterans can’t skip these, or that the first series has such a long explanation of the most basic mechanics, (I probably wouldn’t be playing if I didn’t know what a Normal Summon is,) its an invaluable tool for those who dropped out throughout the years and want to get caught up with the game a little bit at a time.

Story mode often serves as a game of patience, which in some ways, simulates the struggles each character faced on the show. These scenarios give the player a Story Deck that simulates the cards that were actually used in the episodes they’re drawn from, which can be a blessing and a curse. On one hand, though the decks do have a fair amount of cards they never used, (which is expected when episodes only featured about a dozen cards out of a 40 card deck,) but are mostly accurate, with each staple monster, spell and trap making an appearance. On the other hand, these decks SUCK by today’s standards, especially when starting with the early series. Their only saving grace, (often to our detriment,) is that single player throws ban lists out the window, so its not uncommon to be sent into a deck kicking rage after enduring multiple Dark Hole, Raigeki, and Swords Of Revealing Light cards. Luckily, your opponent’s deck is usually worse, but that luck runs out when it comes to Reverse Duels, unlockable battles where you take control of the losing character. Using their Story Decks makes it almost impossible to win, often having to rely on “the heart of the cards”, to sneak away with a victory. This is why the campaign giving you the option to use custom decks is a gift from Ra, because some of these duels would be almost impossible to beat otherwise. Then again, relying on them took away from the fun found in playing with cards you might never use on your own.

Winning unlocks new Booster Packs based on certain character, cards from the defeated Duelist’s deck, and points to buy new cards with. Lastly, if you want to face these protagonists of the past with a little more challenge, Duelist Challenges allow you to play against them with updated decks. Seeing Kaiba and Yugi using Synchro and Xyz summoning is a sight within itself, while keeping an already lengthy single player mode fresh. If all this content isn’t enough, some of the missing story duels are featured as DLC, many of which had no business being left out, (Jaden vs. Yugi anyone!?) Basically, if it wasn’t featured on U.S. TV, you’re going to have to pay extra for it.

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Key moments from the anime play out with dialogue ripped from the show’s script.

Duels themselves take the form of a variety of phases per turn, with each card having different functions as each phase goes by. Without going too far into detail, each card falls into one of three types. Monsters are used to attack or defend against your opponent, (most of which come with secondary effects,) Spell Cards unleash effects that have the potential to turn a duel around in the user’s favor, and Trap Cards spring surprise effects on the opponent, usually putting a stop to their moves. Speaking of Traps, (and Quick Spells for that matter,) unless you’re brand new to the game, you might want to switch the default settings for Duel Notifications off. Unless of course, you want the game to ask you half a dozen times per turn if you want to use it. It’s all pretty straightforward presentation and game play wise, but the only real issue I came across was with how slow the game moves. Previous versions had ways to speed up turn animations or skip them outright, whereas Next Gen gaming doesn’t seem to have the option to do so. And while seeing signature cards come to life and attack using 3D models, these just drag the game out after you’ve seen them repeatedly with no way to pass them by.

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Elemental Hero Neos makes his entrance. Oddly, Flame Wingman doesn’t get the same treatment.

As a real duelist, part of the reason some have had trouble getting into the game is those handful of players with bad attitudes. As we know, the Internet tends to make this attitude so much worse, which is why the acceptable Online Mode is best played with people you know. If you’re expecting to have fun, competitive matches with players around the world, you’ll surely be disappointed by the large amount of rage quitting that takes place. While I wouldn’t normally hold this against the game itself, the fact that it doesn’t give the remaining player the win, or even that it takes so long to make the win official, it gives quitters so much time to sneak away with their record clean. Since there’s no way to Mind Crush over Xbox Live or PSN, avoiding them or accepting this fact going in are your only solutions.

TEST Yu-Gi-Oh! Legacy of the Duelist_20150519030734

Online play is fun with friends. With strangers, prepare for rage quits.

With so many cards, even veteran duelists might feel a little overwhelmed with gathering the best cards for their deck building needs. Thankfully, the game is generous with its allocation, giving you a variety of ways to unlock them. Primarily, cards are purchased from the Booster Packs mentioned above using Duel Points, (or DP,) which are rewarded for playing and winning duels. Outside of the character packs, Battle Packs make their video game debut, which mirror their real life purpose of building decks right out of the pack. Featuring some of the best cards in the game, Battle Packs test your duel knowledge, forcing you to play a best three out of five series either against the CPU or other players with the same blind deck. Win or lose, you keep the cards for your own deck building needs. Character packs provide their reward immediately, with each set being loaded with cards from each generation. Sadly, with a new console generation comes some of its annoyances, since many of the very best and most up to date cards are locked behind DLC pay walls.

Yet, while having thousands of cards is definitely a great thing, Legacy Of The Duelist‘s biggest flaw is how poorly it handles card management. For one, there are far too few Character Packs, so each one is full of archetypes that the booster’s namesake never used. For example, if Pegasus had his own pack featuring Toons and Relinquished instead of them being forced into Kaiba’s packs, it would make it easier for Seto’s fans to gather up Blue Eyes cards rather than plod through a ton of cards they don’t want. This wouldn’t be a huge problem normally, but the game does a terrible job of filtering out repeats, leaving me opening packs with three of the same card at times. With each set containing hundreds of cards, it makes it almost impossible to get that one card you’re desperate to find without potential hours of pack grinding.

Oh, and the worst part? There is no in game card list telling you what’s in each pack. That’s right, absolutely none! The cards you buy don’t tell you where they came from, and there’s no list telling you if you’re missing anything. With so many cards available, this creates a huge problem for those who want to keep track of where to get more than one of the same card, or who wants to let their friends know where they can find their favorite cards. The only sign of relief is that beating the CPU duelists repeatedly will eventually reward you with their entire deck, but this answer is far from ideal. An online trading system, a card password system like what was used in the past, or a simple list would have gone a long way to improve this aspect of the game. Instead, it serves as its biggest flaw in an otherwise comprehensive title.

TEST Yu-Gi-Oh! Legacy of the Duelist_20150514225607

Does anyone know who drops a Dark Magician!?

Featuring over 6,600 cards spanning nearly 15 years of history, including the newest Pendulum Summon mechanic from the Arc-V era and the debut of Battle Packs, there’s plenty of reason for new and old duelists alike to be excited for Yu-Gi-Oh: Legacy of the Duelist. Best used as a tool to get back into the game, learn it for the first time, and test out a near limitless vault of cards before buying the cards for yourself, it serves its purpose well. A nostalgia filled campaign will keep you playing for hours while Duelist Challenges update the game for your favorites, but its poor online management, thoughtless card management system, slower pace and DLC locked content keep it from being the true king of games. Still, if you wanted an excuse to get your feet wet in the dueling arena, there isn’t a better way to learn the game than Legacy of the Duelist.

tl;dr:

+ Over 6,600 cards to use, featuring nearly limitless possibilities.

+ Comprehensive tutorials that explain the new mechanics from each generation in a progressive, easy to understand way.

+ A lengthy campaign mode skims every anime series thus far, using mostly authentic decks. Challenge Duels update these characters with modern cards, keeping your favorite characters relevant.

+ Battle Packs make their first video game appearance, creating an unpredictable way to play.

– Duels move slow, with unskippable animations for certain Monsters.

– Online is poorly handled, creating an environment where its easy to rage quit with no reward for the winner.

– Booster Packs contain far too many cards, making it hard to find your favorites. Having no card list to keep track of your finds make this so much worse, and the lack of a trading or password system means tons of grinding.

– Key cards and story duels locked behind a DLC paywall.

 

Verdict: Buy

Final Score: 3/5

E3 2015: MGS5 ‘Metal Gear V: The Phantom Pain’

by Megan Haley

Konami seems to be the center of consistent controversy in the gaming world over the last few years. Fans were shocked when the news broke all the way back in 2013 of the creative decision to pick Keifer Sutherland as the new voice of Big Boss over the classic Snake/Big Boss actor since the debut of the Solid series, David Hayter. Along with the announcement and whirlwind cancellation of the highly anticipated Silent Hills coupled with Hideo Kojima’s abrupt release from the production company, hardcore fans’ confidence on the future of their beloved Konami franchises have been shaken. What does the future hold for the beloved franchise with creator Hideo Kojima off of future projects? Well, we didn’t get a hands on at the show with what seems to be his final game with Konami, but from what we saw of the live gameplay demo, things are actually looking pretty “solid.”

If you weren’t a big fan of Ground Zeroes, you are in for some disappointment, unfortunately. Even the presenter during the live demo confirmed it will be much of the same. There is a main base referred to as the ACC, or Arial Command Center, where you prepare for a number of different assignments. From here, you can customize your weapons to a minute amount of detail with “practically limitless” possibilities. You can also look at pictures of your teammate, Quiet, (among other things), which are pinned to the wall, or look through your missions and collected arsenal. The game is an open world map with mission-based objectives which can be completed in any order. One new feature of the game is to bring along a side-kick character. We were introduced to D-Horse and D-Dog which could be taken onto the field to assist Boss with completing his mission objectives. You also have the choice of a vehicle to bring with you. We were shown a tank and a jeep, the latter of which was ultimately chosen alongside the D-dog and a morning drop.

Metal Gear Solid V E3 2015 Image 2

Speaking of, when you set off for a mission, you will have the option of a drop time. You can choose to be dropped right that moment in in-game time, a morning drop, or a night drop, which will ultimately affect your mission. While you are out on the field, realistic weather conditions, including sandstorms, can limit visibility while altering the way you will play at random and in real-time.

When Boss was shown driving in the jeep, it was seamless and smooth. The landscape had gorgeous detail and you could really feel the heat of the desert area where the player was dropped. Once the mission target was reached, there was some dialogue that occurred on how to best complete the mission objective for that location. Verbal cues would trigger when objectives were met and advice was given from your base as the mission progressed. D-Dog had the ability to locate enemies from a distance and attack and stun enemies without alerting them to Boss’ presence. Combining this with the extremely dynamic combat, the audio and visual qualities and the return of the classic “CQC” take-down ability makes defeating enemies a truly satisfying experience.

Metal Gear Solid V E3 2015 Image 1

The Fulton Device originally introduced in MGS: Peace Walker also makes a return. In the demo that was shown, the player was tasked with capturing a Russian interpreter to be taken back to base and tasked with translation of enemy conversations. Mission objectives and targets of interest will be mapped and marked by your HUD as they are discovered. Occasionally, you might come across a friendly in peril, and you have the option to rescue them and Fulton them out of harms way and back to base.

One feature includes collectible music recordings that you may find throughout the open world. During the demo, one such cassette was found after using a stealth take down on an enemy soldier and nabbing it from his radio. A la GTA, you can play the tunes you discover at will during your mission. From what we have been shown, they include a few fairly well-known songs.

The wait is almost over, Metal Gear fans. The game will be available for retail release worldwide on September 1st, 2015. Likely being the last “true” Metal Gear game, it’s one that fans won’t want to miss out on.