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Ok, ok, I have to admit that the intro to Over the Top’s NyxQuest: Kindred Spirits (embedded after the break) is about four days old by now. But, here’s some logic: if I haven’t seen it, then there’s a fair chance that some of you haven’t either. Besides, I’m willing to post some old news if it means getting the word out about this promising WiiWare title.

The game has been out in Europe for about a month, but American hopefuls are still waiting for some sort of release date. Over the Top promises that an announcement is coming "very soon."

When it does finally hit American WiiWare, at least we’ll. know what the first, say, two minutes entail: establishing the background story, told through scenes from stylized Greek pottery. Interestingly, though you play as Nyx in the game, the story is told from Icarus’ point of view, which I’m assuming means that he’s still alive. Most popular versions of the Icarus myth include him drowning to death after his waxy wings melt, but it seems that Over the Top have a different idea. I won’t tell you what that is, though: you’ll have to hit the jump to see for yourselves.

Previously known as Icarian, NyxQuest features a wind mechanic similar to  Frontier’s LostWinds — using the "powers of the gods," (which makes sense, Nyx being a nymph and all) you have the ability to control the wind. This will allow Nyx to solve puzzles, kill enemies, and do some good, ol’fashioned platforming. You can check out some gameplay footage here.

So, now that Europeans have had a month to gloat for getting it first, how many of you fine patriots are looking forward to NyxQuest?

2K Games pushing BioShock 2 into 2010 might have been a blow to some gamers, but don’t worry — you’ll have plenty to do in another 2K-published title, Gearbox Software’s Borderlands, which ships this October. 

According to Gearbox’s CEO and President Randy Pitchford, there’s going to be plenty to explore in the game’s world of Pandora. 

"If you play it like you’re a shooter gamer," he tells us, "go through only the narrative missions, you can probably get through all of them in 15 to 20 hours, if you only focus on that."

Looking to get more bang for you buck? It’s there, if you want it.

"If you explore all of the content, if you’re doing all of the side missions and all of the challenges, just kind of exploring the world and doing everything there is to do," he explains, "it’s dozens and dozens and dozens of hours."

Check back tomorrow for our full interview with Pitchford, who tells us about the game’s unique weapon system, how Joss Whedon’s Firefly influenced Borderlands, and more.

All Final Fantasy titles have a touch of quirk and whimsy in them (seriously, someone was drunk when Quina was designed), but they are, by and large, somber and melodramatic affairs. Announced last week, the most recent addition to Final Fantasy’s ever-swelling ranks, however, seems to be a little on the lighter side: A Moogle Kupo d’Etat, the latest expansion for Final Fantasy XI.  

While I’m no fan of Final Fantasy XI, the concept of it fascinates me. Its depth and scope are really intimidating, and that may be why I can’t really ease into the experience — we’re talking about a game with 18-hour boss fights, here. Everything about it would suggest some sort of cosmic, divine emergence. Just look at the titles of the expansions: Rise of the Zilart, Wings of the Goddess, The Chains of Promathia. My brain is swelling with all the hyperbole. 

And yet, the title of the latest expansion chapter is a pun. And it’s about a Moogle conspiracy.

The new trailer (after the break) promises "a madcap misadventure." Not only is a Moogle misadventure kind of a weird premise in general, it’s especially out of character for Final Fantasy XI. There is nothing madcap about fighting a boss until you vomit.

In any case, if you’re interested in playing A Moogle Kupo d’Etat, you’ll need to have downloaded the Rise of the Zilart expansion and be at least level 10. It’s the second of threee "expansion chapters," which were designed to expand on the storyline of existing locations in Vana’diel instead of adding new ones. A follow-up to A Crystalline Prophecy, the expansion is now available for pre-sale at PlayOnline.com. A Moogle Kupo d’Etat will be playable on July 20th.

Dr. Zilog is a self-described "electronica, experimental, death metal" group that, until today, I’d never heard of. That all changed when they released a chiptunes cover of Animal Collective’s "My Girls." The chiptunes version is missing the (charming) lyrics, and, in a comment thread on the band’s 8-bit Collective page, Dr. Zilog explains why: "Honestly I’m not a fan of 8-bit with vocals over it. Most of it just ends up being auto-tuned bull crap."

Even without it’s lyrics, "My Girls" is still one of the strongest tracks from Animal Collective’s Merriweather Post Pavillion, which was released earlier this year. While most of the band’s catalog sounds like a sonic mess for the first half dozen-odd listens, "My Girls" is immediately enjoyable. More impressive, however, is the 8-bit re-creation of the psychedlic music video that Dr. Zilog have cooked up (after the break).

If chiptunes covers are, like, your thing, you should also check out Dr. Zilog’s cover of MGMT’s "Kids." You can download both songs for free from 8-bit Collective. 

[Via GameSetWatch]

Original

I have to hand it to Centauri Productions, developers of Memento Mori, a new adventure game for the PC. Obscure (and often unremarkable) PC games are a dime a dozen, but they managed to catch my attention, owing mostly to the morbidly cool-sounding title.

The premise is a good, old-fashioned conspiracy: some precious works of art get stolen, and you have to Da Vinci Code your way through Europe, only to find a chilling religious secret that will likely rock the base of civilization. Y’know, basic stuff.

The premise might be a little cliché, but it’s hits a sweet spot — we all like conspiracies and shady religious orders. Besides, Got Game Entertainment (Memento Mori’s publisher) released a cinematic trailer today that’s pretty slick to boot. It doesn’t show much gameplay — which consists, I’m sure, of picking things up and looking at them bemusedly — but it sets the tone nicely.

Memento Mori was supposed to be out on July 7th (which was, uhh, earlier this week), but, according to an e-mail from Got Game, it’s being sorted out now. But, hey, if you dig on PC adventure games, you can’t really go wrong for $30.

Two Canadian provinces, Prince Edward Island and Nova Scotia, have agreed to a bare-knuckle brawl to the death, both hoping to curry the favor of Longtail Studios, an iPhone and Wii developer based in New York. Twenty-three Longtail employees currently work in a Charlottetown, P.E.I. office, but they were offered the chance to pack up and move to Halifax, Nova Scotia.

Ok, the bare-knuckle boxing bit may bit something of a hyperbole, but it’s a lot more interesting than P.E.I.’s actual plan: throwing subsidies and tax breaks at Longtail until they agree to stick around. Speaking with CBC News, P.E.I.’s Innovation Minister, Allan Campbell, mentioned that he is "concerned about the possible loss of these positions on P.E.I."

The fact that Canadian provinces even have Innovation Ministers who are willing to fight for their videogame studios — his office is currently trying "to put together a package that is attractive to the company and that incites them to remain here on P.E.I.” — might explain why Canada’s global ranking has been climbing steadily in the past few years. They’re still behind the United States and Japan, but ahead of the United Kingdom and France. As for the U.S., Georgia has also recently instituted legislation that would give its game studios tax breaks, but I wish the practice were more widespread. That is how we could have nice things.

Longtail also has offices in Quebec City, Quebec, but no one seems to be fighting over that one. ""Why Nova Scotia in particular has targeted this particular company, I’m not sure about that," continued Campbell. 

Longtail Studios was created in 2003 by Gerard Guillemot, a Ubisoft co-founder (a brother of current Ubi CEO, Yves). Their official Web site is under construction, and they’re currently hiring senior developers. Most recently, they developed Grey’s Anatomy for the Wii.

[Via Gamesindustry.biz]

Last night, I posted a tool-assisted speedrun for Square’s Final Fantasy Legend, the first game in what would eventually become the SaGa series. Like I mentioned last night, I know virtually nothing about Square’s early exploits on the Gameboy or SaGa. When reader Gen Eric Gui mentioned that Square was remaking SaGa 2 for the DS (known as Final Fantasy Legend II in North America), I was intrigued: I had no idea Square was doing another remake (although I shouldn’t be surprised), and it seems like the game had slipped right under Destructoid’s radar.

Imagine my delight, then, when some new images from the DS version of Final Fantasy Legend II popped up in Weekly Famitsu. I can’t decipher Japanese, so I have no idea what’s actually going on in these pictures, except that seem to focus primarily on the game’s enemies. However, I can give you some general information about the game.

It was announced in 2009 and is being directed by Akitoshi Kawazu, the same guy who designed the original. The game has been in the planning process since 2002, when Kawazu and his team finished re-making the original SaGa (Final Fantasy Legend) for the WonderSwan Color. The game will sport full-3D, cel-shaded sprites, designed by Gen Kobayashi (of The World Ends With You fame).

While the game will keep the original’s story and ten-hour playtime (!!), there have been a few changes. Battles are no longer random, but have been re-designed to fall more in line with later SaGa games. Now, enemies appear in the field and battles are triggered on contact. Character growth has also been re-vamped, but I hope they haven’t taken out the whole cannibalize-your-enemies-and-gain-their-strength mechanic.

The DS remake of SaGa 2: Goddess of Destiny will also get a snazzy DSi bundle, and will be released on the 17th of September, to coincide with the 20 year anniversary of the SaGa series.

I’ve also emedded the trailer after the fold. If it tickles your fancy, don’t hold your breath: the game hasn’t been announced for North American release yet.

[Via Gamekyo]

Mega-popular MMO EVE Online prides itself on its realistic, player-controlled economy. In a scarily familiar episode of games-imitating-life, EBank, EVE’s largest virtual bank, has been shut down after a former CEO embezzled 200 billion ISK from it.

Known only as "Ricdic," the former CEO is actually a 20-something Australian guy who works in the tech industry, according to Reuters. After he made off with a fat wad of virtual spacebucks, he sold them for about $5000 worth of realbucks, which he used to make a down payment on a house and pay some medical bills. I probably would’ve used the loot to buy PCP and Taiwanese ladyboys, but to each his own.

When the rest of the EVE community caught wind of the theft, things got a little nasty. According to the New York Times, 5.5 trillion ISK were quickly pulled from EBank, effectively crippling the bank’s ability to operate or give out loans. There are about 300,000 EVE users, 130,000 of which had accounts with EBank. With thousands of them clamoring to be refunded in full, some users are appealing directly to the developers for help, but CCP’s laissez-faire approach will probably preclude any sort of intervention — this wouldn’t be the first time they’ve let players sort out their own messes.

Ricdic has been banned from EVE, but not for embezzlement: trading in-game assets for cash is against EVE’s terms of service. If he had simply stolen the money and used it in game, he’d still be playing EVE. ""We have never seen ourselves as gods who make the rules of social interaction," said Eyjolfur Gudmundsson, an economics adviser to CCP. "You are able to lose the things you have created. That’s what makes the world interesting."

A married father of two, Ricdic says that, while he regrets stealing the money, he would do it again in the same situation: ""I saw that as an avenue that could be taken, and I decided to skim off the top, you could say, to overcome real life difficulties."

[Via Opposable Thumbs]

Two years ago, for the 2007 I Am 8-bit gallery, artist David Galloway (re)created Capcom’s original Mega Man on the Atari 2600. If I were picky, I would insist that Galloway’s de-make be played on an Atari 8-bit Family machine to fully do justice to the gallery’s name, but that seems like splitting pixels.

Fastfoward to last Sunday, when Galloway released a playable ROM demo on the Atari Age forums. The game consists of four vertical screens and one very tough Elecman. Since the Atari only had one button, which is used to make the Blue Bomber jump, shooting was mapped to down on the joystick. 

To get a taste for just how hard the game is, hit the jump for a gameplay video. According to Offworld’s Brandon Boyer, the player in the video is Eric Caoli of Tiny Cartridge and GameSetWatch fame. If Mega Man 2600 sounds like your cup of tea, don’t hold your breath — there were never any plans to re/de-make the entire original game. 

[via Joystiq]