The death knoll of consoles and physical media has been ringing since before this current generation of consoles hit the market. It's a long, slow knoll, but it seems that almost everyone is in agreement that its end is coming. Adding his confirmation to the pile is Square Enix CEO Yoichi Wada, who in a recent interview with MCV said his company, along with Sony and Microsoft, are ready for the shift.

“In ten years’ time a lot of what we call ‘console games’ won’t exist,” he said. Elaborating that console makers like Sony and Microsoft have already prepared for the shift and third-parties need to start doing the same. "Somewhere around 2005 the console manufacturers’ strategy shifted,” he said.

“In the past the platform was hardware, but it has switched to the network. A time will come when the hardware isn’t even needed anymore. With that, any kind of terminal becomes a potential platform on which games can be played – that’s exponential growth in the potential of gaming. The potential size of the market is enormous.”

How is Square Enix getting ready for this impending console doom? They're ramping up their production of social and browser games and using the launch of Final Fantasy IV beta as a test for how their online services will work in the future.

Not that we haven't had this debate 50 million times already, but what say you? Prepared to forsake your shiny discs for downloadable games? Ready for a future with a single "console" for your games. I know I'm holding on for dear life to every ounce of physical media I can. 

[As posted on Japanator]

Many RPGs claim to be based in some kind of high-technology science fiction-y setting, but are surprisingly devoid of the things that would likely make up a real-life future. Some RPG folks still use swords in the far future and get everywhere by walking. 

Furthermore, where is the internet? I mean, it's become such an essential part of our lives in the present, but why is it somehow excised from our future? About the only games I can think of that have made effective use of it are of the .hack series. Where are my forums, my page comments, my RSS news feeds? I need to stay up-to-date with the latest skateboarding dog videos while in the middle of a random encounter!

However, thanks to Final Fantasy XIII, which you're probably sick of hearing about, the wonderful world of online shopping is coming to its in-game "Cocoon" city-world. Thankfully, I'm not talking about microtransactions or DLC - not for real money - yet. Instead, save points inside Cocoon will allow access to an "online" item store from which characters can do the buy-and-sell.

Director Motoru Miyama thinks that it's all rather "cool" and "different from the traditional FF series," also implying that some secret characters might appear on the faux-digital storefront. Wait, what? Secret characters? We can buy people online? Perhaps FFXIII's use of the intertubes is even more realistic than I imagined...ewww.

Anyway, I hope their item shop includes product commercials. Imagine being encouraged to buy Elixirs by the videos below...

We haven't heard too much about No More Heroes 2: Desperate Struggle lately, which had me worried that the game wasn't going to make its January 2010 launch date. Seeing the ESRB rating for the game has put those worries to rest. Unless the game's publisher has a sudden change of heart, NMH2 should arrive right on schedule.

That's just the start of the good news. This ESRB rating summary for the game almost seems to be bragging about how awesome No More Heroes 2 will be. Details include talk of enemies pulling their own heads off, players being able to watch portions of Travis Touchdown's favorite anime Bizarre Jelly, and the confirmation of both breast and buttock-jiggle physics. Sorry ladies (and gentlemen), no testicle-jiggle here. Maybe you'll get your chance in No More Heroes 3.

That's not to say that the male genitalia is completely left out of the description. In fact, my favorite part of the posting relates to the entire male crotch. Specifically -- "The battery meter for Travis's sword is always represented by a cartoon-like penis icon in the upper-right corner of the screen: as battery power runs out, the icon starts to shrink—a sad face appears".

Hear that folks? The battery meter for Travis's sword isn't sometimes represented by a cartoon-like penis icon, it's always represented by a cartoon-like penis icon. GOTY 2010 confirmed?

I'm not joking. If No More Heroes 2 turns out to be anything but the most surreal, eye-popping release of 2010, I'm going to be highly disappointed. The ESRB-hype machine has done it again.

Check out the full "warning" after the jump.

[via The Examiner]

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA...ohhh, I'm sorry. One second. HAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHA... ha..ha... sorry I'm going to get to the post any second now... HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAH... It's just...did you see when the fought with trash bags? HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHHAH...ok, ok I'm done. No more... HAHAHAHAHAHAHAH... they're called upon to another dimension by...HAHAHAHAH... by a Jawbone... HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAH...flaming fists!

Oh...goodness...hold on...lemme catch my breathe. I'm OK now. I'm not gonna laugh anymore. Let's talk about how slow the fights look or check out Sean Farris's face after his name... HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA... appears. Sorry, I can't help it. Oh, Gordon Chan I'm going to have to put a lot of faith in you to go see this one. It's just... HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA... damn it! You know, what Hamza can tell you more about it. I've have to go dry my eyes.

There was a time when Robin Williams was one of the funniest people around, but, as with all great comedians other than George Burns, if they don't die young they simply start to get old and annoying. Williams is at the "family fun" stage of his career, which appeals to the older generation that grew up with him and now has kids. As such, I've lost a lot of respect for him as a comedian. Plus, whenever he's interviewed he always seems to be doing schtick. It annoys me.

However, in the above interview with Jimmy Fallon, Williams gains back a whole lot of ground by admitting that he named his daughter Zelda after the character of the same name from The Legend of Zelda series. In the brief second that Willams allows Fallon to speak Fallon asks about Williams' gaming habits (18:11). While his "routine" on ten-year-old boys insulting him in Call of Duty is older than dirt and has been done to death, you have to respect his gaming cred for naming his daughter after a famous game character. I've been informed that this may already be common knowledge, but the chance to make fun of Jimmy Fallon and Robin Williams in the same post was something I could not pass up.

While I have your attention, I've seen Old Dogs and I'd try to avoid it if you can.

Remember Tetris Party? It was that WiiWare game where you could control the falling block with your Balance Board. It also had online support and stuff. I have no idea what playing Tetris with your feet was like, but it probably wasn't really all that great. Novelty begets more novelty, however, and we are thus getting a sequel to the game.

Silconera uncovered that Germany’s USK rated Tetris Party Deluxe. From the title it sounds like the game will simply be a newer version of the original game, but with more features. In reality isn't that what almost every Tetris sequel is anyway? Maybe this time it will integrate Wii MotionPlus support for no reason at all.

Far be it from me to judge, but I have never understood the appeal of smelling like a famous person, place or thing. In fact I've never really understood the appeal of cologne in general, especially when so few men have any idea how to use it in proper amounts. Of course perfumes, or their less powerful siblings Eau de Toilet, I can understand since women seem to have the ability to not dump an entire bottle of scented liquid on themselves. Still, I'm not so sure how many ladies out there will want to smell like Lightning from Final Fantasy XIII.

Square Enix has announced that they will be releasing a Final Fantasy XIII Eau de Toilet a month after the game is released in Japan. The scent, named after the FFXIII character of the same name, will be full of sweet peach flavors that are followed by rose and a feminine musk (the good kind). 50mLs of the scent will cost 7,140 yen or $83. No U.S. release date is set yet, but if you're walking through the woman's department of your local department store and you suddenly feel like entering into a random encounter battle it means that it's probably arrived and some poor shmuck just got doused with a sample of the stuff.

Did anyone ever get a chance to smell that Cloud cologne that was announced a little while back?

[Via Japanator]

Steam is pretty much the de facto standard for PC gaming these days. Even the most retail-loyal PC gamers likely have used it in some way, shape or form. Valve's Steam-powered empire also dominates the digital distribution landscape. Brad Wardell of Stardock (which owns the Impulse digital platform) estimates that Steam has roughly 70% of market share.

But it's one thing to be the big kid in the playground. It's another to start locking the other kids out. PC gamers may recall a brief dustup over the sale of Modern Warfare 2, wherein Direct2Drive, Impulse and other digital vendors refused to stock the title due to its native use of Steamworks, which would require the installation of the Steam client, and thus the Steam storefront. 

I can see things from their point of view, certainly. Why sell a game that, once installed, provides a back door for the competition? Valve has also been lobbying hard for third-party publishers (like Activision and EA) to start including Steam's native DRM solution, which again could shut out competing services (like Impulse's Goo DRM).

Then again, the ever-outspoken Derek Smart published a very detailed counterargument on Gamasutra as to why the boycott itself was rather foolish, essentially making Modern Warfare 2 a Steam-exclusive title. The "problem," Smart claimed, was that Steamworks, as a unified suite of services for multiplayer, auto-patching, storefronts, and authentication, offers much more value to the publisher and developer. Essentially, Steam rules because it's simply better. Steam boss Jason Holtman showed the same sentiment on Gamesindustry.biz:

To our minds, we think that if you're making a good game and it's got the services a customer wants it should get out in as many channels as possible. If you have a good portal and you're good at collecting money from folks, and attracting them, there's no reason why you shouldn't be.

And I think he's right, in that sense. I choose Steam because it's awesome, and the closest PC gaming has ever come to a platform like PSN or Xbox Live, with the added advantage of there actually being competition. While the potential for abuse is there (as Randy Pitchford complains), there's always an alternative. Should Valve start to throw its weight around too much, I might just choose Impulse, since it has Sins of a Solar Empire on it. Just, for God's sake, don't sell it on Games for Windows Live. Please.

We're pretty excited about Raskulls here at Destructoid, for more than one reason. One reason we cannot yet reveal, but a more obvious reason is this -- it's just too cute! If you don't believe me, check out this fat wad of screenshots and character artwork. If you disagree even after looking at that, you're clearly mentally subnormal.

We have exclusive gameplay footage coming soon, where you get to see Rey Gutierrez and myself take this game out for a test drive with Halfbrick's Phil Larsen. Do make sure to check it out, as this mixture of 2D multiplayer racing and Mr. Driller block smashing is really worth checking out. Of this I can assure you.

[Weekend Destructainment is a collection of funny videos brought together from all across the Internet to bring you entertainment on these slow and boring weekends.]

The second episode of Machinima's new series, Critical Flaw, went up not to long ago and it sees the two main stars playing Modern Warfare 2 with Jesus. As it turns out, Jesus is a big fat cheater. What a jerk.

First up after the break is Team Fortress 2 in real life. Then see how you can beat Modern Warfare 2 in 20 seconds. Next, Mega64 travels through time to show off New Super Mario Bros. Wii. Then see how much Mr. T loves himself.

Next up is an old ad for Donkey Kong 64. Followed by an awesome 8-bit cover of "Thriller". Next, 20 Coaches rampage through Left 4 Dead 2. Then it's an old ad for the PlayStation One. The Destructainment ends with a really horrible ad for the Xbox 360.

Someone should charge Gabe Newell and Valve with conspiracy -- conspiracy to relieve PC gamers of their hard-earned cash, since the third day of Steam’s “Five-Day-Long, One-Day-Only” sale offers some more kick-ass, can’t-miss deals. Of course, you can still get the LucasArts Premier Pack and the THQ Complete Pack for $49.99 each; those prices will be in effect through Monday.

But if you missed Wednesday’s and Thursday’s deals, don’t fret -- today’s sale has games set at prices so low, you won’t be able to resist whipping out your credit card. Here are the highlights:

• Trine for $9.99 (50% off)
• Borderlands for $33.49 (33% off)
• Ghostbusters: The Video Game for $9.99 (50% off)
• Resident Evil 5 for $24.99 (50% off)
• Left 4 Dead: Game of the Year Edition for $7.49 (75% off)
• Spore for $19.99 (50% off)

Boy, Randy Pitchford wasn’t kidding when he called Steam a “money grab.” I succumbed to a few of Wednesday’s sales, so I’m going to do my best to hold off on any more Steam purchases, lest I go into debt. I’ve got to save my money for Q1 2010, which may even be more jam-packed with must-have games than this fall was.

By the way, these sales expire at 10 AM EST tomorrow -- in other words, they’ll only be valid for another 17 and a half hours. Go, go, go!

In gaming we are often (if not always) tasked with taking on the role of someone else. We put ourselves into a virtual representation, an avatar. Sometimes we're forced into a certain avatar and other times we're left alone to decide what kind of avatar we want to be in. According to a recent study the avatar we choose to play as both says something about us and can also affect how we act.

Jorge Pena, a University of Texas communication-studies professor, conducted a study called “The Priming Effects of Avatars in Virtual Settings” and concluded that if you're avatar is negative then your actions become negative as well. After having a group of gamers play Jedi Knigh II, some on the dark side and others on the light side, he also had them play in a virtual museum with some dressed as KKK members and others as doctors. After the gameplay he asked participants to write a story about an ambiguous picture or to make decisions with virtual team members dealing with problems that arose during the game. Those who played with negative avatars "consistently exhibited negative, aggressive and antisocial behaviors."

The fact that these avatars were randomly assigned means that even people who aren't normally showing those kind of negative behaviors do when they play with negative avatars. Pena is hoping that his study helps game designers make smarter decisions when creating avatar options, especially in children's games where cooperation can be taught. He also notes, quite fairly, that it isn't just videogames that can prime people like this, but all sorts of environments.

[Editor's Note: We're not just a (rad) news site -- we also publish opinions/editorials from our community & employees like this one, though be aware it may not jive with the opinions of Destructoid as a whole, or how our moms raised us. Want to post your own article in response? Publish it now on our community blogs.]

I’m a very non-confrontational person. Whenever I’m presented with a moral choice, regardless of the game, I usually end up taking the moral high ground; even when the NPCs turn out to be complete and utter dicks. Worse still, I do it even when I have irrefutable proof that the other party will screw me over once I’m done with their little favor; yet I endure whatever inconveniences it may cause me, only because I know I remain a hero in the eyes of the people that I protect. In the game, everyone likes me because I uphold an image of all that is supposedly good in the world, and for that, I feel a rewarding sense of acceptance that eludes me in the real world.

But this isn’t my story. This is a story about the other end of the spectrum, about those who take the moral low ground, those depraved souls who only gain pleasure from spreading human misery. Moral ambiguity is all the rage these days; although in most games, we’ve always had the opportunity to be jerks. The problem was, it was always detrimental to the player’s cause. “Shoot a hostage, you lose health.” Well, what if the dumb civvie just happened to run into your line of sight? “Tough Luck, aim better next time.”

Nowadays, if you want to shoot that hostage, the game will step aside and simply say “Go Right Ahead! You’ll just be awarded negative karma/dark side points/etc.” Which is fine and dandy, but it still raises a question in my mind: what happens when you get all the points you could possibly get? What if, let’s say in Fallout 3, merely completing the evil-themed side quests just wasn’t enough? 

With games costing between five and ten bucks, it seems that many developers have missed the point of PSP Minis. Really, it feels no different than the regular PlayStation Network Store, lacking those cheap, bite-sized games that the App Store has spoiled its users with.

Fortunately, not all developers have missed the point. Halfbrick's Echoes is a game that seems to understand the best type of PSP Mini. It's easy to get into, simple to control, potentially addictive and, above all, it's cheap.

Of course, just being able to "get" what a PSP Mini is does not automatically qualify a game as good, so read on as we review Echoes.