I love innovation in video games - new experiences and new ways to play. It's not what drives the industry, but it's my current favorite thing to look for when trying out a new game. Has it been done before? How is this different than everything that's come before it? If the answer is "it's just rehash!" then I really can't be bothered to play the demo or even read the current news about it.

Are you the same way? I grew up with a Commodore 64, where 2D platformers were king. For 5-7 years, I played over 100 games (my cousins were big time floppy pirates) that were basically the same style of gameplay. The C64 only has one button on the top of the joystick, so you either shot something, or jumped, or both. The games that weren't 2D platformers are the ones that became really memorable. I still remember the suspense of shooting down balloon-wearing foxes in Pooyan, and bouncing off the walls of Pitfall 2's caverns. The rest of the copycats just blended together.

I didn't realize it until I turned 30, but my favorite games of each generation were also new styles of gameplay that I had never experienced before. I spent countless hours playing Twisted Metal 2, Tekken 2 (PSX demo disc anyone?), and Final Fantasy 7. Each game seemed so innovative and fresh at the time, but with sequel after sequel and spiritual successors that have mere superficial updates, I get less and less enjoyment playing the same style of game. I finally reached a point where my pleasure-ometer reached 0 and JRPGs (once my favorite game style) began to piss me off.

There are just too many cardboard cutouts and not enough innovators in the market today. Creativity isn't rewarded with dollar signs, but the most memorable games of every console are the ones that took the biggest leaps. Will you even remember the Call of Duty sequels in 10 years? I think instead you'll remember Noby Noby Boy.



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BTW: my bro and I do a weekly podcast

Jumpmen Podcast ep 16: Orange Kryptonite's Gonna Turn Me Gay - http://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/the-jumpmen-podcast/id403075356
Topics covered: nut-kicking, Pay-for-Play demos, multi-colored Green Lanterns and orange Kryptonite, It's On Like Donkey Kong, Kinect, and the new Aquabats album

"Ho-Bot" is a crazy ass music video that blends video games, internet memes, and trippy / horrible graphics together into one insane package. With obvious references to World of Warcraft, Facebook, and eHarmony, it shows a silly future world where the digital age goes CRAZY! There's a giant goat that fires missiles out its eyes.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r7XL74D_ZW8

I shot and directed it, enjoy.

I stumbled upon Quantcast and thought I'd share some numbers with y'all.



According to the Quantcast audience profiler, Destructoid's audience is white males aged 18-34 with less than $30k salaries and no college education. This doesn't just represent America - half of Dtoid's near-million viewers a month comes from other countries.

Quantcast's site rankings describes Destructoid as "509K+ U.S. monthly people. The site attracts a teen, very slightly male biased audience.", giving it a rank of 3276. It ranks just below Wizard101, BustedTees and MyWebFace.

Widening the scope to see audience trends over the years, it is apparent that while viewership spiked early on, there has been a slow but consistent rise in Dtoid's 'people per day'.



Finally, let's compare the numbers to a rival gamer site, Kotaku.




What questions can we raise in response to these numbers? What kinds of changes could Dtoid undergo to ramp up their 'people per day', or do they need to change anything? Has the "also, cocks" formula worked for the best, or could there be something more to the site?

Since you've been visiting Destructoid, what trends have you seen? Are you surprised by these statistics, or does it sound pretty dead-on?

Are you a bad enough dude to GO FOR BROKE?

Go For Broke Day 2009 is upon us - this Sunday, April 5th! It's a day to lay it all on the line, take a big risk, and give your all against impossible odds. When I first learned about this day in college, the tagline from Street Fighter Alpha 3, "Let's Party! Go For Broke!" came to my mind and I knew that gamers across the world would totally appreciate having their own holiday.

Since then, April 5th has been G4B Day for me, my friends, their friends, and whomever we can we can involved or interested in the challenge. What challenge, you ask? Well, let's get to that.

What makes a good G4B challenge?

Last year PBC asked the gamer community to submit text and video submissions detailing how they'd be spending their G4B Day. All sorts of ridiculous things came in - a lot of them near impossible, but most were really badass. A couple guys were going to finally finish a super hard game they'd put down years ago, and others were going to try to beat a favorite game start to finish with low health or other handicaps. Two guys tried to beat every Sonic game ever made, no continues. This truly celebrates the spirit of putting everything on the line.



This year's challenge:

My personal challenge for this year's G4B Day is to kill Dracula before the sun sets. I've never played Order of Ecclesia before, which makes this even harder, but my friend Darrin lent me his DS and this Sunday it's ON. One game, start to finish.

I hope that this post has inspired you to take some time this Sunday, grab some friends & your favorite beverage, and fight the impossible fight. Godspeed, Dtoiders.




more information:

G4B's actual holiday description:
Today is a day to put it all on the line, and take a chance. It might be money. Or, it can be a love relationship. Perhaps, it's time to initiate a risky project, or to take a new job.

Many of us go about our daily lives playing it safe, not taking big chances. If you are of a conservative ilk, you may have never gone out on a limb, or taken big risks. If this sounds like you, maybe today is a day to really let loose and "Go for Broke".

If you can muster up the courage to take a big risk, you can enjoy today by taking big risks and "Going for Broke". We will leave it up to you to decide whether the risk is worth taking.

It's about time. An American sentai series with a dark feel and an utter lack of "shiny happy people" is coming to the CW.

Kamen Rider Dragon Knight - Begins Feb. 21st, Steak Peak Jan. 16th… CONFIRMED!!!

I've been breathing in the hype about this show for the last year or so, slowly letting my defenses down as I saw more and more of what looks to be the best sentai show since Cutey Honey: The Live. The fights look great, story is mildly original, and most importantly the style of the show is slick as hell. Just watch this clip from HJ.



That's what I'm talking about! I shuddered at the American casting choices of Power Rangers: Jungle Furry after I had fallen in love with the original Japanese cast. I'm no Japanophile, nor do I watch un-subbed anime or anything, but I can recognize good acting and good casting. Geki Rangers (PR: JF in Japan) had those things in spades, and it looks like Dragon Knight will as well! With an American cast! Woo hoo!

If you're not a sentai fan, than maybe you aren't feeling what I'm putting down. Tokusatsu shows like Power Rangers and Ultraman have a terrible stigma (deservedly) associated with them from America's first glimpse of the genre in the 90s.

Bandai / Saban removed any grown-up issues from PR and watered down any real drama from the original series, converting the cast of resurrected ancient warriors into shiny happy McKids who hung out at a juice bar after school. It had more in common with Saved by the Bell than the original series, and this continued in every incarnation thenceforth. There were your VR Troopers, SuperHuman Samurai Syber Squads, and Big Bad Beetle Borgs, but it was more of the same: converting foreign shows with substance into lowest common denominator toddler feed.

Hopefully this will spark an interest in American sentai shows aimed at an older demographic. As an adult, when I turn on the TV there's not much to watch but gangster drama and Law & Order clones. I want to see mixed martial arts in an ongoing story that has substance. I want Kamen Rider: Dragon Knight to be good, dammit!

FINALLY!

Stupid King of the stupid Hill is finally stupid canceled.

This p.o.s. should have been axed 12 years ago - while great shows like Firefly were cut off at the roots a few episodes into their first season. Why does the FOX network continue to make zero sense when it comes to cuts and greenlights? Who the hell knows. All I know right now is that one of the unfunniest cartoons to ever ride on the Simpsons' coat tails is being put down.

Ugh. It's about damn time.