Author: Thomas Ortsik

Founder and Kinda-Editor-In-Chief at Twinstiq.
Also known as Dr. Strangethumb

Humble Store Spring Sale Is Cleaning Up Your Wallet

The Humble Store has a mental link with me. Turns out, I’m a bit depressed right now. Tried remedying it by watching some weak American sitcoms (The League), but we all know you can’t laugh your way out of an emotional hole.

9 out of 298,449 doctors say that depression is the boredom that comes from an abundance of money in a consumerist society, and that the only guaranteed remedy is spending as much of it as you can. After checking my bank account, I don’t really see how that could be the case for me, but I’m still willing to give it a try, especially since the Humble Store just started their Spring Sale.
The treatment (the sale) will run for the next 2 weeks, so there is a pretty big chance that I, and you, will find the right medicine. You know, something like This War of Mine, the cheery tale of a group of people stuck in a city engulfed in flames, during war, slowly turning mad, sad and/or dead. Think 90's hitshow Friends, but without the laugh track.
Or how about The Long Dark? An explorative-survival experience, that will help you find your inner self, while traveling through a winter wonderland. All alone, you don’t have to worry about noisy neighbors, bills, or what you are doing with your life. It allows you to find your Zen by focusing on the simple things in life, like not freezing to death, or getting eaten by wolves.

Can’t wait to find out what the afterlife is like? Then try out Grim Fandango Remastered, and spend some time in the shoes of Manny Calavera, the #1 travel agent at the Department of Death. (Seriously: Great depression game. Love, gloom, friendship, time running faster than you can keep up with,…)
And there is more: The Evil Within, Deep Dungeons of Doom, Nidhogg, Enslaved, Broken Age, Endless Space, Doom, Deadly Premonition, Dark Souls, Beware Planet Earth, Dungeonland.

So head over to the Humble Store and buy all the happiness you can(‘t) afford! You deserve it.

WRUP: Virtual Reality is starting now

First we had the Oculus announcement and now the Gear VR is out. We still don’t know where this journey will take us, but I can’t wait to try out the consumer version of the Rift. At least when it comes to hardware, E3 is saved. Anything you are looking forward to when it comes to VR or the E3?

Also, what’s everyone playing?

  • Andrew J Amideo (@Andoro36): Mortal Kombat X, Smash Bros WU, Fallout New Vegas - I'm replaying it on PC this time (but still using the 360 controller, the way God intended).
  • Billy Colley (@Amuntoth): I'll be finishing the Kaiju-A-Gogo Twin Peek, playing some Wild Season alpha, and hopefully getting in some WWE 2K15 somewhere in all that. Busy weekend for me.
  • Cody Hall (@Yoda0VGs): I will be playing the game prepare to graduate, hopefully some more Supersonic Acrobatic Rocket Powered Battle-Cars, a few rounds of Hearthstone to prepare for Monday :) , and maybe some Invisible Inc. Since its finally coming out on Tuesday.
  • Greywolfe (@lostwolfe, YouTube): quest for glory 2, last little bits of hearthstone cleanup [got to do the hard modes, which i've been putting off] more of the dig and i'm actually, seriously, really going to attempt to play shadowrun returns, unlike my attempt about a week ago where i got through the tutorial and stopped dead after that :P
  • Jimmy Vegas (@JimmyPhantom17): Thief and Goat Simulator this weekend.
  • Jonathan: Exams are done and I resubbed to FFXIV...goodbye world.
  • Jye Cauffle: Axiom Verge, Guacamelee, and apparently I can't get enough of Bloodborne
  • Thomas Ortsik (@Dr_Strangethumb): meh
  • Trisha Baumgartner (twitch): Work work, Zug Zug going to play some WoW and hearthstone when I'm not working this weekend.
  • Whylekat: I'll be re-visiting Yamati Island while plowing through as much of Tomb Raider: Definitive Edition as I can before Mother's day!
  • Mike Suszek (@mikesuszek): I'm playing the "scramble to finish lots of wedding crap" game right now.
  • Richard Mitchell (@TheRichardM): Debating whether or not I even want to finish the original Phantasy Star.
  • Sam Prell (@SamPrell): Bloodborne has sucked me back in. Man I love this game.

Igarashi Plays Symphony of the Night

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This might actually be the closest we'll get to having actual developer commentary on Castlevania: Symphony of the Night. Watch two hours of Koji Igarashi playing his masterpiece after the break!
Double Fine's "Devs Play" series highlights many popular games such as Zelda, Doom, Earthbound, Bioshock and has its developers sit down and play for a video session.

Don't forget to vote on Igarashi's next game at SwordorWhip.com!

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Source: GameSpot

Greywolfe Plays Yoda: A Battle at the Hearth!

Greywolfe and Cody(Yoda0VGs) will be getting together on stream to play some friendly matches of Hearthstone together! All cards used will be the base sets, so as long as you have all the classes at level 10, you'll be able to recreate all decks used at home!

We will begin streaming on hitbox, this Monday 5/11 at 3:00pm PST.

So there's the deck lists we will be playing with, see you at the Hearth!

Even Goat Simulator Wants Silent Hills to Happen

"We heard that Hideo Kojima was removed from the credits for Metal Gear Solid V so we added him to the credits for Goat Simulator," wrote developer Coffee Stain Studios on its Facebook page. The studio also extended an invitation for a collaboration with Kojima.
The credits continue with "Silent Hills P.T. ...Please Bring It Back .... Pretty Please?" It's hard to find fault with such a demand, many fans have felt let down Silent Hills' cancellation. When Konami delisted P.T. on the PSN, some eBay auctions for the PlayStation 4 with P.T. preloaded went for as much as $4800.

Hopefully the project will still show up in some form or another.

Source: GameSpot

Rockstar Editor on Xbox One and PS4

All you junior Speilbergs playing on current generation consoles will be able to chop and splice footage using the Rockstar Editor. The video editing tool will not be available for the PlayStation 3 or Xbox 360, but that's not surprising considering the difficulty in running the game at full speed while capturing and compressing video in the background.
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PC version pictured

The console version will feature an interface customized for gamepads, but currently no concrete release date was given. Rockstar does "hope to release [it] sometime this summer, or as soon as it is ready."
Source: Neowin

Nintendo + Universal Studios = Mario Theme Parks!!

Nintendo announced today that they are partnering with Universal Parks & Resorts in order to bring themed attractions (and tons of joy) to the world. No specifics have been announced as of yet but the mind races at the thought of the near-endless possibilities. Princess Peach's castle, Kirby's Dreamland, Pokemon parades, Mario Karting, Hyrule Town, an F-Zero roller coaster, Star Fox: the ride... Oh man, I wish I was there already!

How about you? Are you excited about the prospect of future Nintendo theme parks? What attractions would you most like to see? Tell us in the comments section below.


Andrew J Amideo
[Source: Business Wire]

Play Splatoon This Weekend

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Nintendo is hosting three "Global Testfire" sessions for Splatoon, lasting an hour each on May 8th and May 9th. No matter where you live, if you own a Wii U, you can preload the demo today and start playing this weekend. Nintendo staffers will be joining these games, sporting spiffy white lab coats.
These sessions will be held at the following times:

  • May 8th 8PM-9PM (PT) / 4AM-5AM (BST - 9th May)
  • May 9th 4AM-5AM (PT) / 12PM-1PM (BST)
  • May 9th 12:00PM-1PM (PT) / 8PM-9PM (BST)
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Source: NintendoLife

New Nintendo eShop Releases: Mega May (Week 1)

Get Ready...For Mega May! Each week throughout the month of May, a new Mega Man title will be dropping onto the Wii U Game Boy Advance Virtual Console. First up, Mega Man & Bass (my favorite GBA Mega Man game)! In honor of its release today, I will offer up a few interesting facts about Mega Man & Bass. Did you know that Mega Man & Bass is actually a localized port of a previously Japan-only Super Nintendo title? For several years, many fans assumed that Mega Man & Bass was actually Mega Man 9, since the original series stopped at 8. Following that logic led many to also assume that Mega Man X was Mega Man 10. It wasn't until 10 years later that the actual Mega Man 9 (and later 10) would be released.

Wherever it may fall in the series, numerically or non, Mega Man & Bass is certainly a worthy entry. I would definitely recommend picking it up if you haven't played it before (or even if you have). And while that's downloading, feel free to check out the rest of this week's new releases after the jump.

Wii U

3DS

[Image: Capcom]

Andrew J Amideo
[Source: Business Wire]

Nintendo’s Back in Black

The March 31st financial year report shows that for the first time in three years, Nintendo is making a profit. Wii U sales declining in Japan and climbing in North America, but the 3DS is selling steadily across the globe. Pokemon, Mario Kart, and Smash Bros have all contributed, helping Nintendo climb back into profitability. Beating their forecast of ¥35 billion, they've jumped to ¥41.8 billion, way up from a loss of ¥23.2 billion last year.
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Image courtesy of NintendoNuggets.com

Keep buying those Amiibos, no doubt that's helping too.
Source: VGChartz