Podtoid 352: Masterful Minigames We had a fabulous question this week that ended up comprising the bulk of our conversation in this, the slow season for games, and that is: which minigames actually surpass the game they’re housed within, like an 8 ball hidden within a matryoshka. That’s why Podtoid 352 is called Masterful Minigames. The usual suspects are present. Darren and I talked about how much better Monkey Target is compared to theSuper Monkey Ballmain game, we agreed thatKingdom Hearts‘ Gummi Ships are actually the bestStar Foxgame, and I got in a few more nods toKirby’s Air Ride, because I still can’t get over how good that game was....

Phoenix Down! If you’re dying to try outDissidia Final Fantasy NTbefore it officially releases, then you better head on over to Square Enix’s website tosign-upfor the closed beta. Commencing sometime this summer, the website is only offering a chance at potentially joining the beta. Participation is limited to North America and Latin America, with a link for PAL regions that leads to a404 error. You also need to have a Square Enix account to register, though that doesn’t take very long to create....

Money is the route of all evil In one of their most optimistic releases to date, retro-fans Hamster have added Sun Electronics’ maze-racerRoute 16to their expansive Arcade Archives range, with the ’80s arcade available today on PS4 and Nintendo Switch. Released way, way,wayback in 1981,Route 16has a selection of Formula 1-style cars dash around simplistic mazes. There’s no finish line, the goal is simply to collect as many sacks of cash as possible....

Stalker 2: Heart of Chornobylisn’t a mere FPS by any means, and the different status conditions make it important for you to pay attention to the nitty-gritty of daily survival. In The Zone, it’s not only the enemy factions and mutants trying to kill you. Even simple things like an encumbered status condition can lead to your untimely death and make you lose in-game progression. However, understanding the details about the conditions and how they work will help you to minimize their effect and also cure them....

Sometimes, justplayingfootball isn’t enough. The die-hards who crave the ability to micromanage every aspect of the game, just like a real NFL head coach would, need something more than a mereMaddengame. So EA, as the owners of the NFL exclusivity license, tried to put gamers in the shoes of head coaches with 2006’sNFL Head Coach, but by most accounts, the game was something of a failure. Not only did it feature many inaccuracies — deadly when you’re trying to create a football sim — it just ended up being boring as well....

Instant Action is back Nearly two full years after it first launched, EA DICE is still working onStar Wars Battlefront II. Heading into the fall, the developer gave us some idea of what to expect in the coming months. The headliner is the addition of Instant Action mode. This mode is configured for single-player mayhem, essentially mimicking the large-scale multiplayer battles but with AI enemies instead of other real-life players. It’s a way for everyone to see the grandiose spectacle thatBattlefront IIpromises, but without the pressure of actual multiplayer competition....

Neuvillette is a 5-star Hydro Catalyst DPS inGenshin Impact.Here are the Chief Justice’s best weapons, artifacts, and teams. Playstyles Neuvillette is an on-field DPS. His kit centers around his Charged Attack, which charges for a few seconds before unleashing a veritable power-washer Kamehameha beam. While the beam is firing, Neuvillette’s HP will continuously drain. Neuvillette’s Skill and Burst both do AoE Hydro damage and create Sourcewater Droplets that stay on-field. Using his Charged Attack while there are Sourcewater Droplets in the vicinity will consume three of them, heal himself, and instantly charge his Charged Attack....

Wonder what this could be Blizzard is set to host a press conference at gamescom this year on August 21 at 11:30AM, and that’s the only real specifics we were given. Blizzard did tease us by stating that this announcement is “sure to capture the attention of the Heavens, Burning Hells and all the shadowed places that lie between.” Wonder what it can be! Probably related toDiablo III, as it’s on the horizon for the Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, and PlayStation 4....

Another online event is in the works though Blizzard has confirmed today that there won’t be plans to try and return to an in-person BlizzCon this year. The company announced today that it will not be hosting a BlizzCon this year. Today’s statementnotes the amount of preparation large events like these entail, from both inside Blizzard and organizing the production and competition side as well. “The ongoing complexities and uncertainties of the pandemic have impacted our ability to properly move forward on many of these fronts,” wrote Saralyn Smith, executive producer of BlizzCon....

[When we’re looking for blogs on a specific topic, we’ll put out a Bloggers Wanted call. Check out the blog prompt, write your own response in the Community Blogs and tag it with the “Bloggers Wanted Essay Response” tag, and you may see your blog promoted to the front page.— JRo] We’ve got another lighthearted topic for you this week, and it’s another simple one. As a child, I somehow managed to amass a weird collection of totally bizarre, useless third-party hardware....

Sounds like some news is in store for Night City Cyberpunk 2077studio CD Projekt Red is gearing up to talk about its futuristic open-world game. The publisher is hosting a stream tomorrow, with at leastCyberpunk 2077on the agenda. The announcement of the steam went out from theCyberpunk 2077account, and thein-universe writingaround it, indicates this will be about2077. The “REDstreams” video will go live on Feb. 15 at 4 p.m. CET, or 10 a....

One must fall for these screens A new Transformers game from Activision,Transformers: Devastation, has been leaked in the lead up to E3, and damn if it doesn’t look like an 80’s cartoon come to life. Someonebetter call Cosimano, I think he’ll be excited. Details are sketchy right now, but it seems likeDevastationis slated for an Xbox 360 release, and one could assume that likely means a version for the Xbox One as well....

Capcom Europe are a bunch of amazing people who feel exactly the same way I do about videogame communities. So they opened up a mystical cupboard in their offices and threw a bunch of goodies at me to give away here on Destructoid! Since I have seen lots of European and British Dtoiders complaining as of late, it is worth mentioning that this is a European ONLY contest. So if you don’t live in Europe, I am afraid you cannot enter....