Joystiq older than one year ago

While the new console and Kinect might get the lion's share of attention at the Xbox Reveal, the good ol' Xbox controller is getting some redesign love on the Xbox One as well. The control will feature an integrated battery compartment, Wi-Fi Direct, "impulse triggers" that incorporate extra feedback and, most important of all, a cross-shaped "precision" D-Pad.

Steam Trading Cards are the next 10-gallon hats from Valve. If you understand that line, then the rest of this story will make sense to you. If not, then you have every right to scratch your head and ask "Why?" to everything that follows.

In beta starting today, Steam Trading Cards allow users to earn Steam rewards for playing games. The current line-up of participating games is Don't Starve, Dota 2, Counter-Strike: Global Offensive, Team Fortress 2, Portal 2 and Half-Life 2. Users will earn game-specific trading cards that can be collected to earn "game badges, profile backgrounds, emoticons, coupons, and more."

Here's the simplest way we understand it: Create trading Card sets > craft badges > get prizes listed above. There's more details on the Steam Trading Card site.

Nyan Cat creator Christopher Orlando Torres and Keyboard Cat's owner Charles Schmidt have filed a copyright and trademark infringement lawsuit against Warner Bros. and 5th Cell over their creations' appearances in the Scribblenauts series.

The complaint, filed on April 22nd, alleges that developer 5th Cell did not seek permission to include either copyrighted character in their published products or in related promotional material. The original Nyan Cat and Keyboard Cat videos have each been viewed tens of millions of times on YouTube, making them "extremely valuable for commercial uses," according to the complaint.

"Plaintiffs claim that Warner Bros and 5th Cell's trademark infringement was willful and intentional and are requesting an award of treble damages and requesting the case be deemed exception under 15 U.S.C. § 1117(a), thereby entitling Plaintiffs to an award of reasonable attorneys' fees," intellectual property-focused attorney blog Milord & Associates notes.

Plaintiffs Schmidt and Torres additionally seek an injunction against the sale of Scribblenauts products until the matter is resolved.

The Scribblenauts series allows players to summon a wide variety of memes during gameplay, for both practical purposes and comedic effect. Keyboard Cat has appeared in every series entry to date, while Nyan Cat is a more recent addition, appearing only in Scribblenauts Unlimited.

Capcom is bringing back DuckTales in a new game developed by WayForward Technologies. This is one of the two new games teased by Capcom ahead of the "World of Capcom" panel, along with Dungeons & Dragons: Chronicles of Mystara.

The new DuckTales, of course, is inspired by the NES classic, a Mega Man-esque game in which Scrooge McDuck used his cane as both a golf club and a pogo stick. The new version has new hand-drawn sprites, and features original voice work. It's coming to Wii U, PSN, and XBLA for $15.

Update: DuckTales Remastered is actually a full remake of the NES game, with new features including a museum and "A MONEY BIN YOU CAN ACTUALLY SWIM IN!"

• Giant Bomb (5/5): "Everything in this new game exists in service of making it a great game in its own right, not in stoking your nostalgia for the games you played over the last decade. As a character action game, it hits all the notes - fast, robust action, marvelous visual style, and a tremendous sense of attitude - you could want in this type of game."
• Game Informer (90/100): "I'm impressed by the sheer variety of Dante's moveset. Three guns, two angelic weapons, two demonic weapons, and one sword have unique abilities that you purchase. Because some moves are more useful than others (I still love the Stinger/Trillion Stabs combo), you can refund any spent points at no cost, encouraging you to experiment with the possibilities."
• IGN (89/100): "Long-time Devil May Cry fans unsure of Ninja Theory's treatment can abandon their fears. DmC hurls Dante into a newer, better world, complete with a glorious combat system and enough style to make old Dante proud. This is digital action at its finest, steeped in the blood of angels, spiced with gunpowder, and garnished with a middle finger."
• Edge (80/100): "DmC has a greater emphasis on story than the games that preceded it, then, which is just what you'd expect from the maker of the narrative-heavy Enslaved and Heavenly Sword. But its focus is absolutely where it should be: at the tip of Dante's sword. Playing true to its forebears' considerable strengths, DmC is still a game about crowd management and of making best use of its myriad systems to keep a combo going and maximise your style rating."
• GameSpot (80/100): "DmC succeeds both in its story and in its brilliant combat, and it looks the business too, despite a few minor glitches and the more color-soaked levels looking like they've spent a little too much time in an Instagram filter. Sure, you may baulk at Dante's trendy new haircut, or maybe even miss a little of that B-movie Devil May Cry insanity, but the heart of what makes the series so enticing and so much fun to play holds true here."