Fresh from the P.O.O.P.T.O.O.T. CharaGumin, in collaboration with Volks, Inc.has opened pre-orderson the third figurine in itsShantaeseries. And finally,finally, we get the mightily mischievous scourge of the seven, the bane of Scuttle Town, the notorious pirate Risky Boots! Risky, like her frenemiesShantaeandRottytops, Risky is a kit figurine, and thus requires several minutes assembly on delivery. Once completed, the pirate queen stands just under six inches tall, and comes with a choice of eye decals and a removable hat....

Join the Flock Arc System Works, in association with publisher CyGames, has released thefirst gameplay trailerfor the adorable Anila, the first new character announced for anime scrapperGranblue Fantasy Versus: Rising. Anila was first revealedin a teaser last week, but now we can finally see the sexy shepherd in action. Anila, who is classed as “Queen of the Sheep and ruler of the South-Southwest” is an incredibly fun-looking character, who will step forth into battle armed with her trusty polearm and supported by a huge flock of obedient wool-bearers....

SideQuest Studios has announced that a sequel to its PC and PlayStation Network shooterSöldner-Xwill be coming exclusively to PSN this Winter. CalledSöldner-X 2: Final Prototype(which is a hell of a lot easier to say than the original’s title, Himmelsstürmer), the game expands upon the shmup formula of the first game. That means seven new levels (Underwater! Ice! Space!!?!?), new attacks and fancy original soundtrack.Final Prototypealso introduces a “dynamic score-linked difficulty” system which in English means the game will auto-adjust to the shmup skill-level of individual players....

50% off many games While I’ll always roll my eyes at people that say things like ‘I won’t get out in that mess’ on Black Friday (I’m going shopping later today), there’s nothing wrong with a bit of holiday shopping for digital downloads. Square Enix has several of their newer titles on sale for 50 percent off in their Black Friday / Cyber Monday sale. Running from now through November 26, jump on games likeTheatrhythm Final Fantasy, Kindgom Hearts 3D [Dream Drop Distance]andSleeping Dogsfor half off....

The sole reason the game exists … doesn’t work The latestStar Trekrelease has its fair share of problems — chief among them being that it’s kind of boring — but PC users are in for an altogether more shocking problem. The online co-op, arguably the entire point of the game, simply does not work. Our own Rick Foom was unable to play the game last night, despite having bought it specifically for ourDtoid....

Yum? Earlier this year Nintendo debuted a special “Super Mario Cereal” line, which featured a red box and amiibo support. Said amiibo support was by way of a chip inside of the box, and when scanned, registered as a “tasty amiibo,” and grantedMario Odysseyplayers extra coins and hearts. It was really tough to find at first but eventually started saturating the market, even appearing on Amazon Pantry, but that ship may have sailed according to one Redditor’s finds....

First-person exploration! Oh, good. When inXile launched its Kickstarter forThe Bard’s Tale IVearlier this week, there wasn’t much to go on in terms of actual game footage or assets. Here’s an in-engine look at the hopeful dungeon crawler which, at the time of writing, is closing in on $988,000 of its $1.25 million goal. If and when that target is met, inXile will pump an extra $1.25 million into the project’s budget....

Epic Games Store is well known for providing free games, and sometimes, those 100% off deals are just too good to pass up. August 22 will see the addition of hit KRAFTON titleThe Callisto ProtocolandGigantic: Rampage Edition. The two titles will be available for free between August 22 and August 29 and if you download both of them during this time, you’ll be getting $70 USD worth of content for absolutely free....

Check out everything Destructoid did today I’ve had this on repeat for the last couple hours, and I think that might be a problem. So like the rest of my problems, I’ll refuse to confront them, and drag others down with me. Enjoy! This video’s honorable mention goes to theMortal Kombatoutfits at the 1:40 mark. Today, Microsoft reveals they are investing $1 billion into core titles, Drinkbox talks of a possibleGuacameleesequel, former Vigil creative director comments on what the future ofDarksiderscould have been, and Best Buy Canada lists at the stores that will have playable Nintendo E3 demos....

It was nice knowing you, Evan Grant Mondesanto. You will be missed.Anyway, today’s Hotness has been combined with the Weekend Hotness. As you may have seen by now, Destructoid suffered some hackers over the weekend. Check outNiero’s post for thefull details, and if you’re having any issues, feel free to hit me up and I’ll help you out.Nick shows you the many faces ofStreet Fighter IV, Brad N. talks to Starbreeze Studios about the newRiddickgame, Jim talked about game demos, I checked outMadWorld, and plenty more happened on 01/19/09 and over the weekend....

The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker Have you ever got to a plot twist in a game and thought to yourself, “Wow, Igenuinelydidn’t see that coming!” While most videogames try their best to surprise players with a huge story revelation, most come up short and offer ridiculously predictable “twists” or, even worse, no unexpected turns at all. Once and a while, though, a game comes along that really does pull the virtual rug out from underneath you....

Did you know that Styx and REO Speedwagon were on a “Can’t Stop Rockin'” tour this year? Yeah, I had no idea either. But that’s good news forRock Bandfans, as its prompted MTV Games and Harmonix to add a bunch of their tracks to the Rock Band Store next week. They tracks are: Yeah, that last track is a collaboration between Styx and REO Speedwagon. Minds are blown, to be sure....

It’s one big mess Development onSystem Shock 3is on red alert following reports that no one is working on the game anymore. After high-profile people left developer OtherSide Entertainment — including the writer/director, senior designer, lead programmer, QA lead, and senior environment artist — it seems as though the entire team may not work there anymore, effectively puttingSystem Shock 3on ice. These reports were aggregated byVideo Game Chronicleacross a few different forums....