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WhenCastlevania: Lords of Shadowwas originally announced, I wasn’t sure what to expect. The Nintendo 64 and last-gen versions ofCastlevaniagames were a giant burn to the franchise, so it was hard to swallow another 3D attempt at such a classic series. However, during Konami’s Gamer Night yesterday, my tune completely changed. We were sadly only shown a ten-minute-long video presentation of the MercurySteam and Kojima Productions joint venture, but those ten minutes were enough to sell me on this new entry to the series....

You might have heard that Capcom (among many others) was throwing a party here at the 2009 Consumer Electronics Show. Of course, Team Destructoid was in attendance, and we shot some quick video of the massiveResident Evil 5setup they put together.Up on the 6th floor of the Planet Hollywood Hotel and Casino, pool level, Capcom set up two linked consoles runningResident Evil 5for us to play. That’s not the unusual part, though....

It’s the Year of the Tiger, and apparently Rockstar Games sees fit to celebrate this by hacking the price of its iPhone version ofGrand Theft Auto: Chinatown Wars.Now until real late February 14th, you’ll be able tosnag the game at $6.99, a 30 percent savings from the norm. We know what you’re thinking. It’s a blessing, really. It’s also something of a curse. For example, last week the FBI picked us up while we were in line at a Starbucks....

Alleged concept art for an upcoming film,The Monkey King, looks eerily familiar. The movie, by Hong Kong director Soi Cheang, is a big-budget (in 3D!) take on the classic tale,Journey To The West. The flick is said to star actors Donnie Yen, Chow Yun Fat, and Aaron Kwok. That image up there is presumably what Kwok’s character, The Ox King, will look like on the big screen. But seriously, we know we’ve seen it before somewhere, but we just can’t quite put our finger on it....

[Update:Contest closed! All codes were PM’d to your Destructoid accounts. Check your messages!] Yay, PlayStation Network and Sony Online Entertainment are back online! You can play games likeEverQuest IIagain and we have a rare “Cloak of Irresistibility” items to give out for the game based on the infamous “Three Wolf & Moon” t-shirt.

In an odd turn of events, Crytek CEO Cevat Yerli spoke and didn’t mentionpiracy. In fact, Yerli only lent himself to comment on the future of the Crytek engine and the possible consoles on which it will be featured within the next 3 to 4 years. Yerli gave his comments at the Games Convention Developer Conference in Liepzig in a forum called “The Future of Gaming Graphics.” PlayStation 4 and the Xbox 720 will arrive in 2011 or 2012, we think....

WhenDemon’s Soulswas released, I would frequently call it beautifully bleak — partly because it was true, but mostly because the alliteration made me feel smarter than I actually am.Dark Soulscontinues the tradition of mixing stunning visuals with a dark world. Indeed, it is gloomily gorgeous! Dark Souls, like its spiritual predecessor, proves that “dark and gritty” doesn’thaveto look generic and indistinct. I often find that bleak, dreary aesthetics carry their own beauty — whenever I’m in the area, I take a short tour of my British hometownErithbecause I find the run-down, miserable, concrete nature of the place strangely compelling....

One of the most bemoaned aspects ofDead Rising(next to the time sensitivity of missions, hard-to-read text and Otis) was the lack of a multiplayer component. Thanks to a probable slip of the tongue at a GDC panel on shader development with a specific focus onDead Rising 2, we now know that Capcom is going to appease the complaintants with multiplayer of some kind in the sequel. The mention came out of the same conversation regarding6,000 onscreen zombieswe reported on this weekend which, as it turns out, relates specifically to the multiplayer gameplay and may not be representative of the single-player experience....

I’m not sure how to describeZero Chance, a new game for the iPhone and iPod Touch. There’s really nothing like this anywhere else. At first appearances, it’s a space shooter, but as we got closer we saw that there’s definitely something else going on here. And maybe not so much shooting after all. Regardless of what it really is, the visual presentation was nice, and there’s not a lot of these types of games out for the platform, so our interested was definitely piqued....

Starbreeze Studios are serious about Riddick. Yesterday, a developer diary forChronicles of Riddick: Assault on Dark Athenawas released (included after the break). In it, the developers discuss the impact Riddick has had on Starbreeze and what exactly led to the creation ofAssault on Dark Athena’scontent. Assault on Dark Athenawas originally intended to be a total remake of their former game,Escape from Butcher Bay— an Xbox only title. Platform exclusivity and an inability to even access the content in the ‘next-generation’ gave Starbreeze the push to createAssault on Dark Athena....

Droplitz. Puzzler.We liked it a bunch. If you somehow missed it the first time around, or you’re some kind of cheap-ass (me), then you’ll be pleased to know that the game is on sale for both the iPhone and PC. Atlus sends word that the price of the PC version of the liquid management gameDroplitzhas been cut by 80 percent for a sale, taking the price from $9.99 to $1.99. And if you happen to be an iPhone-owning gamer, you can now nab that version on the iTunes App Store for only $0....

Tecmo Koei has announced thatDynasty Warriors Gundam 3is in the works and that it will be released in Japan this Winter.Dynasty Warriors Gundamis a mixture of Gundam’s impenetrable world of mech-based anime politics and Omega Force’s hack n’ slash nonsense. The biggest change inGundam 3is the art style, which has now taken on a cel-shaded look. Also new to the mix is an improved AI system with enemies that call for reinforcements, and worldwide online co-op....

If there was one major complaint I had aboutDynasty Warriors: Strikeforce, it’s that it couldn’t fulfil its primary role on the PSP. It was designed with co-op in mind, but the chances of finding four people with both a PSPandthe desire to playDynasty Warriorsare slim to none in America. I am thrilled to report, however, that one of Koei’s most inventive takes on theDWformula isheading to consoles. Released on both the PS3 and Xbox 360 on October 1 in Japan, the game should see some graphical improvements, as well as a much less painful control scheme....