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In 2008, Sony Online Entertainment announced “Station Voice” forEverQuest IIandStar Wars Galaxiesplayers. Yes, it’s exactly what it sounds like — in-game voice chat for SOE’s massively-multiplayer online titles. Alright, so voice chat — big deal, right? I’m with you, but the technology — designed by Massachusetts-based Vivox — is pretty impressive. Working directly with SOE, Station Voice integrates seamlessly into the gaming experience, with intuitive chat menus and high-quality sound....

Destructoid has gone crazy this month with all of the contests we’re holding. Seriously, I don’t remember a time that Dtoid has ever had this many contests going on at the same time. Of course, contests have to come to an end and my winBattlefield: Bad Companyby doing something bad contest is ending tomorrow night at 11:59AM Pacific. All you have to do is take a picture of yourself doing something semi-bad....

The question sounds so obvious that Captain Obvious may swoop down and punch me in the head, but hearing it straight from Nintendo would be better. While this isn’t confirmation, we do have Nintendo’s Shigeru Miyamoto talking about how they want to continue to allow gamers to use their Miis on other game systems going foward. IGNasked about Mii avatars on the 3DS, pointing out that we’ve already seen Mii games on the 3D portable....

Koji Igarashi leads a busy life. When he’s not breathing new energy into neglected classic games likeRondo of Blood, he’s touring the world,fedora poised perfectly atop his headsomewhere between arch-ironic and humble sincerity, vampire-whip in tow. After helping create one of modern gaming’s undeniable classics,Castlevania: Symphony of the Night, he could have thrown in the blood-stained towel and called it a night. Unsatisfied with simply resting on his laurels, he’s plugged ahead, creating a safe-haven for 2D gamers, with his perfected platformers and intricate worlds filled with subterranean cults and blood-sucking mythology....

Despite having a range of different genres, the Xbox 360 cannot seem to stop itself being associated with shooters. It’s true that shooting games seem most at home on Microsoft’s red ring machine, but the platform is certainly attempting to provide a variety of gameplay experiences. One area in which it has sorely been lacking is JRPGs — scratch that —goodJRPGs. Enchanted Armswas a flop,Blue Dragonis widely regarded as disappointing andEternal Sonata, though an excellent stopgap, was not without its glaring faults and left fans wanting something more....

This contest is starting off to a slow start, but a good start none the less. People seem to be taking the task of creating their own Blast Works levels very seriously, as both of the current entries to theDestructoid/Blast Workslevel design contestare extremely well thought out and fun. Pest Quest, by userPacario, features over ten original enemies, horizontal and vertical movement, and a last boss as memorable as any seen in the “real” game....

Today’s episode of Destructoid is a special one. I say that every episode, but today I really mean it. Why, you ask? Because it’s Friday, of course! But also because Max chose to wear his zebra print tie today and that can only mean one thing: casual Friday. So on today’s casual Friday episode of Destructoid, Max rants aboutCliffy B and chainsaw gunsfor, like, 3 minutes. That was pretty special....

It’s common knowledge that our world sort of sucks right now. With the world economy in trouble, the fact that my credit card debt is piling up, and thecancellationofMega Man Legends 3, it’s hard to find things that are amazing. One thing I know for sure, though, is that charity ROCKS and that it’s time once again for Dtoid to participate in the yearly Extra Life marathon! Extra Lifeis a charity event started by the fine guys atSarcastic Gamerin 2008....

Electronic Arts DICE’sBattlefield 1943has had a rough start. Since the downloadable title’s release, we’ve heard people talking about all sorts of nasty things: vicious latency issues and random disconnections are among the worst complaints. If you’ve hopped on this morning, you may have noticed a difference. DICE has been adding servers and burning the Swedish variant of midnight oil in order to kill the issues related to their over capacity servers....

There’s no need to be furious if you already boughtThe Orange Box;Portal: First Sliceis nothing more than an extended demo for one of last year’s greatest games and a big “f*** you” to ATI supporters. If you haven’t gottenPortalfor PC yet and you’re running NVIDIA hardware, then why not take Valve upon this offer? There’s nothing to lose other than some space on your hard drive (you’ll need Steam to play the demo)....

For the remainder of the Christmas break, my brother and I will engage in what is known among developmental psychologists asparallel play. In my living room, there are two televisions — one of which has a PS2, the other an SNES. My brother and I will be playingFinal Fantasy IIIandXII, respectively. (Final Fantasyfanboyism is genetic). Obviously, our experiences are independent of each other. Furthermore, this is by no means the first time I’ve done this sort of thing — I’ve done it with a variety of friends....

As a gamer who cites classic titles likeRomance of the Three Kingdoms, Dragon Quest, andShining Forceas my “gaming roots,” it should’ve have been readily apparent that I am easily the worst candidate among Destructoid’s staff for a deathmath-style game hands-on. But, my sense of duty won out, and I ended up taking on a Konami rep to putMetal Gear Solid: Portable Ops +for the PSP through its paces. If you haven’t heard,Portable Ops +is a sort of expansion to last year’sMetal Gear Solid: Portable Ops,bringing us a dedicated disc of multiplayer deathmatching goodness for the PSP....

Let the E3 surprises begin! It looks like Nintendo is trying to take the wind out of Microsoft’s press conference sails — currently going on as I type this — by announcing a new, surprise Wii accessory: the Wii MotionPlus. The new accessory plugs into the bottom of the Wiimote and offers true motion control in 3D space. From Nintendo’sWeb site: Nintendo’s upcoming Wii MotionPlus accessory for the revolutionary Wii Remote controller again redefines game control, by more quickly and accurately reflecting motions in a 3-D space....