Destructoid

Destructoid is a website that was founded as a video game-focused blog in March 2006 by Yanier Gonzalez, a Cuban-American cartoonist and author.[1] It is part of the Enthusiast Gaming network.[2]

Destructoid
Type of site
Video game blog
OwnerEnthusiast Gaming
URLdestructoid.com
RegistrationOptional (free)
LaunchedMarch 16, 2006 (2006-03-16)
Current statusActive

History

Destructoid was owned by Yanier "Niero" Gonzalez so that he could attend the Electronic Entertainment Expo (E3) in 2006.[3] After being rejected, Gonzalez began writing original editorials and drawing cartoons which were picked up by established gaming blogs like Joystiq[4] and Kotaku.[5] In 2007 the site relaunched with user blogs, forums, and a team of contributors. Yanier's blog was moved off the home page in favor of a staff-edited, multi-author format. Similar to IGN, Destructoid offers free registration and readers can submit off-homepage blogs.

After E3, Gonzalez appeared at the press conference dressed as Mr. Destructoid (Destructoid's robot mascot, shown on logos and promotional material) to hand out promotional flyers. Gonzalez was the first to break the news of Jack Thompson's disbarment.[6]

Destructoid posts an average of 50 stories a day. It was among the first to break stories such as the Nintendo Wii controller's final design,[7] the Sony PlayStation Neo's price at launch[8] and Halo 3's release date. Its original editorial work gained mainstream syndication including the web show Hey Ash, Whatcha Playin'?, now syndicated on GameTrailers. Other works were picked up by social bookmarking sites like the satirical Ten Golden Rules of Online Gaming,[9] its Guides on Recognizing Gamers,[10]

The Mr. Destructoid costume was redesigned in 2012 by Volpin Props, featuring animated LED circuitry, and is still active as their mascot at press events.

In 2017 the site was acquired by Enthusiast Gaming, a company based in Toronto.[11]

Features

Destructoid is split into six main sections: the Homepage where editors post daily news and reviews, the Community Blogs, the Videos section which consist of original skits and trailers, the Chat Forums, the Buy/Sell area where community members trade games, and the Fight area where members can play games against each other.

From 2010 to 2013, Destructoid produced the twice-weekly, in-studio video game news show, the Destructoid Show on Revision 3,[12] daily live video streams like Kingdom of Foom and MASH TacticS [13] on Twitch, and semi-regular video skits like Hey Ash Whatcha Playin, The Jimquisition, Storm's Adventures, and others on YouTube.

Destructoid reviews editor Jim Sterling ran a weekly podcast with associate editor Jonathan Holmes and Conrad Zimmerman. When Jim Sterling left Destructoid, the podcast was taken over by a new host with much less frequent updates.

Charitable work

In 2008, Jim Sterling, a Destructoid editor, took part in a sponsored gaming marathon raising money for young cancer patients. Raising $3,000 for the charity, Sterling and friend John Kershaw played a selection of games from the SingStar franchise, effectively singing almost non-stop for twelve hours. The event was broadcast live online for the duration of the event.[14]

In 2009, Niero, and other Destructoid editors continued the gaming marathon tradition on October 17–18 for cancer awareness raising $4,835.60 for Extra Life children's hospital in Texas.[15]

In 2010, the Destructoid office hosted a 24-hour gaming marathon for the charity Extra Life. Community members raised over $6,000 for Children's Miracle hospitals in Texas. Destructoid has also partnered with Revision 3 to build a clean water well in Africa through the Charity Water organization.

In 2011, Destructoid hosted another marathon for Extra Life, raising $6909.16 for Children's Miracle Hospitals.[16] He also made a Mario Kart 7 community called "Destructoid". This community has a Bob-omb icon displayed on it. The slogan of this community is "Dtoid FNF yo".

In 2012, Destructoid hosted a 56-hour livestream on its Dtoid.tv channel, which raised over $7,000 for Habitat for Humanity. The Gonzalez flew to Costa Rica and assisted the build of a 32-house government project for families living in extreme poverty in Liberia.[17]

Awards

Destructoid has been nominated for several awards in video game coverage. The site was nominated for the inaugural Games Media Awards in 2007 under the “Non-Commercial Website or Blog” category.[18] Destructoid was also selected as an Official Webby Honoree in the Games-Related category of the 11th Annual Webby Awards in 2007.[19] They were nominated by the International Academy of Digital Arts and Sciences in 2009 in the same category.[20][21]

Presence in video games

The site's mascot, Mr. Destructoid, has appeared in various console, mobile, and PC video games, and as an emoji on Twitch.

In 2007, it was announced that Hudson Entertainment, the American branch of Hudson Soft had teamed up with Destructoid to develop and introduce a playable character based on Destructoid's mascot, Mr. Destructoid, into its Xbox Live Arcade game Bomberman Live.[22][23][24][25] Mr. Destructoid later appeared in Bomberman Ultra, the PlayStation 3 port of Bomberman Live. Mr. Destructoid's head is available as an unlockable helmet in PixelJAM's game Dino Run, by entering the password "totinos" in the cheats menu. This was included as an in-joke, because that particular brand of pizza was a favorite of one of the editors, and he in turn was a friend of the game's developers. The code was revealed in one chapter of the Podtoid podcast.

In 2008, Destructoid's mascot was also included in the platform game Eternity's Child, but was later removed after a scathing review of the game on the web site.[26][27] Mr. Destructoid also appeared in Agent MOO: Maximum Overdeath on Xbox Live Indie Games along with Ron Workman, Destructoid's former community manager.

In 2010, it was announced that Mr. Destructoid would be appearing in the upcoming XBLA release of Raskulls.[28] Later that year it was discovered that Chapter 2-18 in Super Meat Boy is called Destructoid. The game was acclaimed by many of the editors, taking Destructoid's Game Of The Show at the Penny Arcade Expo earlier in July. Mr. Destructoid also appears in the flash game Pirates vs. Ninjas,[29] by Bardo Entertainment.

In 2011, Mr. Destructoid appeared as a non-playable character in BiteJacker, a game created by the Bytejacker show on the iPhone as a VIP Character. Your score increases the longer that he remains on screen. In July Destructoid's reviews editor, Jim Sterling, became a playable character in The Blocks Cometh.[30] Later that month Mr. Destructoid appeared in Twisted Pixel's Ms. Splosion Man[31] as a destroyable villain during challenge mode, and again as a ball-swallowing fixture in Zen Studio's Pinball FX as part of the Ms. Splosion Man pinball table.[32] On August 1 Mr. Destructoid became a playable character in Arcade Jumper on iOS.[33] The remake of the classic arcade game Burgertime also features Mr. Destructoid as a playable character.[34]

In 2012, Mr. Destructoid was revealed as a playable character in Spicy Horse's Big Head Bash, where his rooster gun shoots similar but smaller "cocks".[35] He is also a non-playable monster enemy in MonsterMind (Facebook Game) and a machinegun accessory in PerfectWorld's Blacklight Retribution. In the game Retro City Rampage, several of Destructoid's staff appeared in the game as unlockable player skins that are available by going to MJ's Face-R-Us and entering the coupon code DTOID.

In 2014, Microsoft added an official Mr. Destructoid outfit to the Xbox Live Avatar Marketplace.[36]

In 2016, a Mr. Destructoid flag was added as a cosmetic item in Rocket League[37]

References
  1. Gonzalez, Yanier "Niero" (2007-03-15). "Destructoid turns one". Destructoid. Archived from the original on March 5, 2016. Retrieved 2009-08-11.
  2. "Enthusiast Gaming". EnthusiastGaming.
  3. Kietzmann, Ludwig (2006-05-12). "Waiting for Wii: And I'll form the head!". Joystiq. Archived from the original on January 28, 2015. Retrieved 2013-07-08.
  4. Quilty-Harper, Conrad (April 4, 2006). "Quad SLI gaming for Cheapskates". Joystiq. Archived from the original on January 28, 2015. Retrieved 2011-06-30.
  5. "Destructoid's First Comic". Kotaku. Archived from the original on 2012-10-18. Retrieved 2011-06-30.
  6. "Destructoid Scores Big with Bully Courtroom Coverage". Game politics. October 12, 2006. Archived from the original on May 14, 2014. Retrieved 2011-06-30.
  7. "Nintendo Wii Remote Prototype Evolution". Digg.com. Retrieved 2011-06-30.
  8. "Xbox 360 199 US, PS3 599 US". Archived from the original on 2012-07-08. Retrieved 2011-06-30.
  9. "Ten Golden Rules of Online Gaming". Archived from the original on 2012-07-10. Retrieved 2011-06-30.
  10. "Guides on recognizing gamers". Archived from the original on 2012-07-10. Retrieved 2011-06-30.
  11. "Enthusiast Gaming acquires Destructoid". News wire. June 21, 2017. Retrieved 2017-06-21.
  12. "The Destructoid Show". Archived from the original on 2010-12-25. Retrieved 2010-12-22.
  13. "The Destructoid Show".
  14. Webster, Andrew (2008-10-03). "Destructoid editor to sing for charity". Ars Technica. Retrieved 2009-08-11.
  15. "Texas Children's Hospital - Ways to Give". Waystogive.texaschildrens.org. Archived from the original on 2012-07-24. Retrieved 2012-11-03.
  16. Cortez, Jesse (2011-10-26). "Destructoid's Extra Life 2011 round-up". Destructoid. Retrieved 2011-10-26.
  17. Zoeker, Bill (May 6, 2012). "Destructoid's Habitat for Humanity Charity Event". Destructoid. Retrieved 2012-06-21.
  18. "Games Media Awards finalists revealed". MCV. 2007-08-31. Archived from the original on 2007-09-13. Retrieved 2009-08-11.
  19. "11th Annual Webby Awards Official Honoree Selections". Webby Awards. Archived from the original on October 8, 2012. Retrieved 2009-08-11.
  20. "13th Annual Webby Awards Nominees & Winners". Webby Awards. Archived from the original on January 2, 2013. Retrieved 2009-08-11.
  21. Gerstmann, Jeff (April 22, 2009). "Giant Bomb Officially Endorses Destructoid For Webby Award". Giant Bomb. Retrieved 2009-08-11.
  22. "Hudson Partners With Destructoid In Bomb-Up pack 2 For Bomberman Live" (Press release). Hudson Soft. 2007-09-19. Archived from the original on 2007-11-24. Retrieved 2009-08-11.
  23. Arendt, Susan (2007-09-19). "Destructoid Mascot Added to Bomberman Live". Wired News. Retrieved 2009-08-11.
  24. Fahey, Mike (2007-09-19). "Destructoid Makes Bomberman Live Appearance". Kotaku. Archived from the original on 2012-10-18. Retrieved 2009-08-11.
  25. "Hudson Partners With Destructoid In Bomb-Up Pack 2 For Bomberman Live". Eurogamer. 2007-09-19. Retrieved 2009-08-11.
  26. Gillen, Kieron (2008-08-04). "Eternity's Child Versus Destructoid". Rock, Paper, Shotgun. Retrieved 2009-08-11.
  27. Nunneley, Stephanie (2008-07-08). "Luc Bernard Steamed Over Destructoid's Review of Eternity's Child". 1UP.com. Archived from the original on May 23, 2013. Retrieved 2009-08-11.
  28. Sterling, Jim (2010-02-02). "Mr.-Destructoid-Returns-to-Videogames-in-Raskulls!". Destructoid. Retrieved 2010-02-02.
  29. Ctz Aziz, Hamza (October 31, 2010). "Play as Mr. Destructoid in Pirates vs Ninjas". Destructoid. Bardo Entertainment. Retrieved 19 August 2011.
  30. Sterling, Jim (July 12, 2011). "Jim Sterling is a playable character in The Blocks Cometh". Destructoid.
  31. Aziz, Hamza (July 21, 2011). "Fight Mr. Destructoid in Ms Splosion Man". Destructoid.
  32. Gonzalez, Niero (July 26, 2011). "Destructoid wants your balls in Ms. Splosion Man pinball". Destructoid.
  33. "Mr. Destructoid stars in Arcade Jumper". Black Hive Media. Archived from the original on 30 September 2011. Retrieved 2 August 2011.
  34. Ctz Aziz, Hamza (August 31, 2011). "Mr. Destructoid joins the cast of Burgertime World tour". MonkeyPaw. Retrieved 3 September 2011.
  35. Zimmerman, Conrad (March 29, 2012). "New Big Head Bash details revealed". SpicyHorse. Retrieved 3 March 2012.
  36. "You can buy a Mr Destructoid helmet for your Xbox Avatar". Microsoft. Retrieved 3 March 2014.
  37. "Play Rocket League for free on Xbox right now". Psyonix. Retrieved 3 June 2016.
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