Kotaku

By John Gaudiosi

LOS ANGELES, CA—Long before next generation consoles like Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 ushered in deeper, more cinematic videogame experiences, Finnish developer Remedy Entertainment and publisher Gathering of Developers introduced Max Payne to PC and PlayStation 2 games in 2001. The shooter became a hit with gamers, captivating players with its dark revenge story line and its film noir atmosphere.

Producer Scott Faye (Venom) fell in love with Max Payne 10 years ago when he happened upon a render of the New York City detective at 3D Realms’ E3 booth in Los Angeles.

“Max Payne is as strong a narrative and character content a game has produced so far,” said Faye. “I think other games are now moving in that direction, but clearly this was a defining game of its time.”

With a handshake and a promise to keep the integrity of the game intact, Faye set out to bring Max to the big screen. So why did it take so long?

World At War 360 Beta Launches, PC Beta Coming Soon

October 13th, 2008...a day that shall live in relative infamy as Treyarch and Activision announce the launch of the Xbox 360 multiplayer beta for Call of Duty: World at War. The beta allows players to play as one of four different factions in four different game types across three different maps. Players can still acquire a beta token for a chance to enter by pre-ordering the title from their local GameStop or registering at Callofduty.com. A PC beta should be launching in the near future.

Yes, I realize this happened yesterday, but seeing as the majority of Kotaku tower was traveling from one place to another, sacrifices had to be made. Hit the jump for more details.

SouthPeak Devours Gamecock

Whoa, I didn't even know SouthPeak Interactive swung that way, but apparently they've been Gamecock-hungry for quite some time and aren't too proud to pay for it. SouthPeak today announces that they have acquired wild-and-crazy Gamecock Media Group. 'Cock head Mike Wilson swells with excitement.

"We are thrilled to be joining forces with SouthPeak to continue to bring great original titles from independent developers to market with a stronger sales and distribution reach,” said Mike Wilson, CEO of Gamecock. “We have followed each other's progress closely over the last two years, and combining our team with theirs results in a very strong and well-rounded force in the market."

The feverish coupling should have no effect on Gamecock's upcoming titles, with Legendary and Mushroom men still slated for release this quarter. Phew, I need a cigarette.

So last month I picked a pet peeve to harp on and on and on about. I wanted to know why it is we don't see more educational video games for this next-generation of consoles. Why no awesome Math Blasters or Reader Rabbits or Typing of the Deads for the Playstation 3, Wii or Xbox 360. One thing I learned is that there are a few of those out there, but I still wanted to hear from the three console holders on the top. So I emailed Microsoft, Nintendo and Sony to see their take on number of prepared questions. All of which lead to my final question: Why not give away an educational game on your console?

Hit the jump to read the answers from Denise Kaigler, Nintendo of America’s vice president of Corporate Affairs; John Koller, director of hardware marketing, SCEA; and XNA General Manager Boyd Multerer.

One Good Reason To Marry Shoko Nakagawa (If You're Five)

To: Fahey
From: Bashcraft

Ahoy! I'm back at home in Osaka. Glad to be home. Good to be home. I took the bullet train home Sunday afternoon, and like every time I take the bullet train home, I got a bentou and two beers. Eating a tasty bentou and drinking good beer while speeding through the Japanese countryside is not a bad way to kill a few hours. Thing is, as soon as I sat down, I fell sound asleep and did not awake until I arrived at Shin Osaka Station. A little kid was actually staring at me when I woke up and asked me in English what my name was. I said, "Brian." She then said, "Nice to meet cho" and shook my hand before going into the next train carriage.

When I got home, the family was glad to see me, which is always a wonderful thing to come home to. (Well, better than when they're pissed off at me.) Told Mini-Bash that there was a music concert at TGS, and nerd idol Shoko Nakagawa was there. Besides being a pop star, she also co-hosts a Sunday morning Pokémon show. Conversation that ensued with kid after the jump.

What you missed last night
Barack Obama Campaigns on Burnout Paradise
Kojima Might Announce New Game At Next Year's TGS
Faith From Mirror's Edge Fan-Designed For Asian Tastes
If Miyamoto Designed A Motorcycle...
Otomedius Gorgeous! Our TGS Boob Shootin' Fix
Microsoft Offering 20GB HDDs Refurb For NXE Upgrade

Now, You *Can* Clean Your Wii Lens

Tokyo Game Show 2008 Attendance Actually Up!

People came to this year's Tokyo Game Show. In droves. The event's organizers have released the final tallies, and they are:
194,288 attendees for TGS 2008 compared to 193,040 attendees for TGS 2007. Those interested in the breakdown, hit the jump. Those not, don't.

THE iDOLM@STER... Credit Card?

For those of you who might've wondered just how popular Namco Bandai's idol simulation title THE iDOLM@STER, there's this: THE iDOLM@STER Visa card. Originally an arcade game, iDOLM@STER follows a music producer who oversees up-and-coming popstars. The franchise has since spread to the Xbox 360 and the PSP. There are an anime series and toys, too. What better way to buy an iM@S Haruka Amami than with this Visa card. Buying other stuff, maybe not so great. Slightly embarrassing, even.

ついに、アイドルマスターのVISAカードが今冬登場！ [はちま起稿]

Perhaps Why Tokyo Game Show 2009 Has Been Rescheduled...

Street Fighter IV Getting Animated For Your Viewing Pleasure

Those brushstroke heavy Street Fighter IV trailers are going to get turned into an anime that will fill in the gaps between Street Fighter II and its spiritual sequel Street Fighter IV. Producer Yoshinori Ono stated at TGS that the new animated feature will run between 50 and 60 minutes and hopes to tie the flick with the game's home console release. The company that churned out the original clips, Studio 4C, is working on the full-length version. The three minute trailer shown at TGS showed Cammy making her way through a wooded ares with some troops, Ryu discovering his dark side, Sakura and Chun-Li battling goons, and Ryu and Crimson Viper fighting.

Feature-length Street Fighter IV anime in the works [GameSpot via Eurogamer]