Kotaku: Classics

Wuthering Heights, Other Classics Eyed for Video Game Adaptation

Brian Crecente — Thu, 23 Jun 2011 09:00:00 EDT

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Dickens, Bronte, Orwell, Stevenson; they're all rolling over in their graves right now. More »

Will Video Games Age Gracefully?

Mike Fahey — Tue, 01 Mar 2011 11:20:00 EST

Commenter EcksJay22 wonders if video games will hold up as well as the classic films of yesteryear in today's Speak-Up on Kotaku. More »

The Soundtrack of Mafia II

Owen Good — Sat, 21 Aug 2010 17:00:00 EDT

It's not exactly the Rock Band 3 tracklist reveal, but Mafia II's period-piece bonafides aren't limited to the set direction and costumes. More »

The Final Fight Of Aliens Vs. Predator

Mike Fahey — Fri, 29 Jan 2010 12:20:00 EST

Sega takes a trip down Aliens Vs. Predator memory lane, unearthing this little gem from Capcom that probably should have stayed earthed. It's time to hunt! More »

George Costanza's Frogger Record Shattered

Mike Fahey — Mon, 04 Jan 2010 17:20:00 EST

The one shining achievement in the life of Seinfeld's George Costanza is no more, as a Connecticut man shatters the fictional Frogger record previously thought unattainable by real people. More »

Dragon's Lair Heading for the iPhone

Owen Good — Sat, 05 Dec 2009 17:00:00 EST

The 1983 laserdisc classic Dragon's Lair will follow its cousin Space Ace to the iPhone; Electronic Arts is handling the port. Now you can enjoy Dirk the Daring's inquisitive grunting and Princess Daphne's coquettish cooing in a convenient portable format. More »

GoG.com Brings Myst Back To The Masses

Mike Fahey — Thu, 03 Dec 2009 12:40:00 EST

Good Old Games, the DRM-free digital download service for classic PC games, teams up with Cyan Worlds to bring classic adventure game series Myst back into service. More »

Happy 20th, Sega Genesis!

Mike Fahey — Fri, 14 Aug 2009 12:40:00 EDT

Today marks the 20th anniversary of the U.S. release of the Sega Genesis, the game console that briefly put Sega on the video game hardware map. More »

Mario was Put in Punch-Out Without Permission

Owen Good — Sat, 08 Aug 2009 20:30:00 EDT

The latest "Iwata Asks" bull session regards Punch-Out!!! - the NES original, not the Wii sequel - and it's quite revealing. Especially when designer Makoto Wada (pictured) pipes up. More »

LucasArts Teases Back-Catalog Announce; Says It Ain't X-Wing

Owen Good — Fri, 07 Aug 2009 21:00:00 EDT

Now, they didn't say it wasn't TIE Fighter, either. But it's a pretty safe bet this Tweet from LucasArts cools off talk that a reboot of the venerable space combat sim will be announced soon. More »

GOG.com Goes Postal

Mike Fahey — Fri, 17 Apr 2009 12:20:00 EDT

CD Projekt's DRM-free classic PC game service GOG.com ditches class in favor of crass with the addition of Running With Scissors infamous Postal series. More »

A Second Serving Of Classic, Reimagined Game Covers

Luke Plunkett — Wed, 04 Feb 2009 10:00:00 EST

The kids at Something Awful saw this post on classic game covers, and took matters into their own hands. We will now bring the matter full circle, by presenting the best of their work. More »

Speaking of Loot: the Ancient Roots

Maggie Greene — Sun, 14 Sep 2008 13:30:00 EDT

Yesterday, we mentioned the fact that game designers often walk a fine line when figuring out how best to dangle a nice, looty carrot in front of their audience; somewhat on the same subject (loot!), Roger Travis goes back to the Iliad and even further to illustrate some ancient roots of the same thing we see in modern MMOs: grinding, loot, and boss battles, oh my! And really, even that squad you're running end game content with harkens back to an older group of 'heroes': More »

The History of RPGs: The Game List

Maggie Greene — Sat, 24 May 2008 17:00:00 EDT

I've mentioned Michael Abbot's efforts at putting together a great syllabus for his 'history of RPGs' class, which has thus far produced a flurry of discussion and a reading list; he's now put together a list of games and the number of people who have recommended them (I'm dying to know which ones will make the final cut). He does mention a few key points: More »

A First Look at Gauntlet for the DS

ogood — Sun, 06 Apr 2008 10:00:00 EDT

Good morning, campers. Thought we'd start the day off with some screenshot candy and a pointer to the first look at Gauntlet for the Nintendo DS. IGN's got the goods on the classic cooperative dungeon crawler, which introduced "Warrior ... is about to die!" into our inside-joke lexicon back in 1985. More »

Presidential Candidates As Classic Video Games

Mike Fahey — Wed, 13 Feb 2008 11:20:23 EST

The presidential race can be pretty hard to follow at times, especially when many of us are too busy playing in virtual bands or keeping the world safe from demons to keep track of what is going on with the whole leader of the free world dealie. Luckily Game With A Brain has us covered, matching up the four most likely with the classic video game that best represents them. For instance, John McCain is Desert Bus, the minigame from the sadly unreleased Penn & Teller's Smoke and Mirrors for the Sega CD.

Desert Bus tasked you with driving a bus from Tucson, Arizona to Las Vegas, Nevada in eight hours of real time. The game could not be paused, and the bus occasionally would veer to the right. So, like the Arizona senator you set out on a grueling long journey (to your party's nomination) and occasionally veer off to the right (frightening potential independent voters). Uncanny.

Hit the link below to find out how the other candidates fared, from Barack "Final Fantasy VII" Obama to Mike "Bible Adventures" Huckabee. More »

Wii Knows If You've Been Bad Or Good

Mike Fahey — Mon, 24 Dec 2007 10:30:23 EST

Are you getting a Wii for Christmas? No. Probably not. Either you already have one, don't want one, or you just plain aren't getting one, so today's VC update only serves to grind glass into the already stinging wound. Here's what you won't be playing on the Wii Virtual Console over the holidays! First up, Blades of Steel for the NES (500 points) is possibly the best-named Ice Hockey game ever, and the game itself isn't bad either. Donkey Kong Country 3: Dixie Kong's Double Trouble for the SNES (800 points) has such a long title that I cannot actually write anything else about it. Finally we have Rolling Thunder 2 for the Genesis (800 points), which adds co-op to the original game's arsenal of shooting and running goodness. All in all, not the greatest Christmas present Nintendo could have given us, but what do you care? You aren't getting a Wii. More »

After You're Done With SMG

Mike Fahey — Mon, 12 Nov 2007 11:20:32 EST

Three brave games add their strength to the Wii Virtual Console this week, desperately trying to help maintain its relevance to Wii gamers in the face of today's release of the system-defining Super Mario Galaxy. On the NES front we have Volleyball (500 points), a lovely little version of the sport from back when you didn't need realistic breast physics to make a v-ball game. Often considered one of the greatest shooters of all time, Axelay for the SNES (800 points) brings some classic shmuppage to the table. Finally we have the ultra colorful Blue's Journey for the NEOGEO (900 points), a side-scrolling platformer that features the insectarian Blue from the planet Raguy, who sets off to save his world from the Daruma tribe armed only with a pretty flower. When you're done playing Galaxy...play it again. These three will still be there when you get done. More »

Mighty Ninja Panther Billiards Battle

Mike Fahey — Mon, 22 Oct 2007 10:20:23 EDT

Can there be too many ninja? It seems like every week a new one is unleashed onto the Wii Virtual Console, this week being no different as the previously unreleased in North America NES game Ninja JaJaMaru-kun (600 points) finds its way onto the VC. If this ninja glut continues they're going to band together and kill ever other game available for download, so you might want to hurry up and get your hands on a copy of Lunar Pool for the NES (500 points) and the Genesis classic Golden Axe III (800 points) before the bloodbath begins. Luckily the third installment of the Golden Axe saga lets you play as a giant or a panther, which are two widely known ninja weaknesses (also, Hot Pockets), but Lunar Pool with its 30 tables of billiards splendor only adds sticks and colorful balls to the deadly assassins' arsenal. Enter the world of my imagination, where the Virtual Console is a hundred times more entertaining than it has any right to be. More »

NeoGeo Games Coming To Virtual Console

Mike Fahey — Wed, 12 Sep 2007 15:00:43 EDT

Ask and you shall receive! SNK Playmore today announces that several of their most popular NeoGeo arcade titles will be heading to the Nintendo Wii Virtual Console. This marks the first actual arcade gaming titles released on Nintendo's system, even if they did technically run on a console as well. Classic titles slated for the system include Fatal Fury, World Heroes, and Art of Fighting, with more titles expected to be announced in the months to come. The games will carry a hefty price tag of 900 Wii Points a pop, second only to N64 titles (at 1000 points a piece). I was reading comments from our Virtual Console update just this week and recall someone calling out Nintendo for not having NeoGeo titles for download. Well here you go, that guy. Grats! More »

Atari Classics Evolve

Mike Fahey — Tue, 21 Aug 2007 12:30:23 EDT

Not just another retro arcade title compilation that screws with the classics with often hilarious results, Atari Classics Evolved for the PSP is over 70 games in one! Not only do you get 11 classic Atari arcade titles like Asteroids, Battlezone, Tempest, Super Breakout, and Pong in both original and evolved versions, but you also get more than 60 Atari 2600 classics. Over 60 games that were once a whole lot of fun but now only amuse for a good minute before that "Hey, I remember this!" feeling wears off. Games so simple you can close your eyes and accurately play them using only your imagination. Hell, they might even be better that way. Having said that, I still plan on picking up the compilation when it hits this fall, if only for the joy of peer-to-peer wireless Pong. More »

VC Update: Shocking Vampire Ninja

Mike Fahey — Mon, 30 Apr 2007 12:20:48 EDT

It's Monday, and that means old game goodness from the good folks at the Wii Shopping Channel. This week sees the beginning of the Belmonts, a ninja game without violent decapitations (say what?), and a TurboGrafx-16 game that probably should have stayed in Japan with its friends. More »

VC Update: Take A Lode Off

Mike Fahey — Mon, 23 Apr 2007 12:20:35 EDT

It's Monday in America, and that means three new old games hitting the Virtual Console for you people too blind see how glorious and wonderful Pokemon actually are. Without further ado... More »

Monday Morning VC Goodness

Mike Fahey — Mon, 05 Feb 2007 10:20:29 EST

How are we supposed to stop making bad Wii puns when every Monday like clockwork Nintendo sends out their "WII-KLY UPDATE?" They wil-ly need to stop encouraging us. Wii're bad enough as it is. Stopping now. Anyway, this week brings a trio of new games to the Wii Shop Channel for your purchase and / or scorn. First and foremost is Super Mario World, the SNES launch title that just couldn't live up to the Super Mario Bros. 3. Sure it tried, and it was very pretty and next-gen, but it still couldn't hold a candle. More »

Live Arcade Ends Year with a Whimper

Mike Fahey — Wed, 27 Dec 2006 12:40:33 EST

A holiday treat of sorts hits Xbox Live Arcade this week in the for of New Rally-X, the updated version of the 1980 arcade racer that was last seen as the loading game on the PSP version of Ridge Racer. It's a car maze game where you collect flags to clear levels while avoiding enemy cars. More »

New Multiplayer Maps For PDZ on Marketplace

fdemarco — Sun, 05 Nov 2006 15:00:18 EST

For all you folks still playing Perfect Dark Zero, there are two new multiplayer maps available for free on Xbox Live Marketplace. These two maps came out with the "Xbox 360 Classics" collection, so if you have the old version, now is your chance to snag them. More »

Konami Classics On The Go In '07

Michael McWhertor — Sat, 21 Oct 2006 17:43:32 EDT

So, you're a big fan of Konami arcade classics like Contra (aka Gryzor), Gradius, and Time Pilot, but lack the Xbox 360, PSP, or shaky morals to download the ROM? Good news, because if you own a Nintendo DS (and who doesn't?) Konami is doing the right thing and bringing tons of retro arcade goodness to your hot little hands. More »

Midway Rubbing Warm Memories All Over You with Online Flash Classics

egauger — Tue, 26 Sep 2006 17:20:48 EDT

Midway's steady release of their Arcade Treasures line of classic game compilations is being promoted by a nice little stack of venerable titles that have been Flashified and hosted on their site. More »