Kotaku: Competition

America's PremierPokémon-Playing Family Enter the Guinness Book of Arbitrary Gaming Records

Mike Fahey — Tue, 03 Jan 2012 13:00:00 EST

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Meet the Arnold family of Frankfort, Illinois, a five-person powerhouse of pure Pokémon battling power. This championship winning team stars in the Guinness World Records Gamer's Edition 2012 as the Largest Competitive Pokémon Video Game Family. More »

It's Video Game Competition, Not Violence, That Sparks Aggression

Mike Fahey — Tue, 30 Aug 2011 13:20:00 EDT

Do violent video games cause aggressive behavior? According to a recent report published in the journal Psychology of Violence, the competitive aspect of gaming is more likely to generate aggro than mere violence. All this from a bunch of university students, some video games, and some hot sauce. Science is an amazing thing. More »

EA is Launching Its Own Steam Competitor

Luke Plunkett — Thu, 02 Jun 2011 22:53:00 EDT

This Friday, Electronic Arts will unveil its own take on the popular online PC shopfront Steam, with the launch of a service called Origin. More »

Are You Ready For The 2011 Pokémon Video Game Championship?

Mike Fahey — Tue, 19 Apr 2011 11:40:00 EDT

You've had plenty of time to play with the two new versions of Pokémon; now it's time to get serious. The 2011 Pokémon Video Game Championship series kicks off next month, with fans across the U.S. and Europe gathering to prove they have what it takes to be the very best in Pokémon Black and White. More »

When Multiplayer Betas Are Better Than The Real Game

Mike Fahey — Thu, 17 Mar 2011 11:20:00 EDT

Is commenter Cursed Frogurt alone when he says he enjoys multiplayer betas for games like Halo: Reach and Gears of War 3 better than full retail multiplayer? That's the subject we're testing out in today's Speak-Up on Kotaku. More »

League Of Legends Kicks Off Season One Next Week

Mike Fahey — Tue, 06 Jul 2010 17:20:00 EDT

Oh it's on. After several months' worth of pre-season play, Riot Games is ready to kick things into high gear with next week's launch of League of Legends' first official competition season, complete with ladders, ranked games, and draft mode. More »

Nintendo Holds The First Wii Olympics

Mike Fahey — Tue, 29 Jun 2010 11:40:00 EDT

Are you the best Wii gamer in the country? Nintendo gives you a chance to prove your mettle in the first-ever Wii Games: Summer 2010, and it all starts in the cradle of civilization: New Jersey. More »

How to Use Psychological Warfare To Win at Video Games

Mike Fahey — Mon, 08 Mar 2010 12:30:41 EST

As any seasoned professional can tell you, winning at video games starts way before you take controller in hand. GamesRadar has posted some key strategies for defeating your opponent using man's greatest weapon - the power of the mind. More »

Hungary Prevails in Dragon Age 24-Hour Contest

Owen Good — Sat, 31 Oct 2009 13:00:00 EDT

Hungary made goulash out of a 10-team field in BioWare's 24-hour competition called Dragon Age: Origins Wardens' Quest, netting each team member a cool $12,500. More »

BioWare Hosts 24 Hour International Dragon Age Competition

Mike Fahey — Mon, 26 Oct 2009 12:20:00 EDT

BioWare has gathered 10 teams from across the globe to compete in the Dragon Age: Origins Warden's Quest, a 24 hour competition to determine which players are worthy of $12,500. More »

$25K Resistance: Retribution PSP Tourney

Brian Crecente — Wed, 18 Mar 2009 11:00:00 EDT

Global Gaming and SCEA have teamed up to host a Resistance: Retribution tournament slated to give away $25,000 in Sony gear. More »

Rock Band Taking Over Casinos

Brian Crecente — Wed, 18 Feb 2009 17:00:00 EST

Starting in March Harrah's many casinos will have, along with the scantily-clad cocktail waitresses, gambling addicts and fog of smoke, official and permanent fully-equipped Rock Band entertainment stages. More »

People Try Harder When Gaming Against Humans

Brian Crecente — Fri, 06 Feb 2009 13:20:00 EST

A recent study on brain patterns shows that people who think they are playing against real people try harder, then when they believe they are playing against computers. More »

Serious Games Competition Is Serious Business

AJ Glasser — Wed, 07 Jan 2009 21:20:00 EST

Whosegame is right in the middle of their first annual Serious Games competition which runs from Dec. 8, 2008 to Mar 31, 2009. More »

Outgrowing Games: The Rebuttal and Challenge

Maggie Greene — Sat, 29 Nov 2008 17:00:00 EST

A few weeks ago, designer Brice Morrison talked about how a game designer outgrew games; since kicking off a flurry of discussion, he's returned to GameSetWatch with some in-depth answers to common questions and a challenge. More »

Entries Announced for IGF '09

Maggie Greene — Sat, 29 Nov 2008 15:00:00 EST

A couple of Kotakuites have written to underline what I'd already noticed — the lists of the 2009 Independent Games Festival entrants are finally up. More »

Win PS3 Penny Arcade Codes With Evil Avatar

Stuart Houghton — Wed, 29 Oct 2008 18:20:00 EDT

Evil Avatar have snagged 5 Digital Download codes for (deep breath) Penny Arcade Adventures: On the Rain-Slick Precipice of Darkness, Episode One on PS3. More »

X3: Terran Conflict Video Competition

Stuart Houghton — Tue, 28 Oct 2008 15:20:00 EDT

Any budding George Lucases (Lucai?) out there who enjoy a bit of X3? Fancy winning a.. thingy.. that will let you play games in Super Duper Widescreen? More »

Pizza Hut & Rockstar Giving Away Expensive Car Of Some Kind [Midnight Club LA]

Stuart Houghton — Thu, 18 Sep 2008 15:20:00 EDT

What is it with games promos and junk food at the moment? McDonald's are all over LEGO: Batman, KFC have their greasy fingers on Guitar Hero - now Pizza Hut are making Rockstar one with everything. It's like they think we are all lardy fatsos or something. More »

First Album Recorded Using DS KORG Emulator Released

Stuart Houghton — Thu, 04 Sep 2008 16:00:00 EDT

..and by 'Released' we mean 'put up on a website in a Zip file'. Say what you like about the democratizing power of the internet - it does rather suck the glamour out of album launches. More »

Retro Remakes Competition To Create A 'Game For Helen'

Stuart Houghton — Wed, 03 Sep 2008 16:20:00 EDT

The Retro Remakes competition has returned for 2008, this time with a charitable twist. More »

FTC Issues EA Second Anti-Competition Inquiry

Mike Fahey — Thu, 17 Apr 2008 11:00:00 EDT

Electronic Arts has issued a statement this morning announcing that they have received a second request for information from the U.S. Federal Trade Commission regarding their proposed takeover of Take Two Interactive. Seems the FTC still isn't convinced that the joining of the two companies wouldn't be anti-competitive.

While EA believes that its proposed transaction with Take-Two would not be anti-competitive, the FTC has not yet reached any conclusions regarding the proposed acquisition and has indicated that it needs further information and additional time to conduct its review.

No matter what the shareholders and company executives wind up deciding to do, it all comes down to the FTC. EA is already big. It's up to the FTC to determine if acquiring Take-Two would make them too big for the competition. It's not likely the sale would be blocked, but those FTC officials are real sticklers about having their paperwork in order. More »

IGF Student Showcase: Entries Now Up

Maggie Greene — Sat, 27 Oct 2007 14:30:03 EDT

In case you've had a hard time keeping up with all the hubbub of the Independent Games Festival '08, the 125 entries for the student category of the competition are up. Just like the big IGF competition, there look to be a wide variety of games: good games, bad games, weird games, standard games (no red fish or blue fish, sadly). It's a truly international competition, with entries from all over the place - and some of the games appear to be quite polished and relatively sophisticated, which makes me wonder why they aren't in the 'big boy' competition instead. You can check out all the entries over at the IGF Student Competition website. More »

More on the New Danish 'Gaming School'

Maggie Greene — Sat, 20 Oct 2007 14:00:28 EDT

As mentioned last week, Copenhagen eSports is opening a school for gamers. ZoneRank went to the horse's mouth (in this case, Rasmus Pedersen, head of the project) and got some more information on the particulars - and it sounds like they have some lofty goals, to say the least: More »

Seagate Cross-Country Gaming Tour

Brian Crecente — Fri, 19 Oct 2007 16:00:04 EDT

For the third year in a row Seagate is taking to a dozen cities to pitch their harddrives. More »

Halo 3 Kotaku Vs. Gizmodo Smackdown Report

Brian Crecente — Fri, 19 Oct 2007 15:03:41 EDT

As predicted, we lost the first ever Kotaku versus Gizmodo Halo 3 challenge last night, 4 to 2. More »

IGF Student Showcase: Entries Close Monday

Maggie Greene — Sun, 14 Oct 2007 15:30:01 EDT

In another bit of Independent Games Festival, a reminder that entries for the IGF Student Showcase close this Monday (15 October). If you're 13 or older and were a full or part-time high school or college student as of the Spring '07 semester, you're eligible to enter - and they're even accepting entries of game mods. There's more information at the IGF site, but the basic rules and regs are after the jump: More »

Independent Games Festival Announces Entries

fdemarco — Sat, 13 Oct 2007 16:00:00 EDT

The Independent Games Festival in SF is just around the corner and the site for the event is now showing a gargantuan list of 173 entries for the 2008 competition. I skimmed over the multi-page list until my eyes were crossing and i started running out of time and as always, there's some really great looking stuff as well as some craptacular ones. If you're haveing a lazy weekend and are looking for something to kill some time, head on over to the IGF website and check out some the entries. The list also includes links to the home sites of these games if you want to see any of them in more detail and some are even downloadable to try out. Anyone care to give some predictions? More »

Timewaster of the Day: Osmosis

Maggie Greene — Sun, 07 Oct 2007 13:30:57 EDT

Jay is Games has completed another casual game design contest, this one requiring entries to somehow incorporate ball physics into game play. My personal favorite out of the (numerous) entries? A charming and clever little game by Phillip Reagan called Osmosis. The goal is to get your puffy sheep to the goal by using gestural input. It's adorable, polished, lots of fun, and exactly what I needed after a weekend of writing fellowship applications and being up to my eyeballs in reading. If herding sheep isn't your thing, there are lots of entries - including one that features zombie nuns. More »

CGS Announces Pan-Asian Finals

Maggie Greene — Sat, 29 Sep 2007 18:00:00 EDT

In preparation for the Championship Gaming Series 2007 World Championship being held in Los Angeles (6-14 December), CGS has announced the Asian final. Teams coming from Seoul, Dubai, Sydney, Singapore, Kuala Lampur, and China will meet to determine which four teams will be heading on to LA. So if anyone's going to be running around Kuala Lampur next month, the pan-Asian finals will be held from the 15th to the 18th. Full release after the jump. More »

WCG Presents Team USA

Mike Fahey — Mon, 17 Sep 2007 14:30:31 EDT

The World Cyber Games National Final is over, and as the smoke clears and paramedics carry the battered bodies of the fallen from the fetid field of war, twenty-two figures stand silhouetted in the bright Universal Orlando Resort spotlights, ready to represent our country in the coming battle. Men like Need for Speed: Carbon Champion Kamram Siddiqui from Orlando Florida, and Dead or Alive 4 Champ Carl White from Toledo Ohio. Those two and twenty more bravely listed in the press release below will take to the battlefield on last time at the World Cyber Games 2007 Grand Final in Seattle Washington October 4th through the 7th, testing their mettle against 700 gamers from 75 countries for a chance at gold medals, cash, and prizes...but that matters not. Nay, these fine men and possibly women fight for America, ladies and gentlemen. For our freedom and glory. Okay, my hyperbole gland just burst. Hit up the press release while I hunt for a band-aid. More »

World In Conflict Game Off - Results

Mike Fahey — Fri, 14 Sep 2007 17:00:56 EDT

So the World In Conflict Game Off challenge has come and gone, and if you look closely in the smoking ruins of a small northwestern town you might catch a glimpse of mine and Crecente's battered bodies laying in pieces along a mile of crater-pitted roadway. Two rounds were played, one with Kotaku representing the US and the other representing mother Russia, and in both instances devs Vextor and Emma completely decimated our pitiful team in minutes. The third round we swapped partners, with Vextor and I facing Crecente and Emma. Showing what a difference a good partner makes, this time the game lasted until the timer ran out, and when the smoke cleared my team stood triumphant, waving the American flag while enjoying some hot dogs and apple pie. Remember, just because we were pathetic losers doesn't mean you have to be. Keep an eye posted for the aforementioned cool swag that we'll be giving away in the near future! More »

The World in Conflict Game Off

Brian Crecente — Thu, 13 Sep 2007 15:00:18 EDT

The Massive folks have challenged Team Kotaku to a little game-off in World in Conflict this week. They will be pitting two of the guys who helped create the game against myself and Fahey, in other words we are going to have not just our asses, but just about all of our body parts handed to us. More »

The Iron Man of Gaming Competiton Crowns a Winner

fdemarco — Sun, 02 Sep 2007 17:30:00 EDT

This weekend marked the first ever Iron-Man Gaming Competition presented by Video Gamers League and creators Handsome Tom and Stuttering Craig of ScrewAttack.comin Dallas, Texas. Eighty contestants competed in six different games (Sonic the Hedgehog, Pac-Man: Championship Edition, Street Fighter 2: Hyper Fighting, Madden '08, Dead or Alive 4 and Halo 2) over three days, but ultimately only one would reign supreme as the Iron-Man of Gaming. The big winner was Chris "Kumachine" Delp who took home the massive Iron-Man belt and a thousand dollars cash and dedicated the victory to his hometown of New Orleans and the victims of Hurricane Katrina. Second place was taken by Louis "Big Lou" Hughes who took home a slightly less exciting prize; a women's tennis championship trophy wrapped in a broken third party PlayStation controller. Stay tuned for details on the next Iron-man of Gaming Competition coming next year. More »

ScrewAttack Announces Iron-Man of Gaming Tournament

fdemarco — Sun, 05 Aug 2007 13:00:00 EDT

ScrewAttack.com founders and video moguls Handsome Tom and Stuttering Craig are spreading their wings and joining up with Video Gamers League to present The Iron-Man of Gaming Tournament. The competition will take place during the Summer 2007 CPL Championships which happens Thursday, August 30 to Sunday, September 2, 2007 (Labor Day Weekend) at the Hilton Anatole hotel in Dallas, Texas. Craig and Tom's take on gaming tournaments is a little different from the usual in that players will compete in a variety of games rather than just one. More »

Nintendo Makes the Cover of Fortune Magazine

Kim Phu — Thu, 31 May 2007 15:40:00 EDT

Nintendo made the cover of the June issue of Fortune Magazine, but you can read it online here. Included in the article are all the fun facts about how "Nintendo creamed the competition". It's probably nothing you haven't heard before if you've been keeping tabs since the launch, but is does add some insight to the history of Nintendo. More »

Beijing Perfect World 'Creates Online Craze'

Maggie Greene — Sat, 19 May 2007 16:30:36 EDT

Well, according to them at least - China-based developer Beijing Perfect World is gearing up for an online tournament that will go beyond the borders of China. More »

International GoW Live Tourney Launched

Brian Crecente — Thu, 29 Mar 2007 18:00:38 EDT

Think you're handy with a chainsaw and well placed boot heel? More »

JayIsGames' Flash Game Finalists

fdemarco — Sat, 03 Mar 2007 16:00:00 EST

JayIsGames, that purveyor of all things casual gaming, has been accepting entries recently for it's second Flash Game Design Contest. While the graphic indicates that it is a January-February contest, entries have been appearing on the site as late as yesterday. The entries have all been created surrounding the "grow" style of games personified by the highly addicting Grow Cube. While it might be too late to enter that little game you've been tinkering with for the last few months, if you are a fan of flash based games, there is sure to be a few of the entries that will interest you. Head on over to JayIsGames to check out all thirteen entries including my favorites, Sprout and NOBuzzle Tree. Be sure you have some time to spare because nothing eats up your time quite like a really fun flash based puzzle game. Flynn De Marco More »