Kotaku

'Next-Gen Audio Square-Off': PS3 versus 360

Game designer Richard "Lord British" Garriott and his "immortality drive" — containing Crecente's genetic material — is officially in orbit now. Sorry I missed this earlier, but Garriott rode the candle out of Baikonur early Sunday, and his Soyuz craft will dock with the International Space Station on Tuesday to begin a 10-day span of experiments.

Not sure if there's any experimenting on the "immortality drive" to be done or not, but that was the keystone of his pre-flight hype. The drive contains the digitized DNA sequences of a bunch of earth types — our editor included, along with Stephen Colbert and Stephen Hawking. It'll stay aboard the space station in case life on earth is wiped out or something.

Garriott reportedly paid $30 million for his flight but said he was able to recoup "a significant slice" of that beforehand. He gets back to earth Oct. 24.

US Game Designer Blasts Into Space with DNA Cargo [Associated Press via Wired, AP Photo]

On The Possibility Of 2D, HD, XBLA & PSN Sonic Games

On Games, Music, and Meaning

I think the Law of Obsolete Console Modding should say something like, "It's not really cool until the console that replaced the obsolete console is itself obsolete." Of course, then it would be called "retro-cool" and I know how much you guys hate that term.

Here we go anyway. Trumpet fanfare for the Xbox Slim. No, not the Xbox 360 Slim, although we'll never kill that rumor. This is a casemod that shaves 60 percent of the volume and half the weight off the original Xbox console. The secret is in its super-duper cooling fans. The mod also packs in emulators for three other consoles.

Pretty nifty. Definitely a conversation piece. But see me in about four years when every current 360 configuration has melted down and been replaced and backwards compatibility is no more. Then we'll slap the "do want" label on it. Three other stills and a movie on the jump.

WoW Making Learning Fun

And we've received our first game pumpkin submission — Mega Man firing on Mr. Game & Watch from Super Smash Brothers. Reader Nathan G. carved it, about three weeks before Halloween, so, it should be good and slimy and rotted out by Oct. 31. Every year about this time we get hit with game pumpkins (not literally) so, if you're cravin' a carvin', get after it, snap it and send it to us. Check out last year's punkin roundup to see if your idea has been done before.

Update: We got two more submissions. Here's JAS none with his Metal Gear Solid pumpkin.

and Ignited_Impulse, with DMC's Dante and Trish:

Pumpkin Roundup!! [Oct. 31, 2007]

Soulja Boy Now Offering Ass-Whoopins for Free

Noted game critic, aspiring developer and rapper Soulja Boy says there are four Xbox 360 titles on which he cannot be beat — any circumstances. Halo 3; Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare; Gears of War and Grand Theft Auto IV. (He's also a pure bastard at Viva Pinata, I assure you.) And at the end of this 7 minute video, which I dare you to tolerate, you can get his gamertag so you can sign up for your free assbeating. PlayStation 3 gamers, you are just shit out of luck, what can I say.

Update: Hawty McBloggy looked up his Gamertag and his "intimidating k/d ratio of 0.91."

Soulja Boy Calls Out Xbox 360 Gamers [Xbox 360 Fanboy]

Revenge Of Public Day: TGS Attendance Rebounds!

The press has abandoned Tokyo Game Show, but the public hasn't. The business days have been a dud and two-thirds of the press have fled on the choked public days, but John and Jane Q. Consumer schlepped through the pissing rain to check out all of TGS's wares. Attendance was up over last year, some 7,000 more than 2007's first day of public access. Can Tokyo Game Show 2008 beat last year's final tally? Stay tuned for the thrilling conclusion.

When you can't convince 35 other people of your master plan to attack two Alliance capital cities, you really only have one alternative: Do it yourself. "Bradster" does. He owns that rig above — 11 computers that run 36 World of WarCraft account simultaneously. His infrastructure costs (to say nothing of his utility bill) weren't itemized, but he unashamedly admits he pays $5,711 per year in subscription fees to keep together his one-man raiding party (family photo of that on the jump).

Better yet? He's going to spend another $1,500 on 36 copies of Wrath of the Lich King so his army of level 80 Shamans can start pounding down Stormwind and Ironforge on day one.