<![CDATA[Kotaku: Pirates]]> http://cache.kotaku.com/assets/base/img/thumbs140x140/kotaku.com.png <![CDATA[Kotaku: Pirates]]> http://kotaku.com/tag/pirates http://kotaku.com/tag/pirates <![CDATA[How The Piracy Debate Is Like The Emperor's New Clothes]]> It takes an (admittedly self-serving) quote from an online retailer to say what every other industry executive must surely be thinking, but can never dare to say out loud. More »
]]> http://kotaku.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=5791552&view=rss&microfeed=true <![CDATA[This Might Be The Best Pirate Trap We've Ever Seen]]> Garry Newman, the creator of the Garry's Mod mod/machinima toolkit for the PC, just sprung one of the best pirate traps in recent memory, tricking those who did not pay for his product into essentially giving themselves up. More »
]]> http://kotaku.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=5791493&view=rss&microfeed=true <![CDATA[Kiss Your Copying Software Goodbye, Japan!]]> Under current Japanese, it is illegal to upload or sell pirated games and movies. It is legal to copy for one's own personal use. Better get all your personal copying done pronto, because that's going to get harder. More »
]]> http://kotaku.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=5706925&view=rss&microfeed=true <![CDATA[The Next Pirates Of The Caribbean Game Will Be LEGO-ized]]> Following in the footsteps of Star Wars, Indiana Jones, and Harry Potter, Disney's Pirates of the Caribbean is the next film franchise to get the LEGO treatment from TT Games. More »
]]> http://kotaku.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=5693346&view=rss&microfeed=true <![CDATA[Piracy Prevents Super Street Fighter IV PC]]> In an interview with Japanese website 4gamer, Street Fighter series producer Yoshinori Ono says that a strong potential for piracy is keeping PC gamers from getting their own version of Super Street Fighter IV. More »
]]> http://kotaku.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=5644901&view=rss&microfeed=true <![CDATA[Pirates, Ninjas, And Homicidal Teddy Bears]]> Pirates lay siege to the Island of Perfection in the upcoming Chapter 9 downloadable content for 505 Games' killer plushie simulator Naughty Bear. And so the circle is complete. More »
]]> http://kotaku.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=5632844&view=rss&microfeed=true <![CDATA[Microsoft Is Ready To Ban Halo: Reach Pirates]]> As leaked copies of Halo: Reach hit the torrent sites, Microsoft tells Kotaku that they are aggressively investigating the leak and are fully prepared to hand out bans to anyone caught playing the game pre-release. More »
]]> http://kotaku.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=5620742&view=rss&microfeed=true <![CDATA[A Reformed Pirate Writes]]> Letters, we get letters. We get lots and lots of letters. Letters! It's time to take a peek into the Kotaku mailbag. More »
]]> http://kotaku.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=5560818&view=rss&microfeed=true <![CDATA[Japan's Pirates Answer Pirate Questions... Arrr!]]> We have already polled you, Joe Q. Reader, about piracy. Let's hear the results of a Japanese poll. Are they the same? More »
]]> http://kotaku.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=5526088&view=rss&microfeed=true <![CDATA[Avast! A Monkey Island Pirate Paradise For PlayStation Home]]> LucasArts celebrates the summer release of The Secret of Monkey Island: Special Edition on the PlayStation 3 with enough virtual goods to recreate the game yourself in PlayStation Home. More »
]]> http://kotaku.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=5518189&view=rss&microfeed=true <![CDATA[Fat Princess Teases Pirates And Ninjas]]> What could possibly be missing from Titan Studios' multiplayer online PlayStation Network game, Fat Princess? Oh yeah...those. More »
]]> http://kotaku.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=5341079&view=rss&microfeed=true <![CDATA[Canada Joins U.S. Piracy Watch List]]> We warned you, Canada. The ESA dropped us a line today to inform us that our neighbors to the north have officially made the U.S. Priority Watch List for failing to protect intellectual property. More »
]]> http://kotaku.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=5234487&view=rss&microfeed=true <![CDATA[ELSPA Celebrates First Anti-Piracy Raid Of 2009]]> The Entertainment and Leisure Software Publishers Association rings in the new year with news of their first anti-piracy raid of 2009, in which they seized computers and more than 1,000 illegally copied games. More »
]]> http://kotaku.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=5127249&view=rss&microfeed=true <![CDATA[Activision Pirate Shaken By Legal Scare Tactics]]> So Activision is going all RIAA on software pirates, and now the pirates have started to complain. Over at GameCyte an anonymous pirate who fell under the scrutiny of Activision's crack legal team laments over his harsh treatment at their hands, detailing how they callously based their monetary demand on his personal income and buying habits rather than the material infringed, and how they suggested that if he hire a lawyer he'd wind up paying them even more. Towards the end of the article he even muses on how people who hear of such harsh treatment might not buy Activision products anymore. More »
]]> http://kotaku.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=5054218&view=rss&microfeed=true <![CDATA[Activision Suing Pirates RIAA Style]]> Peter Moore at EA may think suing pirates doesn't help, but Activision offers up a tall frosty glass of "fuck that" by suing a New York man for allegedly copying and distributing its games. More »
]]> http://kotaku.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=5052826&view=rss&microfeed=true <![CDATA[ESA Cheers For Pirates' Prison Sentences]]> The Entertainment Software Association issued a press release today that for once wasn't scolding a U.S. state for pursuing unconstitutional game legislation. Instead, they take a moment to applaud the sentencing of two convicted software pirates - Kevin Fuchs of New York and Kifah Maswadi of Florida, both of whom received prison terms for their efforts at taking away money from hardworking developers and publishers. More »
]]> http://kotaku.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=5043123&view=rss&microfeed=true <![CDATA[New Pirate Classes In PotBS]]> Up until now, pirates in Flying Lab's MMO Pirates of the Burning Sea have gotten the short end of the stick. While the different nations had a choice of career paths, pirates were pirates, which works fine in PVE but in group PVP it led to an imbalance...everyone knows what they're up against when they're fighting pirates. Well not anymore. The upcoming 1.4 patch of the game is introducing two new pirate classes, separate factions in the Brethren of the Coast. Existing pirates will be become Cutthroats, the more brutal type of pirates, while players creating new characters can opt between that or the new Buccaneer class.
Buccaneers are pirates too, but a bit subtler than their burning-bearded brethren. They steal and loot, but also manipulate the black markets. Some would call them gentleman adventurers, though few are true blue bloods. Buccaneers do not have the raw power of cutthroats, but they work well in groups and can help friends and cripple enemies.
Bah. Either way they're still pirates, and one ninja could easily take either out. More »
]]> http://kotaku.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=389859&view=rss&microfeed=true <![CDATA[The Pirate Bay Is Unapologetically Now Liberty Bay]]> While we wouldn't expect much in the way of apology or shame from the folks running mega-popular Swedish torrent tracker The Pirate Bay—that's not their style—we were just a bit surprised to see how timely and frank the site's home page was, now that cracked PAL and NTSC versions of Grand Theft Auto IV for Xbox 360 appear to have made their way online. The site doesn't show too much activity on the two torrents that promise free and illegal copies of GTA IV, but it sure seems like TPB is prepping for a rush. Remember, kids, stealing is bad! More »
]]> http://kotaku.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=384184&view=rss&microfeed=true <![CDATA[Hands On With Capcom's Piratical Plunder]]> Nothing will have me running to check out a new game like the promise of pirates so when it was announced that a game called Plunder would be playable at Capcom's Digital Day I made my way to the room as soon as I could. Plunder, developed by Certain Affinity (Whose lead designer is Max Hoberman of Halo 2 and 3 multiplayer fame), is a real time multiplayer strategy game inspired by titles like Settlers of Cattan. On a hex tile board, players take control of their own pirate ship and attempt to gain domiance over the ports that are placed around different spots on the map. Capturing various areas will yield spoils that will allow you to upgrade your ships with faster speed, stronger shields and better firepower. Pointing and clicking on a hex area will start moving your ship to that space and passing by an enemy will initiate automated cannon fire between the two ships. The game is won when one player or team gains control over the majority of ports. More »
]]> http://kotaku.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=367104&view=rss&microfeed=true <![CDATA[Gallery: Plunder]]> Ahoy mateys! Feast your eyes upon this bounty of Plunder screens. Thar be twenty photos below in Davey Jones' Locker. Please continue filling in ridiculous pirate speak monologue here... More »
]]> http://kotaku.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=367287&view=rss&microfeed=true <![CDATA[PC Gaming's Piracy "Sales" Charts]]> PC sales charts? Bloody useless. What good are sales charts when every second PC gamer just pirates games for nothing? Exactly. So Rock, Paper, Shotgun's Kieron Gillen has done a little digging through a single day's worth of downloads from bittorrent site Mininova and come up with some charts that help show what many PC users are actually playing, if not buying. More »
]]> http://kotaku.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=364440&view=rss&microfeed=true <![CDATA[Pirates of the Burning Sea Goes Live]]> I have a confession to make: Nowadays I find it heard to retain interest in a massively multplayer online game for more than an hour or so. They just bore the crap out of me. They're all so transparent, so same, the sameness, I think is what really kills the experience for me. More »
]]> http://kotaku.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=347812&view=rss&microfeed=true <![CDATA[Akella's City Of Abandoned Ships Pirated]]> Russian developer Akella are the closest thing gaming has to pirate specialists. They've got titles like Pirates of the Caribbean (Xbox), Age of Pirates, and Sea Dogs under their belts already, and they've just announced a new game for 2008, City of Abandoned Ships. It's a pirate RPG that allows you to take the role of the pirates themselves or any of the usual suspects: England, France, Spain, or the Dutch. You'll get ship=to=ship combat, meet historical figures, and explore land-based locations throughout the Caribbean. They're so pirate they've even come up with a nifty anagram for their advancement system: P.I.R.A.T.E.S - Power, Impression, Reaction, Authority, Talent, Endurance and Success. They might be going a little overboard here, but years at sea will do that to you. City of Abandoned Ships is due in the first quarter of 2008, most likely for the PC. More »
]]> http://kotaku.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=323695&view=rss&microfeed=true <![CDATA[Pre-orders Of The Caribbean]]> Disney's Pirates of the Caribbean Online is a free MMO, and like most free MMO's, things get better when you pay. Players who subscribe to Unlimited Access for $9.95 a month get better ships, better quests, better PVP, better weapons, and the ability to create a guild. Now Disney is sweetening the deal by offering a pre-order bonus for players who sign up for Unlimited Access early. Those willing to donate working credit card numbers will get 1/2 off the first month of their $9.95 subscription, a nifty cloth map featuring pictures of very small islands and the like, and an exclusive founder's title for each of your characters that proves you were there when the game started. A relatively sweet deal, but I'm still holding out for a Haunted Mansion MMO where Eddie Murphy gives me quests. More »
]]> http://kotaku.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=311405&view=rss&microfeed=true <![CDATA[Talk Like A Pirate Day]]> It's September 19th, ladies and gentlemen, and you all know what that means. Whether you are a Pirate of the Burning Sea, a Pirate of the Caribbean, a Puzzle Pirate, or one of Sid Meier's stalwart band of buccaneers, today is your day. Break out the eye patch, cut off your leg and replace it with a wooden stump (do NOT actually do this), and crack open the rum, for International Talk Like A Pirate Day is upon us, may god have mercy on our souls. It's a special day for Kotaku, as it is a well documented fact that we are captained by the notorious dread pirate Crecente, whose exploits and bird shirts are the stuff of nautical legends. How are you planning on celebrating this day? As a ninja, I am going into hiding, though to be honest that's pretty much what ninja do anyway when they aren't killing pirates. Maybe I'll toss in a silent yar for the occasion. More »
]]> http://kotaku.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=301392&view=rss&microfeed=true <![CDATA[PotBS Celebrates Talk Like A Pirate Day In Seattle]]> Pirates of the Burning Sea has become the official video game of International Talk Like A Pirate Day (September 19th), and to celebrate they are raiding the coastline of Seattle, causing a right ruckus in the streets, and hanging about the Seattle Aquarium looking swarthy and unkempt. Local Seattle pirate group SeaFair Pirates will be on hand, offering tours of the waterfront on their pirate ship, and you'll get a chance to meet the devs and get some hands-on time with Pirates of the Burning Sea. There'll even be an appearance by Talk Like A Pirate originators John "Ol' Chumbucket" Baur and Mark "Cap'n Slappy" Summers, commemorating the game's official pirate status. You can hit the jump for more details, though I would suggest hitting the official RSVP page first, as spots are limited. The event runs from 7-10PM, leaving you plenty of time to get home and lock your doors before September 20th - Unofficial Kill Pirates Like A Ninja Day. Only kidding. Locking your doors won't help, silly. More »
]]> http://kotaku.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=300722&view=rss&microfeed=true <![CDATA[Screw Attack's Top Ten Ninjas]]>
I don't think any of the Ninja in Screw Attack's Top Ten Ninja(s) actually deserve to be on the list. Sure, they're all good at doing whatever it is that they do, but come on, top ninja? You can see them! Top be a top ninja you have to start your training early, slipping out of your mother's womb in the dead of night to avoid being detected by the doctor's special "look at the baby in your tummy" device. Amateurs. More »
]]> http://kotaku.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=294744&view=rss&microfeed=true <![CDATA[Too Many Ninjas!]]> One thing I've learned: You can never have too many ninjas. Pirates, yes. Ninjas, no. Still, there is a flash game called Too Many Ninjas!. It's annoyingly bizarre little flasher with purple ninjas that is not nearly as great as its own title. Still, I was only able to kill 20 of those little buggers, when I realized there may be too many ninjas, but not enough fun. More »
]]> http://kotaku.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=287569&view=rss&microfeed=true <![CDATA[Take Your Sims On A Wondrous Journey]]> And the relentless march of Sims 2 expansion packs continues, as was foretold by prophecy. In early September you'll be able to take a break from torturing your Sims to death and burying them in the backyard of their tasteful suburban home to travel to exotic locations around the world where you can torture them to death in some foreign guy's backyard! EA announces The Sims 2: Bon Voyage, the expansion pack that not only adds a variety of vacation-themed objects, activities and locales to the game, but also brings the fabled Ninja VS. Pirate debate to your simulated world. In the Far East your Sims will encounter a local resident known as the Ninja, and in the version of the expansion in my head it will be the last encounter they ever have. Meanwhile, on a tropical island somewhere, your Sims can explore a giant pirate ship - the largest object yet to grace The Sims 2 franchise - which I am assuming will be filled with the bodies of dead pirates, because this fictional reality has Ninja in it. More »
]]> http://kotaku.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=282702&view=rss&microfeed=true <![CDATA[Big PotBS Happenings On Talk Like A Pirate Day]]>
Here's the E3 trailer for Pirates of the Burning Sea, the seafaring MMO from Flying Lab that recently announced a publishing deal with Sony Online Entertainment. While I didn't learn much we haven't already reported on the game at the show, I was told by two separate members of the dev team to keep an eye out for September 19th, better known as Talk Like A Pirate Day. Not the release date apparently, but something big, with extra emphasis on big. My money's on a large-scale raid of Cuba. More »
]]> http://kotaku.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=278825&view=rss&microfeed=true <![CDATA[Elf Bowling Trailer Reveals Santa's Checkered Past]]> More »
]]> http://kotaku.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=276916&view=rss&microfeed=true <![CDATA["Duke Nuke Em Forever" Out!]]> Pirates have a sense of humor, too! This copy of "Duke Nuke Em Forever" was spotted at a Chinatown in Australia. Sure, it's probably just a slightly modded take on an earlier Duke Nuke Em title. Behold! Perhaps the greatest pirated game. Ever, even. More »
]]> http://kotaku.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=276127&view=rss&microfeed=true <![CDATA[SOE Sails The Burning Seas To E3]]> We told you about the Flying Lab Software agreement with SOE first last night, and now Sony Online Entertainment finally catches up with some hot press release action, including word that Pirates of the Burning Sea will be presented at E307 as part of SOE's lineup. The star of SOE's lineup I'd daresay. SOE VP of Business Development David Christensen mildly downplays. More »
]]> http://kotaku.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=272401&view=rss&microfeed=true <![CDATA[Pirates of the Burning Sea Signs With SOE]]> Direct from the Pirates of the Burning Sea web site, Flying Lab Software has announced a publishing partnership for their giant online pirate party with none other than Sony Online Entertainment of Everquest, Planetside, and....Vanguard fame. More »
]]> http://kotaku.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=271797&view=rss&microfeed=true <![CDATA[The Worms Game Cake]]> You might think that worms and cake are not something you'd want to put together, but Kotakuite Stuart W. has changed all that. For his 21st birthday, Stuart and his dear Mum put together this great cake based on his favorite game, Worms. Not only is it an awesome cake, but it has a pirate theme as well which always goes over big here at Kotaku tower. As far as game cakes go, this is definitely one of the most detailed ones we've seen in a while. Great job, Stuart, and your mom too. Oh, and Happy Birthday! Flynn De Marco More »
]]> http://kotaku.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=261870&view=rss&microfeed=true <![CDATA[Clip: More Damn Jack Sparrow]]> Disney has released a new trailer for Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End, just in case you were one of those five people who didn't realize the game and movie are coming out next week. More »
]]> http://kotaku.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=261542&view=rss&microfeed=true <![CDATA[Clip: Release The Kraken!]]> I know, I know, I'm mixing my movie metaphors here, but it was appropriate. I am a big fan of Pirates of the Caribbean dating back to endless summer trips to Disney World where I would ride that and The Haunted Mansion as many times as I could while we were there. Thankfully, the POTC movies turned out way better than that HM piece of crap with Eddie Murphy or I wouldn't even have a passing interest in the game. More »
]]> http://kotaku.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=259989&view=rss&microfeed=true <![CDATA[Ubisoft Buys SunFlowers]]> Which is apparently, the name of a PC game developing company more known in Germany than anywhere else in the world. SunFlowers is also the owner of the publisher of the game, Anno 1701, a piratey-looking kind of Civilization coming to the DS. The president of Ubisoft, Yves Guillemot had this to say: More »
]]> http://kotaku.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=251694&view=rss&microfeed=true <![CDATA[Bounty Bay Online Trailer]]> Behold the trailer for Bounty Bay Online, an upcoming MMO filled with "seafaring tales and pirate fascination." More »
]]> http://kotaku.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=251382&view=rss&microfeed=true <![CDATA[Gallery: Pretty Prancing Pirates]]> Here at Kotaku we are required by ancient code to deliver equal representation to ninjas and pirates, so since I posted the Ninja Gaiden DS bit earlier, I am forced to deliver unto thee these screenshots of Pirates of the Carribean: At World's End. Originally titled PotC: At Land's End, the well-documented pirate inability to pull off khakis and a polo shirt caused producers to go in a different direction. More »
]]> http://kotaku.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=248811&view=rss&microfeed=true