• e308

    Nintendo Says "Thank You" For Watching Its E3 Press Conference

    E3 2008 is over. Finished. But Nintendo hasn't forgotten and is sending out thank you notes, thanking folks for attending its presser. The letter reads: "THANK YOU for attending our E3 media briefing. Nintendo aims to bring people engaging experiences...to make them smile...and we hope we provided you at least a little of that during our event." Below that, it's signed by Nintendo of America president Reggie Fils-Aime, vice president of corporate affairs Denise Kaigler and vice president of sales & marketing Cammie Dunaway. Regardless of what you thought of Nintendo's E3 press conference (eh...), classy of them to send out thank you notes.

    7:20 AM on Tue Aug 12 2008
    By Brian Ashcraft
    5,094 views, 84 comments

    Latest by tok1879: why would they try to awaken those memories again??? more »

  • Inquiring Minds

    Does Kotaku Manscape?

    E3 was pretty hectic for me, so I only vaguely remember Flynn and the GayGamer crew pulling me aside to answer me several questions, most of which were gaming related. Thankfully they've been posting a series of videos called "My Scrapbook of Precious E3 Memories, in which members of the gaming press offer up their opinions of the import topics of the show, such as Favorite Game, Worst Game, Pet Peeves, and the most important question of them all, "Do you manscape?"

    Manscaping is what a man does to maintain his appearance, generally referring to certain places that shall remain nameless. Aren't you dying to know our answers? Hit the link below to see McWhertor, Ashcraft and I handle the question with varying degrees of tact, and be sure to check out the whole series for more opinions we'll probably regret having put to video later.

    My Video Scrapbook of Precious E3 Memories Part 8: Do You Manscape? [GayGamer.net]

    10:40 AM on Fri Aug 8 2008
    By Mike Fahey
    6,904 views, 117 comments

    Latest by Maherr: Manscaping...Nice. more »

  • e308

    Do E3 Awards Really Matter?

    On Tuesday we posted the official Best of E3 awards, but do they really make a difference? Do what the critics feel are the best of the best actually translate into higher sales? UBS analyst Ben Schachter seems to think so, compiling this handy chart to prove it.

    "Do awards translate into higher sales? The answer is yes, but not always. Additionally certain categories have a higher correlation between awards and sales. Since these awards began in 1998, the Best Console title has sold an average of 2.42 million units life-time in the U.S., according to NPD," Schachter explained.

    Poor Jet Grind Radio. Had my beloved Dreamcast not taken a fall you would have been right up there as well. Schacter goes on to mention that while this works for Best Console title, it doesn't work across all categories, notable Best In Show, with past winners including the PSP and Gamecube, both of which performed poorly in the face of competition. More »

    8:40 AM on Thu Aug 7 2008
    By Mike Fahey
    7,242 views, 36 comments

    Latest by JustOneFix: Hell no they don't matter more »

  • E308

    Game Critics Best of E3 By the Numbers

    You've had a chance to digest the raw data of who won what from the Game Critics Best of E3 awards. Now here's a bit of fuel for that angry fanboy deep inside you: A run down of all of the 2008 Best of E3 Game Critics Awards stats.

    Platform Breakdown By Number Of Wins
    Xbox 360: 8 (Down three from 2007)
    PlayStation 3: 7 (Down one from 2007)
    PC: 7 (Up three from 2007)
    Wii: 1 (Same as 2007)
    PSP: 2

    But wait, that's just the tip of the iceberg. The Game Critics folks have also broken down wins by publisher. Electronic Arts took home the most wins, despite taking one less category this year than last year. Sony was in second with three total wins and Bethesda in third. Microsoft rounded up the list, while Nintendo didn't win a single award as a publisher. More »

    4:20 PM on Tue Aug 5 2008
    By Brian Crecente
    4,435 views, 50 comments

    Latest by Shaoko: How the hell does EA win? Honestly... I think Sony deserved it more than they did, I mean Sony actually more »

  • Fallout 3, LBP Take Most Prizes

    Game Critics Announce Best of E3 Winners

    Fallout 3 and LittleBigPlanet tied for the game with the most awards handed out for this year's Game Critics Best of E3 awards.

    Fallout 3 landed the coveted Best of Show award as well as Best Role Playing Game, while LittleBigPlanet landed Best Console Game and Best Social/Casual/Puzzle Game. However LBP was passed up for Best Original Game, with Mirror's Edge getting the nod instead.

    Hit up the jump for the full list of winners and feel free to look back at our votes and the full finalist list, to see how they compare. More »

    11:20 AM on Tue Aug 5 2008
    By Brian Crecente
    14,806 views, 108 comments

  • E308

    Kotaku's Picks for Game Critics Best of E3 Awards

    Last week the Game Critics Best of E3 finalists were announced with much fanfare and debate.

    Today, I turned in Kotaku's official ballot for who we think the winners should be. I have to say this was one of the harder years to judge. In particular you had games like Left 4 Dead, Fallout 3 and LittleBigPlanet all vying for the same awards and let's not forget Spore, Rock Band 2, Guitar Hero World Tour, LEGO Batman, etc, etc.

    Hit up the jump for our official ballot and then chime in to explain how we got it all wrong. More »

    11:20 AM on Mon Aug 4 2008
    By Brian Crecente
    14,112 views, 162 comments

  • quakecon08

    Hollenshead: E3 Was Pretty Much a Disappointment to Everyone

    "E3 this year, in my opinion, it was pretty much disappointing to everybody" id CEO Todd Hollenshead told me early today during an interview. "The press were disappointed, the people I talked to in the industry are disappointed, almost everyone agree that that was the wrong way to do it."

    It's too early to tell if the shrinking E3 has helped bolster id's own id-centric annual show QuakeCon. Usually id Software waits until the Saturday of the show to get official attendance numbers.

    But Hollenshead is already sure that QuakeCon is the right way to host a gaming conference. More »

    3:00 PM on Fri Aug 1 2008
    By Brian Crecente
    4,262 views, 26 comments

    Latest by NeoAkira: @Ninegauger: "I think nearly every company has learned that if they want to stand out from the crowd that it's best more »

  • E308

    E308 Michael Fahey's Snoring Scares Intern, Singing Karaoke Hilarious!

    The idea of going to E3 for me was nothing less than a dream come true, seriously. About a week before we embarked to Los Angeles Crecente sent a letter of how the housing situation as going to work, along with a few friendly reminders.

    So of course I took a look at my roommate situation and saw that Michael Fahey and I were going to be bunk mates for the next few days. No more than a minute later I get this hysterical laugh from Owen on instant message. "Adam, good luck trying to sleep BWA HA HA HA" he says. I was dumbfounded. There was no way I could have possibly been prepared for what was in store.

    My E3 dreams were shattered when it came time to go to sleep. The great thing about being the Kotaku video intern (at the time) was that I got to capture all of the wonderful Hallmark moments. Video, after the jump More »

    12:00 PM on Fri Aug 1 2008
    By Adam Barenblat
    6,035 views, 105 comments

    Latest by MaTsKaT: @OiScout: Heh! That's EXACTLY what I thought when I saw the pic... "Fahey's in a hardcore band, kickass! Move over '25 more »

  • never tell me the odds

    E3 2008 Predictions: How'd We Do?

    Let's just say we shant be getting any job offers to be Michael Pachter's trusted aide, as our incorrect guesses about what we thought we'd see at E3 this year grossly outnumbered our correct ones. In our defense, we cast a wide net with our E3 '08 predictions, with some clearly outrageous bets that were ground more in fantasy than reality. Plus, E3 sucked.

    While we were surprised to see a lack of X-waggle and to learn that Kid Icarus was a no-show, that Duffy performance clearly came out of nowhere. Hit the jump for the final tally and keep your eyes peeled for the winner — and possible tie-breaker — of our E3 Fantasy Betting Pool contest. Woot! More »

    5:40 PM on Wed Jul 30 2008
    By Michael McWhertor
    6,943 views, 66 comments

    Latest by Alicia: There was so much leaked information leading up the E3, there was really nothing to be excited about. The FF more »

  • E308

    Game Critics' Best of E3 Finalists Announced

    Each year journalists from 36 North America media outlets come together to select what they believe are the best games of E3. The annual Game Critics Awards are meant to recognize the games that "will shape the future of interactive entertainment."

    The only rule? They have to be playable by the judges at E3.

    The winning games haven't quite been selected yet, but the judges (including myself) have selected the finalists. Best of show nominees are Fallout 3, Gears of War 2, LittleBigPlanet, Mirror's Edge and Spore. LittleBigPlanet managed to get the most nominations across the board, with five, while both Gears of War 2 and Left 4 Dead nabbed four nominations. EA was the publisher with the most nominations, pulling in a whopping 21.

    While I mostly agree with the list, there is one stand-out. Early on in the process we were told that Street Fighter IV the arcade machine was eligible for awards. Personally, as much as I love the game, I don't think that's fair. It's not a video game in the true sense of the word. When it does hit consoles that's fine, but I think mixing in arcade games with console and PC titles sets a bad precedent. More »

    8:00 AM on Wed Jul 30 2008
    By Brian Crecente
    14,583 views, 112 comments