Kotaku: media

Two New Mass Effect 2 Trailers: Assassin and Savage

Owen Good — Mon, 28 Dec 2009 17:00:00 MST

Mass Effect 2 trailers! (*fires shotgun*) Mass Effect 2 trailers here! (*fires shotgun*) Get your Mass Effect 2 trailers! Who's ready? (*fires shotgun*) Mass Effect 2 trailers!

Meet your new teammates: Thane, the assassin, and Grunt, the Krogan, uh, savage, in these two videos released today. Mass Effect 2 is out in less than 30 days.

Mommy, Where Do Game Trailers Come From?

Luke Plunkett — Thu, 24 Dec 2009 10:30:00 MST

As we'll get into on Christmas day in a little more detail, video game trailers are big business these days. But did you ever stop and wonder where they actually come from?

The Kartel did, so went and paid a visit to FAILSAFE Creative Group, an ominous-sounding company that specialises in the production of trailers for the video game industry.

FAILSAFE have produced both trailers and behind-the-scenes diaries for games like Metal Gear Solid 4, Unreal Tournament III, Dark Void and Stranglehold. Sometimes they create original content (ie, stuff with actors), most times they're tasked with cutting, editing and arranging cinematic and gameplay footage provided by a publisher or developer.

It's an interesting tour of the people and processes behind something most of us take for granted, so if you need to kill ten minutes over the Christmas break, it's worth a quick read.

An inside look at how game trailers are created [The Kartel]

Hair Hath No Fury Like Bayonetta

Owen Good — Sat, 19 Dec 2009 17:00:00 MST

I haven't had to worry about a bad hair day in years. Bayonetta's however, can summon demons that will drag you down to hell. And since her hair is also her clothing, well, no one said it could multitask.

Halo: Reach Trailer Dates Multiplayer Beta for Spring

Owen Good — Sun, 13 Dec 2009 10:00:00 MST

These two minutes come from the opening cinematic of Halo: Reach, establishing the story of Noble Team, assigned to defend the planet. An accompanying press release announced the multiplayer beta - invitations included in Halo 3:ODST - begins Spring 2010.

The New Mass Effect 2 Cinematic Trailer [Corrected]

Owen Good — Sat, 12 Dec 2009 19:30:00 MST

Correction: I misidentified this as a trailer from the 2009 Video Game Awards. While it is new, it is from the IGN Ultimate Video Game Gift Guide, which aired on Fox before the VGAs.

Mass Effect 2 [IGN]

Early Video Outs 'Green Day: Rock Band'

Owen Good — Sat, 12 Dec 2009 17:00:00 MST

Not sure if this is the "biggest surprise premiere in VGA history" we've been promised, but MTV put up a "Green Day: Rock Band" video dated three days into the future, then pulled it. Embed code still works, though.

As you can see, the band's rocking out to "American Idiot" with note highways, band shots, the works. And then as if to drive home the point, the title card Green Day: Rock Band slams over it at the end. Sounds rather definite to me. I guess we shall know if this is for-sure real or not in about 90 minutes, right?

MTV Shows

MTV Teases 'Green Day: Rock Band' [Joystiq]

Mass Effect Preorder Gun Goes All Large Hadron Collider on Your Ass

Owen Good — Thu, 10 Dec 2009 19:20:00 MST

In this video, you can get a look at the in-game bonuses for preordering Mass Effect 2 from GameStop: the Terminus Assault Armor, which does more than look good, and the Blackstorm Heavy Weapon, which does more than look bad.

See, this is what everyone said those folks in Switzerland were gonna do, create a bunch of Junior Mint black holes that will tear up this dimension. Apparently, in the year 2185, they have figured out how to safely create beachball-sized singularities. Well, they're not safe for the bad guys who get caught up in it, but that's their problem.

Mass Effect 2 Gamestop PreOrder Trailer [Gaming Today]

This is Battletoads?

Owen Good — Tue, 08 Dec 2009 20:40:00 MST

Machinima just can't help itself. We've seen Castlevania, Mario, Contra, and now here we are with Battletoads as reenacted within Half-Life 2.

Remember, this is Machinima (the site, and the titular genre), not a mod. So sit back and enjoy, you can't literally play this. Although it's hard to do so without imagining the impossible turbo tunnel level done in Source.

Half-letoads (Battletoads NES Remade In Half-Life 2) [Machinima on YouTube]

Mario Theme: One-Hand Me, Good Sir!

Owen Good — Sat, 05 Dec 2009 16:00:00 MST

Here's a virtuoso piano performance of the Super Mario Bros. theme - using one hand. If I'd remembered anything from my piano lessons beyond playing Old MacDonald on the black keys, I could probably describe how difficult this is.

A commenter asks "Was that one hand for left AND right hand, or was it just a really intense right hand part?" and the artist, RigorMortis999 replies, "the former becoming the latter."

Good thing Mario didn't run down to his final 100 seconds at the end.

Mario Theme with One Hand Only [YouTube User RigorMortis999, thanks Isiah O.!]

Half-Contra: The NES Classic Goes 3D

Owen Good — Sat, 05 Dec 2009 13:00:00 MST

Machinima put this up last week, following the Castlevania and Mario reconstructions in Half-Life 2. Anyone who's ever played Contra - that should be all of us, right? - will want to watch this start to finish. More than once.

Pretty shrewd how the level's creator (M0rtanius) staggered the platforms so you could shoot up foes above and below you, just like in the 2D version. But I'm guessing this isn't one-hit-kill difficulty.

Thanks Awwal for sending the tip. Sorry we spotted it so late.

Half Contra (Contra NES Remade in Half-Life 2) [Machinima on YouTube]

Crazy Girlfriend vs. PS3: Fake or Not Fake?

Owen Good — Thu, 03 Dec 2009 20:00:00 MST

This is now the second When Pissed Off Girlfriends Attack Consoles video that's crossed my inbox in the past week. The first one was obviously staged. This, however, looks good. Is it legit? YOU MAKE THE CALL!

Reasons pro:
• Gameplay on screen while PS3 assault committed.
• F-bombs galore, so, probably not marketing but who knows.
• Guy in fact does look like unemployed douche.

Reasons con:
• PS3 Phat trashed; guy could have been planning to buy PS3 Slim anyway
• A little too perfectly executed.
• Apartment looks like it's priced above "unemployed douche" market.

Hotheaded Asian Girlfriend Smashes Lazy Jobless Boyfriend's PlayStation 3 [Ripten]

First No More Heroes: Heroes Paradise Screens Score A Touchdown

Michael McWhertor — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 16:00:37 MST

No More Heroes finds higher resolution with the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 port of the original, now known as No More Heroes: Heroes Paradise. What does it look like? Like the Wii version, just a little prettier.

Better textures, improved lighting, more pixels, less clothing on the female characters... it's all here! And it can be experienced there—and by "there," we mean Japan—on February 25 of next year. A North American and European release, sure to be announced by someone—a publisher whose name rhymes with Ubisoft, perhaps—is almost a given.

For now, enjoy a batch of No More Heroes: Heroes Paradise screens in the gallery below.

Bayonetta's Torture Moves — Press B to Summon Guillotine

Owen Good — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 20:40:00 MST

Look, beheading's one thing. Getting kicked repeatedly in the ass by a woman in high heels, on the way to your own execution - that's the torture.

Good thing Bayonetta's "torture moves" - which summon all sorts of unpleasant mechanisms to more artfully render a foe's demise than mere boots or bullets - can't be turned around on the player. At least, I think they can't.

Here's That Mario Mention in Assassin's Creed II

Owen Good — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 20:00:00 MST

Earlier today, Stephen Totilo's review of Assassin's Creed II referenced the game's homage to Mario. Here's video of the third wall-breaking inside joke, which is so mainstream it's not inside. And it doesn't really break the third wall, either.

Well, never mind. I don't think it rates a spoiler alert, as no major plot devices or gameplay features are revealed. Here 'tis, courtesy of MTV Multiplayer.

MTV Shows

Super Mario Cameo In 'Assassin's Creed 2' [MTV Multiplayer]

A Look at the Zombie Island of Dr. Ned

Owen Good — Sun, 15 Nov 2009 18:30:00 MST

Borderlands' first DLC add-on "The Zombie Island of Dr. Ned," releases Nov. 24, promising to add another six to 10 hours of gameplay. Here are the foes you'll face, in their natural habitat.

These shambling, staggering, crawling bastards look like outstanding cannon fodder, and I've got just the toolset for dealing with them - level 39 incendiary revolver and a level 37 shock SMG with a 10.9 fire rate. Should be like feeding mannequins into a woodchipper. Oh, wait, they've got wereskags in this, don't they ...

Borderlands Zombie DLC Video [Hot Blooded Gaming]

Paparazzi Punch-Out: Dance Like a Has-Been, Bite Like a Felon

Owen Good — Sun, 15 Nov 2009 18:00:00 MST

Mike Tyson got in trouble this week for, as he is wont to do, smacking someone upside the head. Jimmy Kimmel's writers jumped on the case and produced this new game.

I'm not sure why I chortled at this. Maybe it's because I know that lightning-flash punch is coming. Maybe it's because anything is funnier with a censored bleep in it.

Mike Tyson's Paparazzi Punch-Out [YouTube, thanks Stephen B]

Lego Indiana Jones 2: You Won't Like How This Ends

Owen Good — Sat, 14 Nov 2009 19:00:00 MST

The finale from Raiders of the Lost Ark, as interpreted by Lego Indiana Jones 2, has been posted and, unlike the witty rendering of the Nepal shootout, this one's sanitized to the point of condescension. Disco-dancing replaces face-melting. Yes, really.

I get that this is a family title, and blood or gore would be inappropriate, gratuitous or otherwise. But seriously, the wrathful spirit makes the Nazis line-dance? Really? They got permission for cartoon violence in the rating, can't it just, I dunno, blast them into several pieces? Maybe a ginormous Lego spirit who comically stomps them flat? Do something funnier than this? Wow. Some payoff.

Lego Indiana Jones 2 [CBS News.com via VG247]

Mass Effect 2's Elusive Illusive Man is ... Martin Sheen?

Owen Good — Sat, 14 Nov 2009 13:00:00 MST

Shepard confronts the behind-the-scenes puppeteer "~~Elusive [sic]~~ Illusive Man" who blends the habit of Cigarette Smoking Man from The X-Files with the look of Alec Baldwin in 30 Rock - and the voice of President Bartlet from The West Wing.

Exclusive Ellusive Man Gameplay [GameTrailers]

Frogger: Mad as Hell, Not Taking It Anymore

Owen Good — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 20:00:00 MST

Give firearms to one pissed-off amphibian and watch roadkill turn into road rage. Oh, so I'm gonna die if I hit the edge of this screen, MFer? Yeah, well, Frogger's goin' home, bitch - through the front goddamn door.

Grand Theft Auto vs. Frogger [Gagfilms via CollegeHumor]

Dustbusting Blinky's Got Pac-Roomba on the Run

Owen Good — Mon, 09 Nov 2009 20:00:00 MST

Roomba Pac-Man? Done before, but mostly as a cosmetic enhancement. Here it's taken to the next level - five Roombas (~~Roombi?~~ Roombae, thanks Greentrace) engaged in a contest of Pac-Man with programmed "chase" and "escape" AI.

Roomba Pac-Man [site, via RipTen]