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Press
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academia
mainstream media
Fox News Headline - Video Gamers Leave Baby To Die
While the headline for the actual story reads "Parents of Baby Left Alone in Car Seat for 8 Days Face Murder Charges", Fox News decided to go with the much classier "Video Gamers Leave Baby To Die" on the front page of their website today to direct eyes towards the story of a Peoria Illinois couple who left their 5-month-old baby strapped to a carseat in a crib for 8 days while they were home "playing video games, watching TV, feeding and caring for themselves." A truly horrible crime, but why the video gamer hate? As tipster Orrin points out, why not "TV Watchers Leave Baby To Die?" Simple. Because irresponsible video gamers are big news. More »
elf online
Apparently, Girls Like ELF Online
While Jeff Freeman's look at ELF Online was an instant classic as far as I was concerned, perhaps even better is an actual press release from Happy MMO. Nothing special seems to be happening (other than announcing that girls like the game), but there's never a bad time for a deliciously awful Chinese MMO company press release — and what better way to drum up support for your wacky MMO than with an equally bizarre press release. Xin nian kuai le, indeed. Full release in all its Engrish glory after the jump. More »
meet the press
GameSpot's New EIC On Gerstmann, Moving On
You couldn't pay me enough to take Ricardo Torres' job. The newly promoted Editor-in-Chief of GameSpot took up the reins of the site in the wake of Gerstmann-gate, with community trust at an all time low and the eyes of the internet watching their every move. GameDaily's Kyle Orland discusses the trials and tribulations of stepping into this new position with Torres in his weekly Media Coverage segment, touching on the future of GameSpot, competing with upstart gaming blogs (*whistles innocently*), sketchy advertising policies and of course, Jeff Gerstmann.
"GameSpot's gone through quite a few bumps in the road over the years. I know Jeff's fans are upset and I know people are upset over the perception and how it all played out. Really, the best thing that we can do is to just show them that we're good at what we do. Ultimately content is going to prove to people that we're untainted, uncorrupt and committed to serving our readers."More »
gaming press
IGN Turns 10, Goes Retro
Back in 1998, I was writing for a tiny gaming site called Videogamers.com (long since defunct, but the Wayback never dies), having had the good fortune of being a guy in Atlanta who could attend E3 (then in Atlanta) and write halfway decently. Our main competition, if you could call it that (the internet was much friendlier back then) was a fledgling gaming site called IGN. Ten years later, Videogamers.com may be long forgotten, but IGN is still going strong, having spread out to encompass everything their target demographic could want and then some. This week marks their 10th anniversary, and to celebrate they are holding a week-long celebration of IGN, with articles covering the history of the site, writers past and present, and their role in covering the gaming industry. They're also launching IGN Retro, a new channel that focuses on gaming both pre-IGN, like the Colecovision and Atari, as well as systems that have come and gone since, like my beloved Dreamcast. Happy 10th Anniversary IGN! Damn, it's nice to still be around to say that. More »
positive press
'How Gamers Will Save the World'
From Rock, Paper, Shotgun comes an article that was originally printed in PC Gamer UK entitled 'How Gamers Will Save the World.' It's a nice roundup of a lot of the more serious uses of games, as well as a number of hot news stories of years past that involved the positive effects of gaming (e.g., you want your surgeon to spend a few hours a week playing video games).
Gaming is changing how we communicate, how we do business, express ourselves, and meet new people. Collaborative gaming, where thousands of us are working together to create projects in game worlds like EVE Online, Second Life, A Tale in the Desert, or any number of other emerging worlds, forges new ways of playing, and new ways of learning. This is a phenomenon that is changing the world right now, and it's happening without us really noticing. Furthermore, we are, by funding games and gaming-related research, creating the 3D web, the 'metaverse' - or the grid of information that will serve us in the decades to come. Moreover we are guaranteeing the propagation of a medium that engulfs cinema, architecture, music, animation, sculpture, sport, indeed all of culture. Games are a brave new frontier of imagination, art and science, and they've only just begun.And is that a waste of time?
It's an article that's a nice wrap up of the positives of the industry and playing games at large, and a good read through on a lazy Saturday. I'm not sure gamers will save the world, but I am quite sure we're not the pack of blood thirsty social misfits that popular media occasionally likes to paint a picture of.
How Gamers Will Save The World [Rock, Paper, Shotgun]
wgoty
AP's Worst Games of 2007
The Associated Press just published their worst of 2007 list for video games. The straight forward list includes Manhunt 2, Deal or No Deal and Lair along with some biting explanation:
1. "Manhunt 2": Rockstar Games' strategy — offend the watchdogs, reap the publicity, then sell a substandard product — reached its nadir with this ugly, unplayable mess. It begins with a lunatic flinging human waste at you; after about an hour, you'll want to fling "Manhunt 2."4. "Lair": Sony lavished a lot of attention on this PlayStation 3 title, and it sure looks great. And who wouldn't want to fly a dragon? But with awkward, imprecise controls and lackluster, repetitive missions, "Lair" crashed and burned.
More interesting is their list of best sellers that still managed to annoy the big A. P. Among the list? The common-sense flouting, consumer-hurting feud between Guitar Hero and Rock Band controllers and the games Halo 3, Assassin's Creed, Blue Dragon, Heavenly Sword and don't forget the unavailability of the Wii.
business
GRAVITY Announces New US Branch
It's just press release Saturday here at Kotaku! GRAVITY Co., the studio behind Ragnorok, has opened up a new US studio under the name of L5 Games, and has hired former Blizzard North employees to make games targeting the North American market. What kind of games remains to be seen, as the press release is pretty scant on information. L5 will be based in San Mateo, CA and is a wholly-owned subsidiary of GRAVITY: More »
only in china
'The Warlords' Hitting Theatres and PCs Next Week
On December 13th, China (and the rest of Asia, apparently, excluding Japan) will be treated to the dual release of a big-budget movie (starring Jet Li, Andy Lau, and Takeshi Kaneshiro) and an MMO version of the film, both entitled The Warlords [投名狀]. My ears perked up at all of this for two reasons: (1) the setting is the Taiping Rebellion, during the waning years of the Qing dynasty (and one of my favorite subjects) and (2) announcements about impending MMO releases equal one thing in China: fantastically bad press releases. And indeed, NetDragon and the Central Motion Picture Corporation don't disappoint ('night-errant' culture?). The Warlords is apparently only the beginning - the NetDragon CEO makes references to even more games based on movies (and TV shows and books and ...). Full release after the jump, and lots more info at the game's website (in Chinese). More »
press
Uncharted: The Press Collector's Edition
One of the coolest parts of being a member of the gaming press is waking up every morning and getting new copies of pre-release games at your doorstep. Some companies just send you the game disc in a jewel case. Others make the arrival of their game into more of an event. Take Uncharted: Drake's Fortune as an example. This morning the final review code arrived in a book called The Chronicles of Sir Francis Drake, which opens up to contain a whole wealth of goodies. There's a letter from Nathan Drake, a few pages of diary entries, a soundtrack CD, a remix CD from DJ Shadow, and of course the Blu-Ray disc of the game. It's a well put together package that ties into the game in a meaningful way. Believe me, it's so much better than getting the game disc wrapped in a Hanes XL white t-shirt with the game logo slapped on the front. (You'd be surprised how often this happens). While we aren't yet allowed to post impressions or reviews of the game, I wholeheartedly recommend the press kit. More images of it after the jump.
freedom of the press
ESA Goes All Fahrenheit 451 on Kotaku, Threatens Suit
Prepare for a rant. Not against the ESA in particular, though they are most certainly part of the problem, but against the legion of freelance "internet investigators" who make it their job to not only harass the media, but to try and slowly dismantle the First Amendment.
The ESA today sent us a copyright infringement notice. Really not that big a deal because, besides referring to us as Jalopnik, the image in question is of a screenshot of a Wii service update for a story that ran in August about some routine update hitting the Wii.
My issue isn't with the stupidity of the notice, or the amount of my time it wastes. My issue is with all of the other sites that the Intellectual Property Enforcement folks at the Entertainment Software Association strong-arm into taking down legitimate news stories because they don't have the understanding of the law or the time to deal with bogus complaints.
I'm certain that someone at the ESA didn't send this out on their own, but the fact their IPE people do that on a daily basis most certainly has a chilling effect on a free and independent media. What I suggest that folks like the ESA and Microsoft and Sony and Nintendo and everyone else who uses these freelancers do is to stop using them, or perhaps hire people who both know the law and the subject they are supposed to be dealing with.
More »
clips
Everybody Loves Guitar Hero
Thanks to Nick McGlynn for the video!
movies
Press Start The Movie
tgs07
TGS Press Pack and Numbers
The doors to TGS opened about 15 minutes ago and the Sony keynote is set to start in another 15. Kotaku writers are currently scattered to the wind, playing Metal Gear Solid 4, checking out booths, taking pictures and prepping to liveblog the keynote. Me? I'm hanging out in the stripped down sauna known as the TGS press room, a no-frills linoleum-floored box filled with folding tables and chairs and staffed with two TGS employees sitting behind a row of drink dispensers
At other shows people sprint to the games, here they sprint to the press room, because it's small, wifi-less and a necessary evil.
According to the press release they handed out with the TGS press pack this year's show will have 97 exhibitors, 1,735 booths featuring 217 companies.
big in japan
Microsoft's Super-Long Tokyo Press Release
To coincide with their pre-TGS presser, which our very own Ashcraft so nicely liveblogged for you, Microsoft have released the mother of all press releases. It pretty much details their entire Xbox 360 strategy for the coming months, from new games to Xbox Live. How did Castle Shikigami III slip by me? It's going to be one hell of a holiday season in Japan for Xbox 360 owners, and with the lineup they've got planned there just might be a few more KFC-greased 360 controllers sitting by Japanese televisions come Christmas time. Hit the jump for an epic tale of public relations and marketing. More »
this takes balls
Have Wii Will Travel Insurance
At last, the full potential of the Nintendo Wii has been realized! When the system was first announced the great minds of the world began to fill with interesting, innovative and truly breakthrough uses for the unique gaming console, but this one trumps them all. Now you can use the Wii to buy travel insurance!
I'll just let that sink in a moment. Go ahead, soak in it.
Online travel insurance comparison site Squaremouth has announced that Wii users can now use their console to compare and purchase travel insurance.
"The Wii also contains a downloadable web browser which allows users access to Squaremouth's comparative travel insurance engine. "All of Squaremouth's site functionality works perfectly on the Wii," Harvey explains. "It's quick and easy to compare products then make the purchase without the need to go to a computer."
More »
article dissection
Selling The World Series of Slackers
This morning I caught an AP story posted over at the Miami Herald about the World Series of Video Games which includes a chat with WSVG commissioner Matt Ringel about how they plan to make the WSVG a more commercially viable event. I'm a gamer myself and I have a hard time imagining what would make me want to actually sit down and watch other people play video games on my television without the ability to snag the controller from their hands with a hearty, "You're doing it wrong," so it's interesting to see how they plan on brining in the everyday viewer into the fold. Can he do it without turning the whole event into a circus?The only thing the Guitar Hero II finals seemed to lack was Ryan Seacrest. Contestants stood onstage, with a three-judge panel to their left, while dozens of people watched, some of them even approaching the stage and rocking out during the better performances.Probably not. More »
beat the press
