Kotaku: Third-party

Arkham City and Saints Row the Third Introduce Third-Party Games to EA's Origin

Mike Fahey — Thu, 27 Oct 2011 14:00:00 EDT

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The promised inclusion of third-party content on EA's Origin digital download service kicks off in a big way next month, with Batman: Arkham City and Saints Row the Third leading the charge. More »

It's an Xbox 360 Controller With a Cheat-Friendly Screen Built Right In

Mike Fahey — Mon, 03 Oct 2011 11:40:00 EDT

Datel, the UK-based video game peripheral manufacturer that loves to piss off Microsoft, takes controller cheating to the next level with the latest iteration of its TurboFire 360 controller, complete with built-in "Combat Command LCD interface". More »

EA's Origin Prepares for Third-Party Content as Install Base Approaches Four Million

Mike Fahey — Fri, 09 Sep 2011 15:00:00 EDT

It may be inconvenient to users of more popular digital distribution platforms, but its picking up steam. During a UBS conference in London earlier today, EA chief financial officer Eric Brown set Origin install numbers at "about 4 million", saying that third-party content was coming "very soon". More »

This PlayStation Move Knock-Off Completely Misses the Point

Mike Fahey — Tue, 02 Aug 2011 17:20:00 EDT

Hong Kong electronics distributor FirstSing claims to have the world's first third-party PlayStation Move controller for sale, and it might; I just don't see anyone actually purchasing it to find out. More »

Tiny Wii Controllers For Your Freakishly Small Hands

Mike Fahey — Mon, 14 Jun 2010 11:40:00 EDT

Are Nintendo's Wii remote and nunchuk controllers too big for your hands? Power A has your freakishly misshapen appendages covered with the charmingly named MiniRemote and MiniChuck. More »

E3 Round Table: Third Party Developers

Brian Crecente — Mon, 11 May 2009 10:00:00 EDT

E3's just around the corner and that means it's time for a little Bonus Round round table. More »

Mad Catz - Give Us A Chance And We'll Change Your Mind

Mike Fahey — Fri, 12 Sep 2008 14:00:00 EDT

The folks at Mad Catz are very much aware of the fact that gamers view their company's product and third party accessories in general as cheap, low quality knock offs. I myself haven't been too keen on their products for quite some time, a fact that I mentioned in my story about the Mad Catz Fender Bass for Rock Band. Well Mad Catz's Global PR & Comms Manager Alex Verrey dropped me a line yesterday with a message for all of us: Mad Catz has come a long way - just give us a chance to prove it. Using Rock Band as an example, Alex hammers home his point. More »

Introducing The Snakebyte Riimote

Mike Fahey — Wed, 30 Jan 2008 10:40:50 EST

There's really not much a third party company can do with the Nintendo Wiimote controller. Since so many peripherals (GH Controller, Zapper, Shark Gun) are designed specifically to accommodate the shape of the standard Wiimote, you can't except to see any wild variations as you might with a third party Xbox 360 or PS3 controller. This fact has kept many peripheral makers away from the Wii, but not Sunflex. The German controller company fiddled with the button shapes, slapped a shiny new coat of paint and a rubberized grip and voila! The Snakebyte Riimote. Get it? Riimote! Like remote, only spelled like Wii! HA! Ahem. The controller comes in two colors, Glossy Black and Lipstick Pink (for the girls - their words), and should be available February 8th across Europe for 39,99€. The company plans on complimenting the Riimote with the Snakebyte Nunchaku, wireless Nunchaku, and Retro Controller this spring, along with new colors of the Riimote itself. More »

Third Party Games For Wii Will Take Off Like DS

Mark Wilson — Tue, 29 Jan 2008 14:00:05 EST

Whether or not you have problems with the Nintendo Wii's graphical prowess or its real world Wiimote functionality, a system is only as good as its titles. And the third party titles that we've seen so far on the Wii have been a disappointment. Luckily, Nintendo realizes that third party support is an issue, and addressed the topic during their third quarter report:

If you look at the data for our third quarter you'll see that, out of the 14 Wii titles that shipped over a million units, 11 of those were our titles. However, if you look at the 50 titles that shipped over a million units on DS, only 28 of those are ours.

They continue: More »

Reggie On Third-Party Wii Game Quality

Mike Fahey — Fri, 14 Dec 2007 11:40:49 EST

While Nintendo's own titles have been almost uniformly amazing on the Nintendo Wii, third-party publishers have achieved mixed success, with truly stellar titles (Raving Rabbids, Zak and Wiki) few and far between. In the Nintendo conference call today, NOA President Reggie Fils-Aime details plans to help third-party companies achieve Ninetndo levels of quality.

"On any system you will have a range of quality. Publishers are working extremely hard to take advantage of the Wii and it's unique abilities. Those publishers who do a great job enjoy fantastic sales. As publishers understand how to take advantage of the unique aspects of the remote you will see better and better games. We already have a certification program and publishers need to conform with a number of key aspects to get certified. What we don't do is have some sort of filter for quality, because quality is so subjective. Nintendo is working hand in glove with publishers to share with them our level of expertise with the technology."

MGS4 Needs To Sell Over A Million On Day One

Mike Fahey — Thu, 29 Nov 2007 14:40:29 EST

Could Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots (it's been a long day) be the last of the great exclusives? A Reuters article explores this possibility, explaining that game development is becoming far too costly for third-party developers to concentrate on any one console. Take MGS4, for instance. Assistant Producer Ryan Payton claims that the game will have to sell over a million copies on the first day of release to recoup the enormous development costs the game has accrued. A tall order, especially considering that only two PS3 games have reached the million mark since the system was released, much less on the first day, so it is easy to see how unattractive exclusives have become. At least Sony is prepared for the end of exclusivity. More »

PS2 Controllers Make the Best Robot Controllers

Brian Ashcraft — Mon, 02 Apr 2007 09:40:12 EDT

Osaka, Japan is the robot capital of Japan — The world, even. Over the weekend in Hankyu department store, there was a display in which soccer playing robots duked it out. Here's the cool bit: They were controlled by third party PS2 wireless controllers from Japanese peripheral maker, Hori. I'd never thought about it, but using a game pad for robots makes perfect sense. Still! I do have a soft spot for retro RC controllers and always will. Brian Ashcraft More »

Miyamoto's Insight: No Crappy Bench Warmers

Brian Ashcraft — Mon, 02 Apr 2007 08:00:43 EDT

Hey third party developers! Shigeru Miyamoto has some advice for ya: Don't put your crappy teams to work on Nintendo games. Put your best ones — he top of the litter, the cream of the crop. Heck, that's what Nintendo does, so you should too. Miyamoto offers this: More »

Nintendo Fans Are Never Happy

Brian Ashcraft — Wed, 14 Mar 2007 02:00:17 EDT

You can please some of the fans sometimes, but none of the Nintendo fans none of the times. Over at Newsweek's Level Up, GoNintendo's Kevin Cassidy (cool sunglasses, dude) takes the mic and challenges how some view all things not truly Nintendo: More »

Another Wireless Wii Sensor Bar, But Better

Brian Ashcraft — Tue, 13 Feb 2007 05:00:31 EST

Don't need, don't want it. But, for people who hate wires, this might be perfect. Back in December, we (not "we," Luke actually) posted a wireless Sensor Bar. It kinda sucked. More »

PS3 Rumble Headset

Brian Crecente — Thu, 21 Dec 2006 21:00:00 EST

OK, I know the idea of a headset that rumbles seem insane, but this new PS3 headset also has four mini-speakers in each earcup and a built in microphone. More »

Reggie On Elite Beat Sales ("Disappointed"), Wii-mote Battery Issue ("Go Third Party")

Brian Ashcraft — Tue, 05 Dec 2006 15:22:37 EST

A while back, MTV's Stephen Totilo had a whooper of an interview with Nintendo honcho Reggie Fils-Aime. There's been concern about how the Wii-mote eats batteries. But is Nintendo planning an internal rechargeable battery? Meh. Says Reggie: More »

Third Party Will Love Mii

Brian Ashcraft — Fri, 13 Oct 2006 03:23:15 EDT

The Wii's x-factor? Forget the Wii-mote, it's those Mii's Kotakuites keep using as their avatars. A recent Reuters piece gives the masses a run-down as to what a "Mii" is ("customized, cartoony version of themselves"). Currently Wii Sports and WarioWare are the only two announced titles that will make in-game Mii use. Says Nintendo's George Harrison: More »

Square Enix and Others Undecided on PS3 Exclusivity

Brian Crecente — Tue, 26 Sep 2006 17:00:25 EDT

The Wall Street Journal has an interesting story up outlining the challenges facing the Playstation 3 as we near the start of what will likely become one of the most heated consoles wars to date. More »

Wii's Launch Window Line-Up

Brian Crecente — Thu, 14 Sep 2006 19:41:42 EDT

At the press conference Nintendo talked about having about 30 titles for the Wii by the end of the year. Well, this list shows the titles that should be out by the end of their "launch window" which runs through March 31, according to the press release. Hit the jump to enjoy. This is from Ninttendo's official press release about their launch releases.Brian Crecente More »

List of Canceled PS3, 360 Titles

Brian Crecente — Fri, 04 Aug 2006 16:00:48 EDT

Technophilia has an interesting list up showing all of the canceled PS3, Xbox 360 and cross-platform next-gen games. The PS3 lists eight games by name and then says they're have been many more. There's only one Xbox 360 title listed as canned. More »

Mario's Bastard Children

egauger — Tue, 27 Jun 2006 07:20:56 EDT

Gameblog Error Macro just officially rocked my face with a highly detailed, and despairingly sardonic, review of a generation of bizarre third-party Mario games: More »

PSP WiFi Key

Brian Ashcraft — Wed, 05 Apr 2006 08:19:03 EDT

Taking a page from the Nintendo handbook, gaming accessories maker Thrustmaster has announced a new WiFi USB key for the PSP. It's a WiFi adapter that plugs into your computer, hooking players up with wireless internet and online gaming with out requiring a wireless router. The PSP USB key will go on sale this May, booking at $39.99. Ever wonder why some of the best PlayStation Portable products are third party? More »