Brian Crecente

Scribblenauts! Hits North America Sept. 15

Scribblenauts, voted Best Game of E3, is set to hit North American shores on Sept. 15, Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment said today. The 5th Cell developed game has players scribble the names of items that they can then use to help solve the more than 200 puzzle and action-themed challenges. To celebrate the looming date,…

Dead Space Extraction Comic Hits Comic-Con

Not one to be left behind, Electronics Art has announced that another one of their video games will be getting a comic book outing at this week’s San Diego Comic-Con. Image Comics and EA are teaming up to release a comic based on Dead Space Extraction. The comic based on the Wii-exclusive, will team up…

CTA Defends Anti-video Game Ad Ordinance

The Media Coalition has joined the Entertainment Software Association in their call for the Chicago Transit Authority to repel its ordinance barring the advertising of video games rated Mature or Adults Only. The ordinance prohibits advertisements for video games that have been rated “Mature” or “Adults Only” on CTA vehicles and in CTA facilities. A…

Brutal Legend Countersuit Describes Guitar Hero As “Competition”

Brutal Legend developers Double Fine claim that Activision is trying to torpedo their game to prevent it from competing with Guitar Hero, according to a countersuit filed last week, the Associated Press reports. The suit also claims that Activision prefers to develop games based on their existing roster of titles, and not develop original titles.…

More Details On God of War Comic, Books… Knife?

This October, God of War die hards will be able to get their hands on the United Cutlery replica Blades of Chaos and the first of six issues of the new comic series from DC Comics. Then, this March, the first of two God of War Novels arrive from Del Rey. Sounds like someone went…

Neurosurgeons Blame Increase in Car Surfing On Grand Theft Auto

The increased popularity of car surfing corresponds to the release of the Grand Theft Auto games and YouTube videos showing the activity, according to a study published in the Journal of Neurosurgery. The authors of the study found that there were 74 cases of car-surfing between 1999 and 20008 in Iowa, Michigan, Ohio and Texas.…

Bayonetta Re-Envisioned, But Still Not Sexing You Up

Ho boy, Sega’s asking for it in their latest Bayonetta competition. Teaming up with Wizard magazine, Sega is asking fans to enter their original artistic take on the sexy hirsute heroine from upcoming, over-the-top action title Bayonetta. The winner of the Bayonetta Re-Envisioned contest will get an Xbox 360, a 50-inch Panasonic Plasma HDTV and…

LittleBigPlanet Hits One Million Levels

This week gamers playing LittleBigPlanet have uploaded a total of one million levels since the game’s release last year. That means, according to Media Molecule, that a new level has been published about ever 21 seconds since the game’s launch. It would take a gamer nearly five years, playing 24 hours a day, to go…

Muramasa: The Demon Blade’s 108 Swords

Video Game – E3 2009 – X-Play Muramasa: The Demon Blade looks amazing, and it sounds like it’s amazing to play. But with titles like No More Heroes and Arc Rise Fantasia under its belt, can Marvelous Entertainment get it to sell? This G4 video gives you a good look at why you should be…

Iron Man 2 Will Go Beyond New Movie and Comics, Includes Crimson Dynamo

Iron Man 2 will feature an original story by comic book author Matt Fraction which will include elements from both the movie and comic books, Sega announced. The game, debuting at San Diego Comic-Con in the Sega and Marvel booths, will include enemies not seen in the movie, like Crimson Dynamo, and have a greater…

ESA Sues For Rights To Advertise Games On Chicago Buses

The Entertainment Software Association today filed suit against the Chicago Transit Authority over the right to advertise certain video games on Chicago’s buses and subways. The suit challenges the transit authority’s prohibition against advertising computer and video games rated Mature or Adults Only. There is no such prohibition against advertising R-rated movies, mature TV shows…

Need For Speed NITRO Hits Nov. 17

The Need For Speed reboot for the Wii and DS will be hitting stores on Nov. 17, Electronic Arts announced this morning. “Need for Speed NITRO offers fun and intense competition for every type of gamer, “said Joe Booth, Senior Producer, EA Montreal. “The varied track designs, deep controls, and intuitive drift and nitro mechanics…

Play Spyborgs at Comic-Con, Get a Free Comic

Capcom will have Spyborgs on hand during this week’s San Diego Comic-Con for attendees to play. Better still, those who take the time to go hands-on with the title walk away with a free comic. The Spyborgs prequel was created by Udon and will lead up to the start of the game, giving you a…

I Hear A Train A Comin’

To: Ash From: Crecente Re: Hang On, There’s An Eclipse Coming? A nasty storm tore through town last night and I mostly slept right through it. All said, two tornadoes, several inches of hail and enough rain to knock out power for 50,000 people hit the area. I was mostly oblivious. Though at some point…

Making Xbox Live Safe, While Keeping It Fun

Microsoft’s Stephen Toulouse may be known as the man with the Xbox Live banhammer, or the keeper of Live’s big book of naughty words, but there’s a lot more to what he does than that. The main thrust of Toulouse’s job is to make sure that Xbox Live is a safe place. That means he…

Katamari Forever: The Monkey and The Rooster

Wow, Kazuhito Udetsu still manages to blow my mind. How does he come up with this stuff? And how much is it? New Katamari Forever Trailer! [Playstation Blog]

Get Outside… and Enjoy Video Gaming?

We’ve spent this month talking about the confluence of summer and gaming, from summer blockbusters to beach arcades, summer reading to video-game-inspired outdoor play. Here’s a chance for you help build up our Summer of Gaming. What do you plan to do this summer that’s video game related? Will you be reading a bunch of…

A Taste of Game Development

To: Ash From: Crecente Re: This Sunday Was Actually Lazy As I’ve said before, I have no interest in ever making the jump from writing about games to creating them. Kotaku isn’t a means to that end. But over the past month I did try to make some fun games. Just not video ones. My…

Assassin’s Creed 2 Short Films Hit This Holiday

Assassin’s Creed II: Lineage, the short film series inspired by the game, will kick off this holiday, Ubisoft said today. The three short movies willl focus on the story of Ezio’s father, Giovanni Auditore da Firenze, and will be a prelude to the Assassin’s Creed II storyline, offering insight into the Assassin’s Creed II storyline…

Greenpeace Turns PS3, Wii, 360 Into Spokesmen Against Toxicity in Consoles

Greenpeace today released three videos to highlight what they say is the presence of “highly toxic substances” in video game consoles. The stop-motion videos turn the bits and pieces of the Playstation 3, Wii and Xbox 360 into fictional spokesman defending the companies decisions. About two years ago Microsoft, Nintendo and Sony were added to…