Drew Cohen

Why Excellent Video Game Voice Actors Can’t—or Shouldn’t—Be Stars

I recently asked writer Tom Bissell whether voice actors might ever become celebrities in the video game world. I wondered whether they would ever be featured as headliners who could single-handedly amplify sales and excite major curiosity. “Unless every game uses the immensely expensive and complicated processes Team Bondi and Rockstar Games employed in L.A.…

They’re Called “Goodbye Cookies”

Goodbye Cookies | Today was to be my last as a Kotaku intern. I brought cookies…but only three of us were here to eat them. (Photo by Drew Cohen) The New, Better Beast Mode is Gears of War 3’s No-Longer-Secret Weapon Much has changed in the year since Epic Games last showed Beast Mode, the…

This Week in the Business: “Itching for a while.”

What’s happened in the business of video games this past week… QUOTE | “Wouldn’t want to trade hands.” – Xbox COO Dennis Durkin talks about Microsoft’s position in relation to Sony’s and Nintendo’s. Referring to the PS Vita, he expresses his belief that launching a portable into a red ocean market is not a good…

First Brink DLC Will Be Free (For Two Weeks)

The developers at Splash Damage and Bethesda have confirmed that the first DLC for Brink will be free, as promised. Well, free for two weeks. Titled “Agents of Change,” the add-on is set to release in early July. [Bethesda Blog]

Help Teach A Fellow How To Play The World Ends With You

Reader SecretMoblin has turned back the clock to 2008 in order to play The World Ends With You. And what better time to try this unconventional gem than what could easily be the twilight days of the DS’s lifespan? He’s got one problem: the combat’s driving him nuts. Think you could lend him a hand?…

Talk Amongst Yourselves

Welcome to Talk Amongst Yourselves: a place to take a deep breath, recline in your swivel chair, and contribute to some friendly games-related conversation. A tip of the hat to user ak-blanc – peace! for today’s atmospheric, undersea TAYpic. Makes me wonder what other locales I would’ve liked to have seen in Rapture. If you’d…

SOCOM 4 Pro Assault Pack Gives You More Guns to Shoot, More Places to Shoot Them

Zipper Interactive has released a new DLC pack for SOCOM 4: U.S. Navy Seals. The “Pro Assault Pack” includes three new maps and two new guns—and is absolutely free, for registered SOCOM Pro members. [SOCOM Blog]

What Games Do You Play When You Need to Relax?

Not all of us play video games in order to relax. No. Some of us play games in order to plan, to strategize and to conquer. Some of us grind. But reader DocSeuss needs to relax, and badly. The guy’s sore, tired and grouchy, and his quest for a game to balm his nerves is…

iam8bit Streets of E3 Gallery

Artsy Production Firm iam8bit Struck E3 With Stealth and Swag

Multi-media collective iam8bit knows how to advertise itself: slyly, theatrically and with neat, removable swag. iam8bit does a bit of everything — they host art exhibitions and publish books, produce T-shirts and tchotchkes, and — for the right client — provide marketing and creative consultation. In the words of their online manifesto, they’re in the…

This Week in the Business: “Same five games over and over.”

What’s happened in the business of video games this past week… QUOTE | “Rot from the core.” – EA CEO John Riccitiello talks about the fierce Call of Duty vs. Battlefield showdown and luring the core audience away from CoD QUOTE | “Triple bump.” – Epic’s Cliff Bleszinki explains the advantages of releasing Gears 3…

Dirt 3 Introduces: The Reverse Uncanny Valley

We’ve seen plenty of games trying to achieve photographic realism, but how often do we come across attempts to make real life look more like a game? The folks over at Codemasters have done just that, with their latest tie-in video for last month’s racing title Dirt 3 Shot using a tilt-shift lens, this video…

Talk Amongst Yourselves

Hear ye, hear ye! The time of day has come to officially commence the official Kotaku forum. Talk, subjects, talk! Let’s thank UsernameOfTheDead for their “yeah, it does kinda look like a Dreamcast” TAYpic. Don’t we all wish we could relive the Dreamcast? If you’d also like to play Frankenstein in Photoshop, kindly drop your…

Talk Amongst Yourselves

Things are finally beginning to wind down here: E3 is over, Duke Nukem Forever has finally seen the light of day. But hey, there’s still a heck of a lot to talk about. And since this is Kotaku’s official forum, what better place to chat about game-related news than here? As usual, my hero Incursor…

Heroes of Ruin Is Rich With Ideas, Shorter on Atmosphere

Heroes of Ruin is a deft, well-implemented multiplayer-RPG—but right now it’s lacking in distinctive character. The title, published by Square Enix and developed by n-Space, the team behind the GameCube action-adventure title Geist, is due to launch on the Nintendo 3DS in early 2012. So far, our exposure to the Heroes has mostly been limited…

Heroes of Ruin E3 Gallery

In Defense of Duke Nukem Forever

Who is Duke Nukem, and why—after all of these years—are we still talking about him? One of our readers has described him as a “character that people actually love or hate. Or feel something about. As opposed to military personnel (1) and (1a).” In a sea of “blandness,” according to the reader, the Duke is…

Here is Star Fox 64 on the 3DS

Remember what a delightful surprise Star Fox 64 was when it first showed up in ’97, bundled in its enticing oversize box with the Rumble Pak? I do. So it was like saying “hello” to an old friend today when I saw it at Nintendo’s E3 complex; an old friend tripped out with some motion…

They Came to E3 to Dance—Just Dance

Some of us would admit to playing Just Dance in the privacy of our own homes. I’m not saying I would, mind you—certainly not on the internet. But these poor folks had to dance day after day for the duration of E3 to promote Just Dance 3 for the PS3 and Xbox 360. So let’s…

Rise of Nightmares is the E3 Floor Show Funhouse

Sega’s Kinect title Rise of Nightmares was displayed for E3 visitors within a spooky, cage-like structure on the floor show. Wandering past it on multiple occasions, I had the impression of visiting a traveling carnival. Our own Brian Crecente took a moment to capture the attraction, and explain what we can expect from Nightmares when…