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How To Talk to Your Children About Classic Video Games
It’s a delicate subject but one that will inevitably come up for any parent, and you’ve got to be prepared. In this age of bright and shiny high definition games, how can we force our children to play through the games we grew up on first? This is commenter Balmung‘s question in today’s Speak Up…
By Mike Fahey -
If Real Life Moonshine Running Had Tech This Impressive We’d All Be Drunk Right Now
Shine Runner is a game for any child that’s ever dreamed of guiding a high-speed fanboat through a backwoods bayou, police sirens wailing as you race to unload your precious cargo of bootleg booze to the highest bidder. Shine Runner would be completely ridiculous if it weren’t so amazing. Hydro Thunder Hurricane and Riptide GP…
By Mike Fahey -
Reviews
Sure This Gaming Laptop is Powerful, But How Does It Taste?
Upon finishing up the initial download and install of The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim from Steam and launching the game, the game determined that the optimal graphics settings for the MSI GT683DXR-423US gaming laptop I was playing on were “Ultra High”, and that was good enough for me. Of course I didn’t have to spend…
By Mike Fahey -
If Only Cartoon Network Took Its Games More Seriously
Perhaps I was the only male over the age of thirteen to hope that Cartoon Network: Punch Time Explosion XL for the Xbox 360 was something more than a sloppy clone of Nintendo’s Super Smash Bros. series of character-driven fighting games. What can I say? I love cartoons. I’ve loved them all my life, and…
By Mike Fahey -
Guild Wars 2 Only Thought It Was In Control of the Mesmer Class Reveal
Mesmers are not controlled; a Mesmer does the controlling, which is probably why this video for the final Guild Wars 2 class slipped out a few days earlier than planned. Mind control! Master of illusion and control, the Mesmer class perfectly fits the promises made earlier this year by ArenaNet that the final class revealed…
By Mike Fahey -
The Most Important Artifact in the Diablo Universe
The Book of Cain is the ultimate guide to Diablo lore. It covers every aspect of the world of Sanctuary and its trials, beginning with the creation of the universe and leading right up to the doorstep of Diablo III, one of the most eagerly anticipated video games of 2012. Blizzard assembled a team top…
By Mike Fahey -
Sign Up for the Gotham City Impostors Console Beta Before Some Joker Gets Your Spot
Now that November’s PC beta test has come and gone, Warner Bros. and Monolith are ready to get console players into the dopple-gangbanger fun of Gotham City Impostors The war between the madness-embracing Jokerz and stalwart-but-misguided Bats is heating up, and Gotham City Impostors is now inviting Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 players to participate…
By Mike Fahey -
Everything You Need to Know About Final Fantasy XII-2 In Four Minutes
After spending months handing out information on the follow-up to Final Fantasy XIII one snippet at a time, Square Enix brings the accumulated sum of Final Fantasy XIII-2 knowledge together in one handy-dandy four-minute-and-change primer video. We’ve got the story, the characters, the battle system in all its newfound complexity, and anything else that might…
By Mike Fahey -
South Park: The Game is Sorta Like Paper Mario, Only With More Bleeding, Crying Children
Given the paper cutout origins of South Park, it’s no surprise that Obsidian’s upcoming RPG South Park: The Game would take cues from the most famous paper role-playing game of them all. After selecting your character class in South Park: The Game (fighter, thief, mage, cleric, or Jew), you’ll enter a fantasy adventure filled with…
By Mike Fahey -
Tony Hawk Pro Skater HD Was My Favorite VGA Surprise
You can keep your Command & Conquer Generals 2 and The Last of Us; for me the biggest news out of the 2011 Spike Video Game Awards wasn’t a new game but the return of something old: Tony Hawk. Well, not Tony Hawk himself, of course. He’s only 43, and five years older than me…
By Mike Fahey -
Behind the Music of Transformers and BioShock Infinites’ Moving VGA Trailers
Ever since Epic’s Gears of War plucked heartstrings with a cover of Tears for Fears’ “Mad World” game creators have been attempting to recreate that magic, forging an emotional bond between gamers and game through evocative music. Let’s see how good a job Transformers: Fall of Cybertron and BioShock Infinite did of it with their…
By Mike Fahey -
S.T.A.L.K.E.R. Studio Will Do Its Best to Soldier On
Commenting on rumors that the studio is closing and S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2 put on indefinite hold, GSC Game World gave fans a sliver of hope this morning via Twitter: “We will do our best to continue. However, at this moment, nothing is certain.” [Twitter]
By Mike Fahey -
How Do You Know When It’s Time to Stop Playing Skyrim?
We all know that The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim is a vast open-world game with the potential to keep players exploring new content until they grow old and gray. What commenter klip_twings wants to know in today’s Speak Up on Kotaku is when do you stop? How do you know when it’s time to end…
By Mike Fahey -
This is How the End Begins in Diablo III
The opening cinematic for Diablo III debuted tonight at the Spike VGA awards, featuring the falling of more than one star and the passing of a torch from uncle to niece. If you’ve been fortunate enough to play through the Diablo III beta, then you already know about the falling star. You’ve already met Deckard…
By Mike Fahey -
The Amazing Spider-Man Battles Berzerk Robots, Because Non-Beserk Robots Would Be Boring
After two games that weren’t exactly dripping with hot web-slinging action, developer Beenox takes things open world in the Amazing Spider-Man. How focused are they on swinging this time around? So focused that they haven’t noticed they’ve stolen the plot from a Robocop move. Come on folks, haven’t we learned by now that when you…
By Mike Fahey -
Holy Shit! It’s a New Mass Effect 3 Trailer
The VGA Awards Mass Effect 3 trailer has hit, demonstrating one way to handle a gigantic intelligent robot creature hell-bent on the extinction of everything: Giant bug sex. I’m not sure what sort of twisted ancient intelligence built a temple for the sole purpose of unleashing an enormous amorous insect on any Reapers that might…
By Mike Fahey -
The Sith Inquisitor’s Inquisitiveness Pays Off in the Long Run
With only four days left before the launch of the early start program for Star Wars: The Old Republic, BioWare gives hopeful Sith Inquisitors some rather fetching outfits and tactics to look forward to. The Sith Inquisitor isn’t all Force Lightning and stoic standing in The Old Republic. During my brief spin in the role…
By Mike Fahey -
Could This Be the End of GSC Game World and S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2?
The Kiev, Ukraine based developer that put a dramatic spin on nuclear horror in the S.T.A.L.K.E.R. series of PC first-person shooters has reportedly closed its doors, leaving the fate of the eagerly-anticipated S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2 up in the air. Reports of the closure of the S.T.A.L.K.E.R. began this morning via a story on the Ukraine’s UkraNews…
By Mike Fahey -
Steamy Batman / Catball Romance Rekindled in This Week’s Gaming Apps
Sparks fly when the Caped Crusader meets one sexy feline sphere in this week’s round up of the hottest gaming apps. Can you feel the simmering sexual tension? No? Then maybe it’s just me still trying to work the Batman sex scene from the first issue of DC’s New 52 Catwoman out of my system.…
By Mike Fahey -
OC ReMix’s Latest Free Album Explores the Evil Themes of 18 BadAss Video Game Bosses
What happens when 20 top video game music remixers take on 18 of the biggest, baddest bosses ever committed to CD or cartridge? That would be OC Remix’s 30th free album, BadAss: Boss Themes Only the amazing artists of the OC Remix community could collectively take on the likes of Sephiroth, Donkey Kong, Astaroth, Shredder,…
By Mike Fahey