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The Lies McDonald’s Tells Us
Greetings, Kotaku, and welcome to the mid-week open thread. Maybe you’ve seen this video, which offers a behind-the-scenes look at how McDonald’s spruces up its normally ugly food to look good in commercials. Or perhaps not, in which case, check it out. The (maybe?) wild thing here is that McDonald’s themselves made this video. I…
By Kirk Hamilton Published June 20, 2012 -
If Minecraft Had a High-Tech Physics Engine
One of the charming (and most would say, integral) things about Minecraft is the game’s floaty, particular physics engine. But what if it had a “proper” next-gen physics engine? This video, made in Blender 3D, seeks to show that very thing. It also wonders “What would happen if a couple hundred Minecraft dudes all tumbled…
By Kirk Hamilton Published June 20, 2012 -
Why Do We Love StarCraft II More Than Diablo III?
For this week’s Burning Questions, Kirk and Jason talk about Blizzard games, specifically Diablo III and StarCraft II. Which game do they like better? Do the two games compliment one another? Why is pro-level StarCraft so fun to watch? What would it be like to live in a house made by Blizzard? Is “Eight Legged…
Jason Schreier & Kirk Hamilton Published June 20, 2012 -
Parks and Recreation‘s Manliest Man Honored With His Own Classic NES Cartridge
There may well be no better dude on TV than Parks & Recreation‘s Ron Swanson. The man simply knows what time it is—he understands the value of a glass of scotch and a steak, he’s got a thriving career as a smooth-jazz saxophonist, and he’s a master woodworker. He might not be the kind of…
By Kirk Hamilton Published June 20, 2012 -
Watch 20 Minutes of Resident Evil 6 in Action
At E3, the press got to see a whole bunch of Resident Evil 6 in action. Evan noted how much more action-packed the game is than even past Resident Evil games. Now, you can see it in action for yourselves. The video above is actually part 2 of the two videos that have been posted,…
By Kirk Hamilton Published June 20, 2012 -
Watch These Guys Beat Diablo III on its Hardest, Most Unforgiving Difficulty Setting
You may think that you play Diablo III, clicking on enemies and looting bodies, but there’s a good chance you’re actually playing a kiddie version of the game. At the game’s higher difficulty levels, it opens up into something far more difficult and engaging than its borderline Facebook-game-level normal difficulty. And at Inferno, Diablo III‘s…
By Kirk Hamilton Published June 20, 2012 -
I’m Not Sure I’d Pay $30K for the Iron Throne, Even Though Joffrey Left a Positive User Review
Greetings, Kotaku, and welcome to the Tuesday open thread. You may have heard that HBO is selling a real, life-sized replica of the Iron Throne for #30,000. What you may not have heard is that the characters from the show have begun to leave user reviews of the Throne. I saw that today on The…
By Kirk Hamilton Published June 19, 2012 -
One New Jersey Mob Boss’ Insanely Ambitious Plan to Kill Max Payne
In addition to my job here at Kotaku, I work very hard on a bestselling, fictional series of video game novelizations. Last year, I published a gripping, lusty novel based on The Witcher 2. This year, I’ve been hard at work putting the finishing touches on my next novel based on Max Payne 3, tentatively…
By Kirk Hamilton Published June 19, 2012 -
I Wanted a Good, Reliable Vita Case and That’s Just What I Got
Whenever a new piece of portable hardware comes out, the first thing I want is a good case. But as an early adopter, I frequently wind up in this situation where I don’t quite know what to get. Whom do I trust? How much should I pay? Which cases are good, and which are junk?…
By Kirk Hamilton Published June 19, 2012 -
Tomba, Duels of the Planeswalkers New This Week on the PlayStation Store
The PSN downloadable game Magic: The Gathering – Duels of the Planeswalkers is now available for download on the PlayStation store, along the PSone classic Tomba!. Find the full list of updates at the PlayStation Blog
By Kirk Hamilton Published June 19, 2012 -
Diablo III‘s Latest Update Blocks Some Players From Gaining XP. Fortunately, There’s An Easy Fix [Update]
The latest update to Diablo III appears to be something of a downgrade for many players of the game. It’s being widely reported by users on the game’s official forums that a bug in the latest update blocks players from getting any experience points and level-caps their followers at level 13. It sounds as though…
By Kirk Hamilton Published June 19, 2012 -
This Looks Like the First Information on the Vita’s Upcoming Call of Duty Game [UPDATE]
Mega-retailers Wal-Mart and Amazon have posted product information pages for Call of Duty: Black Ops: Declassified, the Vita-only version of Activision’s popular shooter franchise. The game is described as featuring an all-new campaign of “Special Ops Missions,” as well as multiplayer tailored to the Vita. It’s listed for $50, which is $10 more than most…
By Kirk Hamilton Published June 19, 2012 -
This Trippy Interactive Music Video Never Plays The Same Way Twice
The brooklyn duo Chairlift has released a music video for their tune “Met Before,” and it’s something of a choose your own adventure… and depending on how you choose, that adventure can be dramatically different. The story follows some PhD students who, upon hearing a loose definition of the idea of a multiverse (this must…
By Kirk Hamilton Published June 19, 2012 -
It’s Time to Settle This Once and For All: Which Breakfast Cereal is the Best?
I love cereal. I love it so much. I’ve felt that way all my life. For years and years, I’ve had cereal for breakfast, sometimes for lunch, sometimes even for dinner. It’s never not a good time for cereal. If there’s one thing people like to debate, it’s… well, it’s pizza toppings. But if there’…
By Kirk Hamilton Published June 18, 2012 -
World of Warcraft‘s Azeroth and Expansions Mapped in Google Maps
Video games let us explore other worlds. Sometimes those worlds are massive—that’s certainly true of Blizzard’s World of Warcraft. They don’t call it a massively multiplayer game for nothing! However, it can be difficult to keep an up-to-date cartographical record of such a massive world. Enter Cal Henderson, who, upon realizing that MapWow hadn’t updated…
By Kirk Hamilton Published June 18, 2012 -
This Funky Slaughterhouse-Five Game is Unstuck In Time
Why isn’t Kurt Vonnegut’s influence seen in more video games? I couldn’t help but wonder that after playing through Vonneguts & Glory, a new (very short) browser game by Shaun Inman based on Kurt Vonnegut’s classic novel Slaughterhouse-Five It’s a weird little thing, a shooter that is unstuck in time—you move backwards, picking up from…
By Kirk Hamilton Published June 18, 2012 -
I Hope Video Gaming’s Apocalypse Now Fixation Isn’t Just An Excuse for Artsy Violence
It’s starting to look as though game developers have moved their cinematic ambitions beyond the story of Charles Foster Kane and on to something a good deal more violent and possibly more attainable. To put it glibly: Apocalypse Now is the new Citizen Kane As we saw at E3, mainstream video games are in a…
By Kirk Hamilton Published June 18, 2012 -
Microsoft Announces New ‘Surface’ Tablet PC
At a press event today, Microsoft announced a new Tablet PC called ‘Surface.’ As you can see from the images in this post, it’s got a nifty keyboard built into its screen-cover. Also, pretty colors! Microsoft’s Steven Sinofsky introduced it thusly: “It’s a tablet that works and plays the way you want to. A tablet…
By Kirk Hamilton Published June 18, 2012 -
Woah, The Vita’s Upcoming Musical Fighting Game Looks Great In Action
When I first heard about Zen Studio’s Kickbeat, I was understandably excited about it. A fighting game that uses music to cue its hits, designed by the people who made the supremely punchy Zen Pinball games? One that tells the story of You can import your own music? Sign me up! Of course, there are…
By Kirk Hamilton Published June 18, 2012 -
Fake Gamers of the Week: People Saving Their Friends From The Most Sickening Scene In Video Games
In the horror game Dead Space 2, there is… a scene. This scene. It’s the sort of scene that once you see it, you can’t un-see it. Even if, say, a machine were to jam a giant metal needle into your eyeball? That would be less traumatic than watching that Dead Space 2 scene. Fair…
By Kirk Hamilton Published June 18, 2012
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