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More New Vita Content, Starhawk and SSX Demos New This Week on the PlayStation Store
The PS Vita rollout continues with another stacked week of new digital content at the PlayStation store. Vita owners get access to all manner of stuff, from a few free augmented reality games to apps for Netflix, Flickr and Twitter, demos for a few more titles, and several new digital-only games including Plants vs. Zombies,…
By Kirk Hamilton Published February 22, 2012 -
“It’s a Pac-Man Sun!”
Won’t You Come, Wash Away The Rain | A partial solar eclipse described by NASA’s Solar Dynamics Observatory as a “Pac-Man Sun” (Photo Credit: NASA/SDO via Space.com.) Pouring Like an Avalanche Down SSX’s First Mountain The SSX demo landed yesterday, with the full title arriving, at last, on Tuesday, rebooting EA Sports’ much-loved snowboarding series.…
By Kirk Hamilton Published February 22, 2012 -
How To Turn Off the Vita’s Background Music
I hope you’re enjoying your brand new PlayStation Vita! If you’re anything like me, you turned it on and enjoyed the refreshing, smooth sounds of the menu music. Then, about an hour later, you realized that it’s actually pretty mind-numbing and started to wish you could turn it off. You’re in luck—it’s very easy to…
By Kirk Hamilton Published February 22, 2012 -
Mother Nature, The Coldest Real-Time Strategist of Them All
Eufloria HD is a brutal game. Oh sure, it looks to be all pastels and flowers, but beneath its groovy new-wave art-style and bloopy, soothing soundtrack lies a game about life-or-death survival. A very fun game about life-or-death survival, as it turns out. Eufloria HD is an iPad-only port of Eufloria, an indie PC and…
By Kirk Hamilton Published February 22, 2012 -
Quiet, Worf
Hello there, and welcome to your Tuesday evening open thread. I hope you’re having a good week so far; 40% of the way to the weekend. Here are some things from around and about the internet for your perusing pleasure: “15 minutes of Worf’s ideas getting shot down by everyone on The Next Generation“ –…
By Kirk Hamilton Published February 21, 2012 -
These LittleBigPlanet Awards Will Remind You Of Your Cosmic Insignificance
Oftentimes we float through life, content to feel as though we are a Very Big Deal. See this room I’m in? I’m the only person in it! I matter, man! And then we come across something that makes us remember that oh yeah, the world is a gigantic place, filled to the brim with people,…
By Kirk Hamilton Published February 21, 2012 -
Right At Home On Hoth
More like AT Ice-T | AT-AT ice sculpture made with a chisel and chainsaw. Seen this weekend in Bend, Ore., photo by Bill Linn..) The Call of Duty Game That Never Was I love behind-the-scenes insights into the making of my favorite games. Although I usually watch or read them after I’m finished with a…
By Kirk Hamilton Published February 21, 2012 -
Here’s Where You Can See Indie Game: The Movie
After the film’s award-winning showing at the Sundance Film Festival, the folks behind Indie Game: The Movie have opted to turn down traditional distribution deals and take it on the road themselves. Possibly to a city near you! The list of venues that they’ve announced so far is at the bottom of this post; if…
By Kirk Hamilton Published February 21, 2012 -
Drums! Dragons! Decent Graphics! Must be The Witcher 2 on Xbox 360
The latest trailer for the coming Xbox 360 “Enhanced Edition” of The Witcher 2 is a percussive lil’ thing, featuring lots of intercut action, as well as at least a glimpse of one of the trademark steamy love scenes and a forest tableaux that just screams “See? The game looks fine on the Xbox 360!”…
By Kirk Hamilton Published February 21, 2012 -
So That’s Why People Pirate Game of Thrones Episodes!
Hello Kotaku, and welcome to a new week of video games, news, and video game news. Also, co-existing as humans, and fun, and learning. And so much more. I finished Ghost Trick last night. Wow, what an ending on that game! Anyhow, here is your evening open thread. I’m so glad to have you here.…
By Kirk Hamilton Published February 20, 2012 -
It’s Official: Clicking on Cows is a “Thing”
Every day, more evidence that Ian Bogost’s satirical game-turned-real-game-turned-ironic sensation Cow Clicker has become a bona fide sensation. Take the case of the startup “Wander,” which has no real product or service… at all… and yet has registered over 10,000 users. How have they done this? Why, by having their users click a cow, of…
By Kirk Hamilton Published February 20, 2012 -
The Painstaking Process Behind ‘The Best Pinball Video Game Ever Made’
Pinball is storied; pinball is distinctive. Pinball has a fascinating history, pinball has been a part of almost every American’s youth in some capacity or another. It’s a controlled collision of physics and art, all in the service of giving players a kinesthetic experience that’s not quite like anything else. Pinball is… well, it’s pinball…
By Kirk Hamilton Published February 20, 2012 -
Respect the Beard
The Bearded Man From City 17 | Valve’s Gabe Newell now looks a good deal more like Half-Life hero Gordon Freeman. Love the knife. (Illustration by G-e-e-r-s/Deviant Art.) Alan Wake’s American Nightmare: The Kotaku Review Going into Alan Wake’s American Nightmare, I’d worried that I hadn’t played the DLC that followed the 2010 game that…
By Kirk Hamilton Published February 20, 2012 -
Retro City Rampage Now Coming to Vita, Steam and PS3, Still Looks Rad
I’ve had my eye on Vblank Entertainment’s Retro City Rampage for a good while now—it’s hard not to be interested in a game that merges elements of the original Grand Theft Auto with all manner of other retro games, wrapped up in a vintage style and what sounds like a kickass soundtrack. This new trailer…
By Kirk Hamilton Published February 20, 2012 -
Alan Wake‘s PC Version Pays For Itself in 48 Hours
The PC version of the 2010 Xbox 360 exclusive Alan Wake has broken even in just two days, said a Remedy producer on the game’s official forums. “We are very happy with the sales and hitting #1 on Steam at launch was nothing short of amazing,” wrote Remedy’s Aki Järvilehto. “We recouped our development and…
By Kirk Hamilton Published February 20, 2012 -
CultureTotal RecallHalf-Life 2‘s Most Magical Moment
Well, if we’re going to be doing more recent games for Total Recall, we’d better talk about Half-Life 2 sooner rather than later. As is true for so many people, HL2 is one of my favorite games of all time, an evergreen gem that I replay about once a year. It’s hard to put my…
By Kirk Hamilton Published February 18, 2012 -
CultureTotal Recall
Grim Death Never Looked So Lovely
Over at the International House of Mojo, they’ve put together a terrific retrospective on the equally terrific adventure game Grim Fandango. It’s a fun, comprehensive retrospective, but what really grabbed me was the illustration that Colin Panetta did for it, of a skeleton that’s recently been “planted.” Death-by-flowers has long been one of my favorite…
By Kirk Hamilton Published February 17, 2012 -
CultureTotal RecallMy Addiction to the Original Saints Row
Programming note: Check the arrow for more on “Recent Recall.” These days, Saints Row is very much a household name in gaming. It’s a critically successful franchise, a game that has become notorious through its marketing and gimmickry, but also by being a whole lot of fun. The Saints Row concept really came into its…
By Kirk Hamilton Published February 17, 2012
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