Kirk Hamilton

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Should You Buy Gears of War 3: RAAM’s Shadow? Yes.

RAAM’s Shadow is the second piece of downloadable content for Epic’s terrific action game Gears of War 3. It drops on December 13th, and is much more substantive than the last DLC, mainly in that it’s a prequel-style three-chapter adventure starring Michael Barrick (of the Gears comics) and Zeta team in place of series protagonist…

One Fantasy Game Too Many?

As competent and appealing-looking as Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning is, I have some reservations about it. At what point, I found myself asking as I played, will we finally reach a fantasy lore saturation-point? Others have already tackled the intense and often ridiculous lore of Skyrim (specifically, Tom Bissell and our own Tim Rogers). I’ve…

The Kid Who Just Went to College

College is a special time in the life of any young man or woman. You’re finally free from your parents, ready to meet new people, attend interesting classes, and probably drink with those people and during those classes. While the first year of college can be a very busy time, there’s always space for some…

Don’t Procrastinate… Procatinate!

Greetings, and a happy Tuesday to you. Welcome to another Kotaku open thread, where we come together to talk about games, life, the universe, and everything. Without further ado, a few conversation-starters and other bits and pieces from the Internet at large. Lots of cats today. Sorry, I don’t know what that’s about. The Best…

Dragon Age II, Need for Speed: Hot Pursuit, DLC for Arkham City and Battlefield 3 New This Week on the PlayStation Store

This week on the PlayStation store, we’ve got new full-game downloads for Dragon Age II and Need For Speed: Hot Pursuit, as well as the PSN game Wanted Corp. Plenty of games get DLC content, including Batman: Arkham City, which gives purchasers all of the skins that were initially offered as various pre-order bonuses. (Including…

People Who Like Science and Other Thinky Pursuits

It can be a challenge to buy a gift for your brainy, science-obsessed friend. What kind of games might he or she like? The science brains among us can be so intimidating, partly because it’s always scary buying things for smart people, but partly because who knows what those science people even like? Do they…

Mario Kart 7: The Kotaku Review

There’s a spot on the couch where Mario Kart 7 sits, a well-worn seat where the pillows and cushions have been arranged just so. Over the years, a multitude of previous Mario Kart games have all occupied that spot, and so Mario Kart 7 knows just how to hold itself, just how to sit, just…

Shoot a Nuke Down a Bug Hole, You Got a Lot of Dead Bugs

Greetings, travelers, and welcome to another Kotaku open thread. How have you been? Good? I hope so. I’ve been keeping warm, and this morning, they posted the second part of that Revision3 TV interview I did, where I talked about a bunch of things, from jazz to Far Cry 2 to sweat pants. I also…

Embargo Breaking and You: The New Yorker Takes On Sony Pictures

Those following the world of cinema today are most likely aware of a slap-fight that broke out between Sony Pictures and New Yorker film critic David Denby, who broke the agreed-upon embargo for his review of the highly anticipated film The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo. He and other critics were allowed to view the…

Rayman Creator: Mario Games Don’t Have Enough Slapping

In a lengthy interview published today on Gamasutra, Rayman and Beyond Good & Evil creator Michel Ancel confesses that although he likes The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past, he doesn’t care for playing Miyamoto’s Super Mario games. From the interview: I will tell you something terrible — I don’t really enjoy playing…

This Fan-Made Mass Effect Film is Shaping Up Nicely

The folks at The Sneaky Zebra are making a short film based on the Mass Effect universe, and have sent along three new character trailers for the game. The one up top is for a renegade character named “Hale,” which I would imagine (or at least hope!) is a reference to voice actor Jennifer Hale,…

Like Scott Pilgrim Before it, To The Moon Tells a Personal Story in the Language of Video Games

Video games have a language all their own. It’s a language that most people understand implicitly—concepts like extra lives, leveling up, experience points, and boss battles have gone mainstream. That language has begun to seep into other media as well—movies like The Matrix, Source Code, and books like those in the Scott Pilgrim series all…

When Bioshock Becomes a Little Too Real

The latest “Co-Op Life” video from Machinima focuses on Bioshock, and it’s pretty funny stuff. A couple of guys are playing the game on the couch, and the whole experience has… well, it’s come out into the real world with them. It’s basically a much more high-budget approach to the same kind of satire we’ve…

Microsoft Teams Up With the Independent Games Festival

The Independent Games Festival has announced a multi-year partnership with Microsoft Games Studios. The partnership will involve a jury of indie game developers awarding an “XBLA Prize” (XBLA being Microsoft’s Xbox Live Arcade service), which will be given out at the IGF, a festival and awards ceremony that happens each March at the Game Developers…

Wizardcore? LARP-Rock? Whatever You Call It, This is the Best Worst Heavy Metal Video in Possibly Forever

So there I was, hanging out on the internet and minding my own business, when this music video dropped in my lap. It was created by a metal band called “Alternate Reality.” It’s for a song called “The King That Never Was” and it involves Arthurian legend, swordplay, and some serious costumery. “Okay,” I thought.…

A Video Tour of the 16 New Tracks in Mario Kart 7

This week, we’ve taken a look at Mario Kart 7‘s online multiplayer and community pages, so for my last launch-week video, I wanted to take a quick tour through the 16 new tracks that Nintendo has created for the game. They run the gamut from simple racetracks to elaborate, multi-level roller-coasters, and a couple already…

MotorStorm RC Director Talks Social Features, Cloud Integration, and the Ease of Vita Development

Sony has posted a new developer interview with Paul Rustchynsky, the game director on the upcoming MotorStorm RC for Sony’s Vita handheld. He talks about how the game is a refreshing change for his team, and how it’s less of a hardcore action game and more of a compulsive, social racer. In the game, players…

Watch Our Own Kirk Hamilton Talk Saints Row: The Third on Revision3 TV

Kotaku‘s Kirk Hamilton (a.k.a. me) made an appearance yesterday on the Revision3 TV show “New Challenger,” to chat with host Anthony Carboni about Saints Row: The Third. Give it a watch!

Hoping Each Time That His Next Leap Will Be The Leap Home

Hello all, and welcome to yet another late-night Kotaku open thread. The week is drawing to a close, and we have a brief chance to breathe after Thanksgiving and before Christmas (or, you know, Indigenous Peoples’ Day and Festivus, or whatever you may observe). Here, as always, are some conversation-starters for your perusal. “The Worst…