Luke Plunkett

German Gunman Already Linked With Gaming

In case you missed the news earlier today, German teenager Tim Kretschmer went on a shooting rampage. Killed fifteen people. And already, attempts are being made to link the atrocity to gaming. The Associated Press report on the shootings – which will be the same one run in countless newspapers/websites across the world – sadly…

Two-Year-Old Girl Offered For Sale Over Xbox Live

Over the weekend, pranksters spammed Xbox Live users with a message advertising the sale of 23 year-old Christa Manos’ baby girl. The message included her phone number. Manos is not impressed. She was soon fielding angry, abusive phone calls from parents across the United States, some berating her for being a terrible parent, others content…

The Periodic Table of Video Game Characters

Not much explanation necessary here. It’s a periodic table, only with video game characters instead of those boring chemical elements. While some are a bit of a cop-out (Batman and Iron Man aren’t game characters, per se), the rest is a great mix, crossing decades, platforms and even sensibilities. Bonus points are awarded for not…

Insomniac Still A Great Place To Work

If you dream of some day working for a top-shelf games developer, and care about the little things (like colleagues, benefits and job security), you may want apply for a job with Insomniac. The development team behind Ratchet & Clank and the main Resistance games has been named the “fifth best place to work in…

Sing Hero: Are Activision Going After SingStar?

Last week, Activision filed a trademark application for something called Sing Hero. Doesn’t take a genius to work out what that could be all about. I mean, it’s got “Hero” in the title. Just like Activision’s existing Guitar Hero, and upcoming DJ Hero. And it’s got “Sing” in the title. Implying that, well. You sing.…

Ensemble: We Were A Victim Of Our Own Success

Ensemble made the Age of Empire series. Which was hugely successful. Ensemble were, however, recently shut down. Was it because they were too successful? A former employee thinks so. David Rippy – who is now in charge of Bonfire Studios, and leading a team of other ex-Ensemble employees – says the former Age of Empires…

360 Avatars Go A Little Bit Country, A Little Bit Western

It’s OK, Americans. Those European football shirts weren’t your thing. This, then, is your thing, a new “Western Wear” collection of avatar clothing that’ll have you reaching for an official Microsoft-branded six-shooter. Least, we wish it did. Something Deadwood would have been nice. Some big moustaches, gun belts, maybe a poncho or two. Maybe Lee…

Let’s Learn About Japan! (With Mega Man)

You know how when you were at school, you’d sometimes have to watch some boring, stuffy old video about foreign lands? This is one of those. Except it’s got Mega Man in it. So sit back, relax, and learn all about Japan (circa 1993) courtesy of the Blue Bomber, the NES 2/AV Famicom, Capcom and…

Another Country Gets Club Nintendo

Congratulations, Australia. Your long, long, nigh-on-insufferable wait for a Club Nintendo of your very own is at an end. The redemption website launched today, offering a grand total of…five items. Yup. Five. Count ’em! One. Two. Three. Four. Five. There’s a couple of DS holder things, a Mario face towel, a Wii Remote box and…

Rock Band’s 591 Songs By The Numbers

As you can see, there are 591 songs available for Harmonix’s Rock Band “platform”. But did you ever wonder how many are hard and how many easy? Or which genre is most represented? Pwn or Die did, so they sat down and started taking notes. At the end of it, we have not only statistics…

Here Are Your BAFTA Winners

After a year off in 2008 to sort themselves out, the British Academy Video Games Awards are back. With proceedings in London now done and dusted, let’s see who took home a golden mask! Congratulations to Super Mario Galaxy, which took out best overall game. Other big winners were Call of Duty 4, which took…

BBC Talk Show Man Mentions Fable III

And the Twitter madness continues. Latest to let something slip? British television and radio presenter Jonathan Ross, who says he was just asked to do some voice work for a third Fable game. Or, as he puts it, “Goodnight all. Must go to bed. Got asked to do voice in Fable 3 tonight. Subarashi. Oyasuminasia.…

Grand Theft Auto Creators Just Hit Paydirt

The Houser brothers (and other top Rockstar personnel) are, no doubt, already rich. Filthy rich. But today it was announced they’ve all become a lot richer. You may remember in December 2008, Rockstar’s top talent (including Sam & Dan Houser, Leslie Benzies and “several other key members of the creative team”) signed a deal with…

Metal Gear Solid Touch Duck Hunts Itself A Release Date [UPDATE]

Really, Konami, the best you could manage for an iPhone Metal Gear game was a re-skinned Duck Hunt? How depressing. Still! There are enough Metal Gear tragics out there who just won’t care. For you, then, in the absence of help, comes information: the game will be out on Apple’s App Store next week, March…

Watchmen Artist Does Bionic Commando

For a while now, visitors to the official Bionic Commando site have been able to read an online version of a Bionic Commando comic. So why bother with a real copy? It’s a damn good question, but one comics fans may want to actually ask themselves, as the man who drew the Watchmen (and Beneath…

British Sales Charts

Shame I used that “thin red line” headline in the PC charts, because it’d be more appropriate for these British ones. Ah well, the basic point remains: Empire Total war is #1 in the UK. Last week it managed to knock Killzone 2 off the top spot, push Halo Wars a further spot back and…

Activision: Note To Self, Must Do Better On Wii

Like many other big-name publishers, Activision release most of their “big guns” on the Xbox 360, PlayStation 3 and PC. Problem is, the Wii is where the money’s at. So it’s time for a change! While beating the same, tired, worn old drum of cheaper consoles that he’s been beating since 2007, Kotick took time…

Guitar Hero Bundles vs Software In Sales Showdown

Activision sell a lot of copies of Guitar Hero. Ever stop to wonder, though, what the breakdown is between sales of the game’s band kit, guitar bundles and plain ol’ game discs? Course you have. And Gamasutra have the answer. Charting sales of all three versions of Guitar Hero: World Tour, they’ve found that, surprisingly…

Classic PC Adventure Game Re-Released As Cartoon

No, it’s not Day of the Tentacle. Sorry. But it’s something almost as neat: a playthrough of Jordan Mechner’s The Last Express, re-cut to look like an animated film. Poor Last Express was a PC adventure game from the 90’s, which nobody really played because the publisher’s marketing team didn’t market it. At all. Though…

Study Determines How Often The Princess Is Actually In Another Castle

The Princess is in another castle. The Princess is in another castle. GAH. Seems that stupid Toad says that every time you finish a level in Mario. But science shows he, in fact, doesn’t. No, it has now been proven – and this is proven by science, so it’s without refute! – that she is…