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The PS2 Just Will Not Die!
The PlayStation 2 was first released in the year 2000. It was presumed dead in 2006, with the advent of the PlayStation 3. Yet here we are, eleven years later, and the thing just will not stop selling. Sony released its quarterly financial results overnight, and amidst all the money talk one figure stood out:…
By Luke Plunkett Published February 3, 2011 -
This Incredible 3D Art Is Too Nice To Play With
These pictures are the work of artist Jason Martin. If you’ve played Mass Effect 2, Force Unleashed II, DC Universe Online or taken an interest in the upcoming Batman game, you may recognise his amazing work. Martin is an artist at Blur Studios, the guys who bring you many of the gaming world’s biggest and…
By Luke Plunkett Published February 3, 2011 -
Civilization’s Greatest Fantasy Could Soon Be Reality
It’s funny, for a game based on history and real things, Civilization has always had a strangely fictional unit at its core: the “Settler”, who can make towns and later cities just appear It’s like they’re carrying all the necessary buildings, tools and equipment needed for a settlement in their backpacks, and at the drop…
By Luke Plunkett Published February 3, 2011 -
Hey, An Arcade Stick With Ostrich Leather On It
Hoping to stand out in a market filled with game tie-ins and garish colours, peripheral manufacturer Neo Legend has hooked up with snooty French fashion brand Hoon to release this ridiculously fancy arcade stick. I could not possibly do the item description justice, so here it is in its entirety: Manufactured in a specialised Parisian…
By Luke Plunkett Published February 3, 2011 -
These Facebook Games Are Bigger Than You Think
If you’ve ever felt like comparing how much money a “traditional” video game makes as opposed to how much a Facebook game makes, check out this chart. It makes for interesting/depressing reading. Put together by game site IGN, it’s very important to note that this isn’t hard science. Much of the information depicted is not…
By Luke Plunkett Published February 3, 2011 -
This Dog Is Not Afraid Of Dead Space 2 (Or An Xbox 360)
Ashley’s dog broke her Xbox 360 while she was in the middle of playing Dead Space 2. That’s usually grounds for a sob story, but this one has a happy ending. The clumsy pooch knocked over her console – which was standing vertically – while Dead Space 2 was in it, ruining both the machine…
By Luke Plunkett Published February 3, 2011 -
Man Steals $12 Million In Online Cash From Farmville Creators
British hacker Ashley Mitchell thought it would be a hoot to steal $12 million in online cash from Zynga, the creators of Facebook games like FarmVille and CityVille. And it would have been! If he hadn’t been caught. Mitchell’s story reads like a textbook bungled burglary. He hacks into a Zynga server, running popular online…
By Luke Plunkett Published February 3, 2011 -
CultureTotal RecallNintendo And The Soviet Union Got Along Just Fine
In today’s day and age, if people want to see a whole bunch of Nintendo characters appearing in the same game, they can play Smash Bros. In the 1980s, they could play…Tetris. The kind of canon-smashing forces that in the 21st century can pit Link against Mario and Kirby against Pikachu simply weren’t around during…
By Luke Plunkett Published February 3, 2011 -
It’s Like Angry Birds, Only With Balls
Bullistic is an Angry Birds clone. Only, I think I like it better. It’s the same premise as the Android and iPhone smash hit: you use a slingshot to vault animals across a stage so they break stuff, only instead of pigs, you’re now smashing vases and china. There’s a corny heavy guitar soundtrack, genitalia…
By Luke Plunkett Published February 2, 2011 -
Witness The Birth Of Super Mario Bros.
Super Mario Bros. was first released in 1985. Back then, games weren’t designed on computers, using fancy 3D models. They were designed on paper, by men who ate nails for breakfast and wrestled bears after supper. Nintendo has published a new interview on its website with the creative forces behind the classic NES game. To…
By Luke Plunkett Published February 2, 2011 -
It’s Dangerous For Your DS To Go Alone
Kotaku reader vidhagans had a problem. Her Nintendo DS, it was cold. Naked. Needed shelter. So she made these two cases, sporting Zelda themes, and now the thing is warm. And we are impressed One is based on Link getting his hands on the Triforce, the other on the scenery of SNES classic A Link…
By Luke Plunkett Published February 2, 2011 -
How To Stop The Simplest Form Of Video Game Cheating
While spit-screen gaming is the ideal means for two people to truly share a multiplayer experience, it’s not without its problems. Like cheating. A problem these two industrious souls have managed to overcome. Above, witness exhibit A, which we’ll call the “ghetto method”. It involves some tape and a blanket. And the second player, who…
By Luke Plunkett Published February 2, 2011 -
The Game You’re Paying For Before It’s Even Out
Interstellar Marines is a video game unlike your standard sci-fi shooter. Instead of being backed by a publisher, its developers are instead taking money from fans now, who will get the game when it’s done. Zero Point Software, the indie developers behind the game, believe it’s the best way to go about getting a quality,…
By Luke Plunkett Published February 2, 2011 -
Um, Nice Pokéballs
There are people who have got Pokémon tattoos who may regret that decision in ten years time. And then there’s this guy, who will have many more regrets than that, and a whole lot sooner. He’s had his arm modified. Cut open at the elbow and small lumps inserted beneath the skin in what those…
By Luke Plunkett Published February 2, 2011 -
Are Angry Fans Really Ruining Video Games?
Josh Olin, Community Manager at Call of Duty: Black Ops developers Treyarch, thinks that “pundits” and “angry entitled fans” are ruining creativity in video games. They’re not. In an interview with NowGamer, Olin – who admittedly must wade knee-deep through stupid questions from assholes as part of his job – says the following: Personally, as…
By Luke Plunkett Published February 2, 2011
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