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FTC Proposes 5% Tax On “Consumer Electronics”
As part of a draft plan to “save journalism” (as in, “save newspapers”), the Federal Trade Commission is making a number of proposals to Washington. Among them is a 5% tax on consumer electronics. Hey, game consoles are consumer electronics! It’s already been dubbed the “iPad Tax” by some hipsters, but really, that’s a little…
By Luke Plunkett Published June 4, 2010 -
Rapstar Out In October, Is On The Right Track
Def Jam Rapstar, the hip hop karaoke title from 4mm Games, will be out on October 5 for the 360, PS3 and Wii. And it’ll live and die on the strength of its tracklist, which at the moment, looks…decent! In addition to the tracks we already know about, 4mm this morning revealed seven more, and…
By Luke Plunkett Published June 3, 2010 -
If Halo: Reach Was 3D, It Would Look, Well, Like This
Killzone 3 is in 3D. Xbox counterpart Halo: Reach is not. But if it was? It’d look a little something like this. This clip is a fan-made job, taking some of Reach’s 3D screenshots (like, the rotating 3D kind) and making them..the other 3D. Like, the “has depth in front of your face” kind. God,…
By Luke Plunkett Published June 3, 2010 -
This Wii Gun Might Not Be A Great Idea
We’ve seen our fair share of Wii peripherals that are bad ideas. Saw one this week! Now let’s see another one. Look at it! You could rob a gas station with that thing, and nobody would bat an eye. “Inspired” by the famous Heckler & Koch MP5 submachine gun, it’s got a built-in speaker and…
By Luke Plunkett Published June 3, 2010 -
This Zelda Cosplay May Be Ill-Advised
Yes, that’s right. This lady is dressed up as a character we know absolutely nothing about. Nothing! She calls it “The Spirit of the Master Sword”, taking a guess that the mysterious character from the concept art tease of the next Zelda game – unveiled at last year’s E3 – is just that. The spirit…
By Luke Plunkett Published June 3, 2010 -
Don’t Expect Every Old PS3 Game To Go 3D
There’s a good bet many classic PS3 games will be retrofitted to display in 3D. Just don’t go expecting every game to have come out since 2006 to get the treatment. “I’m sure we will [retrofit more games with 3D], as adding 3D to a game can make it a whole new experience,” Sony’s Simon…
By Luke Plunkett Published June 3, 2010 -
Nobody Leaves Nintendo, Nobody!
If you think working as a designer for Nintendo sounds like a sweet job…you’re probably right. Speaking with Edge, Mario creator Shigeru Miyamoto says “One particular difference I should point out with Nintendo is that I am in charge of the EAD division and very few people have ever left that division. Very few people…
By Luke Plunkett Published June 3, 2010 -
Company Of Heroes Is Back! (Sort Of)
Company of Heroes Online – the free-to-play version of the classic PC real-time strategy game that’s previously only been available in Asia – is going to be released in the West, publisher THQ said today. Having tinkered with the game in overseas markets, first with a Shanda-developed title in China and then an in-house THQ…
By Luke Plunkett Published June 3, 2010 -
The Average PC Gamer’s Computer Looks Like…This
It’s time to check in and see, courtesy of Valve’s hardware surveys, what the average PC gamer’s rig looks like. Hmm. Uh huh, uh huh. Yeah, I’m still average. Great? There have been some changes in critical categories since the last time we took a good look at the results (I know, they’re published every…
By Luke Plunkett Published June 3, 2010 -
New Total War Coming, Has A Taste For The Orient
Deciding that E3 was simply too far away to wait, Creative Assembly today took the wraps off the latest game in the Total War series: Shogun 2: Total War. Or, going by this video, Okami: Total War. Returning to the setting that got the series its start, Shogun 2 is just like the recent-ish Medieval…
By Luke Plunkett Published June 3, 2010 -
The Man May Have A Point
It’s easy for us, as jaded gamers, to dismiss 4mm Games’ Def Jam: Rapstar as a Johnny Come Lately. Thing is, the game isn’t for us. And 4mm’s CEO Nick Perrett does a good reminding everybody of that in an interview with MCV. Rock Band, Guitar Hero and SingStar may all be on the decline,…
By Luke Plunkett Published June 2, 2010 -
One Of The Oldest Logos In Gaming Is No More
In this day and age, logos are a fickle thing, companies going through them like clean underwear in the constant search for “reinvention”. This week, one of the oldest developers in the industry has broken down and joined in. Rare Software, known for GoldenEye, Donkey Kong Country, Killer Instinct, Perfect Dark and the Xbox 360’s…
By Luke Plunkett Published June 2, 2010 -
Starcraft “Boot Camp” Doesn’t Sound Fun At All
Being locked in a room to play Starcraft all day might sound like fun, but for those interned in South Korea’s gaming “Chicken Coops”, it’s far from it. Starcraft expert Kim Jeong-geon spoke last week of these “coops”, which are used by the Starcraft industry to create a conveyor belt of sorts for the nation’s…
By Luke Plunkett Published June 2, 2010 -
What A Development Studio Looks Like In Pieces
If you’ve ever wondered how much crap it takes to fill a game development studio, wonder no more, as LittleBigPlanet developers Media Molecule are more than happy to show you. Because the team just moved to a new office – conveniently down the street from their old office – everything had to be packed up,…
By Luke Plunkett Published June 2, 2010 -
The $300 Prince Of Persia Statue
Sideshow has gone mad for Prince of Persia, revealing a statue based on the movie that’s not $100. Not $200. It’s $300 worth of plastic Chesty Jake. He goes on sale on Sideshow’s website on June 3, and that $300 will get you a statue that stands around 18″ tall and has interchangeable arms, so…
By Luke Plunkett Published June 2, 2010 -
How Many Of You Have A Nintendo On You At All Times?
Photographer Jason Travis has a neat idea: grab people off the streets of Atlanta and take photos of whatever’s inside their handbags or backpacks. Items found include pens, keys, wallets and…Nintendo handhelds, as evidenced by these two ladies, one rocking the same stylish shade of Pink DS as our own Michael Fahey, the other a…
By Luke Plunkett Published June 2, 2010 -
When World Of Warcraft And The Real World Come Together
This is a charming short film about everyday people and their World of Warcraft avatars, interviewing a few players while their characters stroll around in the real world. It’s only four minutes long, but in that four minutes you get to meet a number of Irish players who give honest, enjoyable stories of just why…
By Luke Plunkett Published June 2, 2010
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