Michael McWhertor

Sony Gives PlayStation Home a Massive Theme Park Makeover With MMO-like Gameplay This Fall

PlayStation Home, the digital hang out space for Sony’s PlayStation 3 that opened to the public in 2008, is getting an extreme makeover later this year. Sony’s console social network will be redesigned for the fall, reemerging as an experience that’s part theme park, part online game and part social network. The new PlayStation Home,…

The Sweet, Superb and Scary Cosplay of Gamescom 2011

Gamescom 2011 may have been overcrowded today, but not with people dressed as video game, anime and comic book characters. While European cosplayers did represent at Gamescom, they did so in the corners of the Cologne Messe. There was some great stuff—a respectable Alice in the American McGee style, a quartet of very attractive BlazBlue…

This Is What Battlefield 3 Will Look Like on an iPhone

EA and DICE’s Battlefield 3 is drawing huge crowds at Gamescom this week, with waits of up to three hours to get hands-on time with the first-person shooter’s multiplayer mode. If only the iPhone version were out to help the Germans pass that time. This Battlefield 3: Aftershock, the version of the military shooter bound…

Only at Gamescom Would (NSFW) Dark Souls Bodypainting Exist

Models wearing little more than a thong and thin layer of paint is not unheard of at German video game conventions, but the choice of hardcore action role-playing game Dark Souls as promotion-by-nearly naked woman candidate is sure… surprising. Dark Souls publisher Namco Bandai has been spraypainting barely dressed women to promote its Gamescom line-up,…

What Are You Playing This Weekend?

Instead of playing the latest and greatest games at Cologne’s Gamescom expo, I’ll be playing a 2009 Legend of Zelda game. What else would I do when faced with 12-plus hours of travel? I’ll hopefully wrap up The Legend of Zelda: Spirit Tracks this weekend, somewhere over the Atlantic Ocean. I’d really like to put…

Classic Sonic Won’t Speak In Sonic Generations But Maybe He’ll… Turn Into a Werewolf?

For Sonic the Hedgehog’s 20th anniversary, Sega and Sonic Team will bring two versions of its mascot—in “classic” and “modern” flavors—together for a time-traveling, old school-meets-new school adventure. But only one of those Sonics will actually speak in Sonic Generations Sonic Generations spans three eras of Sonic the Hedgehog’s video game history: the Sega Genesis,…

The Ultra Disposable Gun is One of the Great Big Little Improvements in Borderlands 2

The throwaway guns of the original Borderlands, which numbered in the hundreds of bazillions, were nothing compared to the fire and forget disposability of the game’s sequel. And Borderlands 2‘s “disposable razor-style” guns from fictional manufacturer Tediore, the Walmart of intergalactic gunmakers, already stand out as one of the game’s better features. Gearbox Software showed…

Sonic Generations Screen Shots

Eyes-On with Lollipop Chainsaw and Juliet the Overly Chipper Zombie Slayer

Juliet Starling is a dangerous high school girl in trouble. She’s the star of Lollipop Chainsaw, the rainbow-bright zombie game and maybe the first to employ foul language as a physical weapon. Grasshopper Manufacture, the people who make weird but beloved games like No More Heroes and Shadows of the Damned, are responsible for 2012’s…

Portal 2‘s First DLC Will Still ‘Technically’ Arrive This Summer

That first (and free) downloadable content pack for Valve’s Portal 2—originally announced in April for a summertime release—will be released mid-September, says the company. That’s “still technically summer,” Valve’s Doug Lombardi assured Kotaku at Gamescom.

A Dark Souls Prison Break, Straight Out of Gamescom

The people showcasing From Software’s role-playing game Dark Souls—which you’ve likely heard is something of a challenge—were prone to frequent deaths during a brand-new demonstration of the game. At least its prison break was a breeze and we learned a few new things about the Demon’s Souls spiritual sequel. Namco Bandai’s hands-off Gamescom demo started…

This Is Sony’s Newer, Cheaper PSP As Seen At Gamescom

Sony has a new PlayStation Portable. Budget priced at €99 (and currently only for Europe), the PSP E-1000 does what every other PSP does—it just doesn’t have built-in Wi-Fi. And it’s matte! See? The PSP E-1000 is on display at Sony Computer Entertainment Europe’s big, beach-themed booth, a handheld almost completely free of greasy fingerprints.…

Blizzard Is ‘Very, Very Serious’ About Diablo for Consoles

Sounds like Blizzard is now a bit more serious about “exploring a Diablo-related concept for consoles.” What was something of an understated “interest” in bringing on talent for a version of Diablo III for video game consoles now sounds almost imminent. At Blizzard Entertainment’s Gamescom press conference, Diablo III lead designer Josh Mosqueira said the…

Lollipop Chainsaw Screen Shots

See Just How Crazy Your Diablo III Character Can Look If You Play On ‘Inferno’

For Diablo III, Blizzard is giving players a chance to fight the hardest of hellspawn with the game’s “Inferno” difficulty. Faster, stronger and tougher enemies that mean big risks and big rewards. What kind of rewards? Crazy, ornate high level armor, for one. Blizzard Entertainment showed off what some Inferno-class items look like at its…

Hot New Dark Souls Screens Show Its ‘Clothing Optional’ Class

This year’s Gamescom brings something new from Dark Souls, the dark role-playing game from From Software and Namco Bandai. Not only do we get a closer look at some character creation—the faces are still horrifying—but many of the game’s default character classes. If you’re a Dark Souls/Demon’s Souls fan, you’ve likely seen the semi-sequel’s new…

What Did Gabe Newell Say to the Half-Life 3 Protesters?

Where the hell is the next Half-Life game? That’s what two Vancouver-based Valve fans wanted to know when they set up shop opposite the headquarters of the people criminally late on shipping Half-Life 2: Episode Three. Valve founder Gabe Newell met with those “protesters” to deliver them good news and bad. Newell told Kotaku at…

Diablo III Just Got Harder Than Hell With New ‘Inferno’ Difficulty

Diablo and his minions will dole out the most extreme player punishment in Diablo III, thanks to its fourth, harder than Hell difficulty level known as Inferno. Blizzard revealed the harsh, high-level difficulty gameplay feature at Gamescom today, explaining what it means for the most dedicated of Diablo III players. Blizzard Entertainment game director Jay…

New Diablo III Screen Shots from Gamescom 2011

Get A Good Look At Soulcalibur V‘s New Fighters: Maxi, Tira, Voldo & Hilde

Welcome to the stage of history, Maxi, Tira, Voldo and Hilde. The four newest characters to join the ranks of Soulcalibur V are at the focus of this year’s Gamescom showing, illustrating how these familiar faces look with another 17 years of experience and age. The four new characters join Pyrrha, Patroklos, Zwei, Natsu, Ivy,…