Michael McWhertor

First Look At Next Call of Duty Happens This Friday

There’s a brand new Call of Duty game coming this year. This Friday, you’ll get your first peek at the follow-up to Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2, courtesy of GameTrailers TV. While Activision may be embroiled in drama related to its most recent Call of Duty, that won’t stop the company from churning out…

A New Look At Vanquish, From The Creator of Resident Evil

Are you excited yet about Vanquish, the third-person shoot ’em up from Bayonetta and Madworld studio Platinum Games? Did we mention it’s from the guy who made God Hand? And did you see these new screen shots? Game director Shinji Mikami’s latest may feature familiar shooting action—with, apparently, a Bayonetta style “Witch Time”-like time-slowing effect…

Kotaku Off Topic: Baconator

Consider this edition of Kotaku Off Topic a two-for-Tuesday, a chance to comment not once, but twice on the topic of your choosing at no additional cost. (Yes, I cleared this with my manager.) Say, anyone have a version of this NASA photograph of Neil Armstrong from the Gemini VIII launch that’s at, say, wicked…

Vanquish Screens

Pentagon Wants To Build Better Soldiers With Video Games, Mind-Reading

The Department of Defense aims to train a better breed of soldier using video games (aka “simulations”) that monitor voice recognition, facial gestures and cognitive patterns through EEG scans, reports Wired. Hope for future video game controllers! [Wired]

Halo: Reach’s First TV Spot Shows How Spartans Are Made

In the ongoing tradition of beautifully filmed, high-class live action Halo commercials comes “Birth of a Spartan,” Microsoft and Bungie’s promotional short for the Halo: Reach beta. That’s right. We’re doing beta commercials now. The 60-second spot features the Spartan-izing of Carter 259, who you’ll soon better know as the future leader of Noble Team…

Play Way More Than 18 Holes With The Raunchy Tiger Woods’ Affair Tour

The face of EA Sports Tiger Woods PGA Tour series is now the unwilling subject of another video game, the adults-only, sexually explicit screw ’em up Tiger Woods Affair Tour 2010. D-Dub Software, makers of the free-roaming sexual, drug-charged Bonetown, have struck while the iron is room temperature, turning Woods’ extramarital dalliances into a video…

BioShock 2 Won’t Go Metro This Week

The Rapture Metro pack, previously scheduled to arrive this week for BioShock 2 fans hungry for more of the multiplayer action they so desperately crave, will miss its stop. 2K Games has pressed pause on the downloadable map pack’s release. Instead, the BioShock 2 Rapture Metro add-on will coming to the Xbox 360, PlayStation 3…

Modern Warfare Developers Seek Half a Billion in Activision Suit UPDATE

A group of nearly 40 past and present Infinity Ward developers have banded together to file suit against the publishers of Modern Warfare 2 for half a billion dollars, alleging breach of contract and unpaid royalties, according to court documents obtained by G4 TV.com. The Infinity Ward Employee Group’s suit, which lists 38 plaintiffs including…

Even Orcs Need To Shop For Home Furnishings

Australia’s Connect Furniture targets the loveseat-shopping Warhammer and World of Warcraft crowd, as seen at Ads of the World. Bonus naked fairy furniture shopping marketing after this…

Sega Shoots Gunblade NY & LA Machineguns Clip At Us

Sega makes its Gunblade NY and LA Machineguns port to the Wii official with the first trailer for the Gunblade NY and LA Machineguns Arcade Hits Pack, a new opportunity to reminisce about the company’s arcade past. Gunblade NY and LA Machineguns Arcade Hits Pack, previously revealed courtesy of the ESRB, packs in one Sega…

The Prettiest Custom Nintendo 64 You’ll See Today

Or at least the most feminine and flowery, as hand painted by Kotaku tipster James, who describes his creation as Cath Kidston-inspired and for his girlfriend, not his grandmother.

Kotaku Off Topic: Unfollow

A few things need to happen during tonight’s edition of Kotaku Off Topic. One, I’m gonna need a drink, two, I’m going to need you guys to start taking charge of this off topic conversation. Me? I’ll be busy culling my Twitter feed. I’ve tried to be pretty selective about who I follow, largely for…

After Burner Climax Review: You Will Do A Barrel Roll

Adrenaline junkies who feel the need—specifically, the need for speed—but don’t have access to an actual F-14D or a deluxe arcade cabinet will be gleefully forced to settle for Sega’s console port of After Burner Climax, its 2006 aerial dogfighter. Rarely do Xbox Live Arcade and PlayStation Network games feel as arcade-y as does After…

Red Faction’s Made For TV Movie May Spawn A Series

THQ’s plans for a Red Faction movie may be just the beginning for the Martian sci-fi smash ’em up. The SyFy network-produced made for TV movie may eventually become its own ongoing series. NBC Universal cable network Syfy is planning a “major expansion of its Syfy Games unit” this year, writes Broadcasting & Cable, which…

Rumor: Black Wii Comes To North America In May

When will North American Wii owners finally have a sleek black console that matches their black Wii Remote, Nunchuk and Classic Controller? Maybe as early as May, according to multiple retail sources. Tipsters from Target, GameStop and Future Shop—as well as one shopper at FYE, where the black Wii bundle is apparently available for pre-order—tell…

PS3 ‘Remote Play’ Also Coming To PCs (VAIO PCs, At Least)

Last week’s update to the PlayStation 3 did more than just make Sony’s console 3D game ready, it also added future support for Remote Play content streaming on PCs—specifically Sony’s VAIO brand of PC. PS3 firmware 3.30 updated the console with several Trophy enhancements and the ability to play stereoscopic 3D games, the latter expected…

This Is What The Original Mario Looked Like In High School

He may not have a mustache, proper plumbing gear or bear a remote resemblance to the Mario of Donkey Kong, but this is what the man who inspired Nintendo to name their most famous character looked like in 1952. Mario Segale was once Nintendo of America’s landlord, but he’s better known for being the naming…

New Explosive Enslaved Screens Set Free

Heavenly Sword developer Ninja Theory has already proven that they can make “post apocalyptic” pretty with Enslaved: Odyssey to the West. But can they do explosions as well? New screens of Enslaved let you be the judge. The PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 game, due in “late 2010,” will put players in the role of…

BlazBlue Goes 3D, Cute With BlayzBloo: Super Melee Brawlers Battle Royale

Nintendo DSi owners will get their own brand of BlazBlue beat ’em up action with BlayzBloo: Super Melee Brawlers Battle Royale, an adorably super-deformed spin-off based on Arc System Works’ fighting game series. The DSiWare download was released in Japan as BlazBlue: Battle x Battle earlier this year and it appears that the four-player brawler…