Michael McWhertor

Kotaku Off Topic: (._. )

Instead of focusing on the past, wondering what may have happened to yesterday’s Kotaku Off Topic open thread, in which anything can be discussed video game related or not, let’s focus on the future! I mean, really, who’s all that interested in placing blame about the lack of Kotaku Off Topic yesterday? Certainly not me!…

Super Street Fighter IV FightStick Tournament Edition S Hands-on

A new year, a new Street Fighter and a new update to Mad Catz’s tournament edition fight stick. We went hands-on with the newer, slimmer Super Street Fighter IV branded model at CES. Is it worth the upgrade? Like our hands-on time with the original Street Fighter IV licensed sticks, the controller impressed mostly for…

Playing Super Stardust HD At CES… In 3D!!!

Surprisingly, it was the 3D rejiggering of a PlayStation Network game, not Gran Turismo 5, that made me think “Hey, this 3D display gimmick might not be so bad after all.” That game was Housemarque’s excellent Super Stardust HD. Where Super Stardust HD in 3D succeeded was adding to the dazzling lightshow that a few…

Wii Continues Hot Hardware Streak In Japan, PSPgo Not So Much

Japanese gamers rang in the New Year by buying more Wiis than any other console, giving Nintendo the biggest slice of the pie this past week. But the PlayStation family wasn’t too far behind. The PSP and PlayStation 3 were behind the Wii, but sales were better than healthy for Sony, with the PlayStation maker…

Playing Gran Turismo 5 At CES… In 3D!!!

Sony’s CES booth was heavy on 3D content, the current fancy of consumer electronics makers, including a playable 3D version of Gran Turismo 5 for the PlayStation 3. Does the Real Driving Simulator become even real-er when played in 3D? Well, it certainly ups the challenge, as adjusting to a 3D display while coming to…

Left 4 Dead 2 Vs. The Motion Control Apocalypse

Having just played a custom build of Left 4 Dead 2 with a pair of Sixense TrueMotion wireless motion controllers, I’m glad to have access to a standard game pad. But after decapitating two dozen zombies by katana, reloading, jumping, crouching and shoving back infected with nothing but gestures, I was more than impressed by…

New Super Mario Bros. Wii Jumps Closer To 3 Million Sold In Japan

It’s a week of no new releases charting in Japan, another week for New Super Mario Bros. Wii to dominate the competition with another quarter million plus sold. What other Nintendo games are selling like gangbusters in Japan this week? The rest of the chart that isn’t New Super Mario Bros. Wii looks like familiar…

What Are You Playing This Weekend?

Since Brian and I will still be roaming the halls of CES and the casinos of Las Vegas this weekend, it’s doubtful that I’ll be playing much beyond games on the convention hall floor and quarter slots. Of course, there are still some interesting games still left to be played by Team Kotaku at CES.…

Business In The Front, LAN Party Option On This Guy’s Back

Video displays as name tags, as seen outside the CES press room, where questionably useful technology is sometimes on display, inspiring future gaming possibilities.

More Hands-on Details From Xbox 360’s Game Room

Microsoft’s newly announced Game Room for the Xbox 360 and Games For Windows platform was available to play on the CES show floor today, giving attendees a chance to go hands on with classics like Pitfall, Scramble and Tempest. Those old school arcade and Atari 2600 games played mostly as one would remember them, 8-bit…

Sonic The Hedgehog Socks Will Keep Your Nintendo DS Warm

Mad Catz isn’t forgetting the Nintendo DS accessory market as it shifts more of its focus to high end fight sticks, mice and non-gaming lifestyle keyboards. So if you need Sonic the Hedgehog socks, Mad Catz has you… covered. Yes, in addition to officially licensing Nintendo products—you know, like wireless Wii sensor bars—Mad Catz is…

The First 30+ Games For Microsoft’s New Game Room

Microsoft confirmed last night it was bringing the Game Room virtual hang out space to Xbox 360 and Games For Windows this year, an online arcade and—ahem—virtual console for your Xbox Avatar. What games will Xbox 360 owners get? Initially, the service will launch this spring with 30 original arcade and old school console games,…

U.S. Xbox 360s Get IPTV Through AT&T Uverse This Year

Three years ago, Microsoft unveiled its IPTV plans for the Xbox 360, offering a working preview of the service at CES 2007. And, finally, IPTV is coming to the Xbox 360 in the United States by way of AT&T Uverse. Microsoft’s Steve Ballmer announced at the company’s pre-CES keynote that, later this year, AT&T “will…

Kotaku Off Topic: Gaga Reflex

Day… one(?) of CES wasn’t the most eventful of convention days, but it did see two keynotes, one from Sony and one from Microsoft that were relevant to our interests. But, like this post, they were mostly off topic. The PlayStation 3, PlayStation Network, Xbox 360 and Xbox Live got some attention at their respective…

CES 2010 Keynote Starring Microsoft’s Steve Ballmer

Microsoft will kick off CES 2010 with its annual opening keynote, delivered by the energetic Steve Ballmer and presumably with the aide of a few high ranking Microsoft executives. We’re there live, waiting for Project Natal and Xbox Game Room news. In fact, we wouldn’t be surprised to see some more firm dates applied to…

LG’s Newest HDTVs Claim “Wii-like” Control Experience

How can television manufacturer LG Electronics make its latest batch of big black rectangles stand apart from the crowd? While CES is full of bigger-than-last-year TVs and high-def 3D displays, it’s LG’s new “Magic Wand” that intrigues us. The TV maker says that its new LE9500 and PK950 sets “incorporate a unique ‘Magic Wand’ remote…

Mad Catz R.A.T.s Out Premium Cyborg Gaming Mice

Cybernetic rats may sound like a futuristic threat, but it’s really nothing more than Mad Catz’s new line of premium gaming mice that can be “customized for any grip preference” and make for spectacular product shots. The “key points of contact between the gamer’s hand and the mouse are fully adjustable” touts Mad Catz, which…

Microsoft To Announce “Xbox Game Room” At CES [Update]

Today’s Microsoft CES keynote is likely to make mention of the arrival of the Xbox Game Room, a retro-themed game space, at least according to a video interview with Microsoft’s Robbie Bach, president of the company’s Entertainment and Devices Division. More specifically, that’s from the quickly pulled video, originally posted on Microsoft’s On10.net and Channel…

Gran Turismo 5 Gets Its Cover Car, The Mercedes SLS AMG

Polyphony Digital‘s Gran Turismo 5 comes that much closer to reality today with the release of the PlayStation 3 game’s North American box art, featuring the Mercedes SLS AMG, the 197 mph “gull-winged terror.” Sony says the Mercedes SLS AMG was “chosen from a total of nearly 1000 cars recreated down to the finest detail”…

Gran Turismo 5 – Mercedes SLS AMG