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Nier Shows Square Enix’s Foul Mouthed Side
Square Enix showed the latest build of its action adventure game Nier at Gamescom and never have I heard saltier talk. At least from Square Enix, who generally doesn’t drop the F-bomb in its games. But Nier is occasionally vulgar. Technically, it’s not the eponymous Nier himself who’s offending our delicate sensibilities, nor is it…
By Michael McWhertor Published August 20, 2009 -
DJ Hero Hands-On: Bring That Beat Back
I’ll admit to having a bit of DJ Hero phobia, at least prior to my hands-on time with Activision and FreeStyleGames’ turntable title. Guitar Hero and Rock Band I get, having played the drums and guitar. But doing the wicky-wicky? It didn’t help that the note highway on DJ Hero’s interface isn’t as easily deciphered…
By Michael McWhertor Published August 20, 2009 -
Majin: The Fallen Realm, A Beauty Of A Stealth Action Beast
Folklore and Genji developers Game Republic have signed on with Namco Bandai for two games, the already revealed Clash of the Titans and an all-new game, currently known as Majin: The Fallen Realm. That original adventure game is bound for the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 in 2010, a cooperative adventure featuring a young thief…
By Michael McWhertor Published August 20, 2009 -
Heavenly Sword Devs Ninja Theory Sign On With Namco Bandai
The developers of Heavenly Sword have a new Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 game in the works, one that new publisher Namco Bandai wouldn’t name at today’s Gamescom press conference. But Ninja Theory and Namco Bandai have contractually “shaken hands.” Namco Bandai execs also failed to provide any further details, unfortunately, only going as far…
By Michael McWhertor Published August 19, 2009 -
Kojima’s Castlevania: Lords of Shadow Whips Out New Screens
Hideo Kojima’s giving the Castlevania series a shot in the arm, courtesy of developer MercurySteam. The Kojima Productions head and Konami producer David Cox showed a new extended trailer of the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 game today at Gamescom. But we have something… better? Screen shots!! Yes, fresh Gamescom-exclusive stills of Castlevania: Lords of…
By Michael McWhertor Published August 19, 2009 -
Namco Bandai Gamescom Liveblog
Publisher Namco Bandai is planning to drop “world exclusive announcements” on its upcoming lineup at Gamescom in Cologne. We’re covering it live, to see if Namco Bandai brought thrilling news to Gamescom or if someone in PR just got overexcited. Check out the liveblog after this to see what Namco Bandai is up to at…
By Michael McWhertor Published August 19, 2009 -
Diablo III Impressions: Hands On With The Barbarian
We just played Diablo III. For fifteen painfully brief minutes, our lady Barbarian tore through hordes of Fallen, clicking them back to the Hell they came from. It was good. The Gamescom (and Blizzcon) demo of Diablo III playable at Blizzard’s booth features the three announced classes: Wizard, Barbarian and Witchdoctor, with male and female…
By Michael McWhertor Published August 19, 2009 -
Dante’s Inferno Dated For February 2010
Electronic Arts announced at its Gamescom press conference the final date for its action adventure Dante’s Inferno, the God of War-like game based ever so loosely on Dante Alighieri’s Divine Comedy. Dante’s Inferno now has a hard date of February 12, 2010 in Europe, and a date of February 9, 2010 in the United States,…
By Michael McWhertor Published August 18, 2009 -
Kmart.com: “New Low Price, New Exciting PlayStation 3” [Update]
Retailer Kmart’s online presence ran an advertisement online earlier today, promoting a “new low price and a new exciting Playstation 3,” a promotional image that now seems to have been pulled, but is still accessible online. The banner even goes far enough to touch on the rumors of an impending PlayStation 3 price drop and…
By Michael McWhertor Published August 18, 2009 -
Why Does The EyePet Box Art Look Different From Other PS3 Games?
The box art for Sony Computer Entertainment Europe’s EyePet recently made its way out to retailers—like Amazon.co.uk—a new branding treatment for PlayStation 3 games that downplays the console’s previous branding. In particular, the “PlayStation 3” portion. While we’re not clear that EyePet’s box art is final, the assets that Amazon UK has features a slightly…
By Michael McWhertor Published August 17, 2009 -
Kotaku Gets To Gamescom, GDC Europe
We’ve touched down in Cologne, already set foot in the Kolnmesse and had a brief taste of GDC Europe. But tomorrow is when the action starts, as Gamescom kicks off in its new location. We’ll miss you Leipzig! Tomorrow, expect big announcements from Electronic Arts and Sony Computer Entertainment Europe. Both companies will be holding…
By Michael McWhertor Published August 17, 2009 -
Reviews
Shadow Complex Review: Genre Upgrade
Chair Entertainment’s Shadow Complex is a rare entry in the genre trail-blazed by Nintendo’s Metroid, the side-scrolling action-adventure-explore formula later successfully aped by Castlevania: Symphony of the Night. In Shadow Complex, our hero is Jason Fleming, a hiker who starts ill-equipped on his girlfriend-saving quest with little more than a flashlight and a fancy belt…
By Michael McWhertor Published August 17, 2009 -
First StarCraft II Single Player Campaign Hands-On (With Spoilers)
We’ve played one-third of one-third of StarCraft II’s single-player campaign recently. Blizzard gave us a full day with the most recent playable build of the game, a seven-mission long journey through the Terran’s Wings of Liberty portion of the trilogy. We took notes. Lots of notes. And in this post, the full no facts-barred details…
By Michael McWhertor Published August 17, 2009 -
First StarCraft II Single Player Campaign Hands-On (Now Spoiler-Free!)
Blizzard offered a day-long hands-on demo of StarCraft II: Wings of Liberty, the first chapter in the StarCraft II trilogy. We played about a third of the game and we’d like to tell you about it—minus the spoilers. While there wasn’t much in the way of massive story revelations in what we played—we were just…
By Michael McWhertor Published August 17, 2009 -
StarCraft II: The Unit Upgrades That Make Single-player Shine
While StarCraft II multiplayer may be the long-term draw of Blizzard’s highly anticipated real-time strategy sequel, the game’s single-player campaign is also packed with depth and replayability. That’s due, in part, to the game’s technology upgrade system. StarCraft II: Wings of Liberty’s campaign mode features units and buildings that players won’t be able to use…
By Michael McWhertor Published August 17, 2009 -
‘Inglourious Plummers’ Spoof Is Basterdly Good
Okay, so that heavily mustachioed Toadsworth is no Brad Pitt, but this spoof of Quentin Tarantino’s Inglourious Basterds set in the Mushroom Kingdom compensates in charm. It’s rock solid use of Wario and game footage doesn’t hurt. Don’t hit that pause button until you make it to the very end of GamerVision‘s Inglourious Plummers. It…
By Michael McWhertor Published August 14, 2009 -
Sega Putting Chromehounds Servers To Sleep
Xbox 360 mech sim Chromehounds is about to have its online component put to sleep. Sega will be taking the game’s multiplayer portion behind the barn, hopefully ending its life with the first shot. The Chromehounds community, dozens strong, was informed of the news last week: Sega will be pulling the plug on January 6,…
By Michael McWhertor Published August 14, 2009 -
Tecmo Adding Ninja Gaiden, Rygar To Virtual Console Arcade
New ESRB ratings indicate that Tecmo is planning to inject some life into the incredibly dull Wii Virtual Console Arcade lineup, with new ratings for Ninja Gaiden, Solomon’s Key and Rygar. Those three Tecmo arcade games all spawned NES ports, with Ninja Gaiden remarkably different from its arcade predecessor. While we haven’t seen an announcement…
By Michael McWhertor Published August 14, 2009 -
DSi Reclaims #1 Spot In Japan, Hi-Def Console Sales Still Low
Last week’s strong showing by the Wii doesn’t repeat this week, as the Nintendo DSi rightfully reclaims its seat at the top of the Japanese hardware sales chart. Things quickly get ugly in the bottom half. While the DSi, Wii and PSP continue to sell strongly week in and week out, the PlayStation 3 and…
By Michael McWhertor Published August 14, 2009
Michael McWhertor
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