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BioShock: Breaking The Mold Art Book Gets Reduxed, Deluxed
2K Games was charitable enough to issue a free-to-download art book for the original BioShock, a 60-page behind-the-scenes peek at the making of the game. Now it’s back for more. The BioShock developer is reissuing the BioShock: Breaking The Mold book with a Developer’s Edition version, now a 174-page softcover book that features “new art,…
By Michael McWhertor Published March 17, 2009 -
Wii Rock Band 2 Update Funks Out With The Who
Wii owners will get the funk out with their copies of Rock Band 2, as Harmonix issues last week’s library update to Nintendo fans. That means a funky, eclectic mix of new Rock Band downloadables. The latest batch of DLC, which features singles from James Brown, Earth Wind & Fire, and Average White Band, joins…
By Michael McWhertor Published March 17, 2009 -
Wheel Of Fortune Spins On PlayStation Network Thursday
Sony will let wordsmiths buy not just one vowel, but seven six, as Wheel of Fortune arrives on the North American PlayStation Store this Thursday. With 9,000 puzzles and 11 cities to play in, the lack of a digital Vanna White will be less painfully felt. Not sure about that $14.99 price tag, though. That’s…
By Michael McWhertor Published March 17, 2009 -
Reviews
Grand Theft Auto: Chinatown Wars Review: Huang In A Million
Rockstar Games brings murder, mayhem, and a miniature Liberty City to the Nintendo DS with Grand Theft Auto: Chinatown Wars, the developer’s first outing on the mega-hit dual-screen portable platform. In Chinatown Wars, Liberty City welcomes Huang Lee, the spoiled rotten son of a Chinese Triad crime syndicate leader. Lee journeys to the city to…
By Michael McWhertor Published March 17, 2009 -
Club Nintendo Members Get Early Look At Nintendo DSi
Club Nintendo membership has its privileges, as Nintendo is offering members in good, Platinum-level standing a sneak peek at the new Nintendo DSi before the unwashed masses get a chance to smudge it. In other words: check your e-mail, registered Club Nintendo members! We’ve heard of events at GameStops ’round the country, some of which…
By Michael McWhertor Published March 16, 2009 -
Army of Two: The 40th Day: Whatta Drag
Oh, don’t get me wrong. EA Montreal‘s Army of Two sequel looks like a blast. It’s very pretty. Textured just the way we like it. It’s just the name — Army of Two: The 40th Day. See, when we learned that the game was going to carry the secondary title with the acronym “TFD,” well,…
By Michael McWhertor Published March 16, 2009 -
Irem Does Its Best To Sex Up Spelunker
Minna de Spelunker is coming to the PlayStation 3 in Japan. How does one generate interest in a high-def Spelunker remake? Put women in short outfits! Short Spelunker outfits! It’s a pretty easy formula, one that publisher Irem capitalized upon when opening up the “Spelunker Lounge” this past week to Spelunker-crazed Japanese journalists. Simply take…
By Michael McWhertor Published March 16, 2009 -
Scorned Splatterhouse Dev Thinks Maybe It’s Namco Who’s Inept
Ex-Splatterhouse developers BottleRocket Entertainment aren’t taking accusations of poor performance lying down. The independent studio has issued a strong response to Namco Bandai‘s claim that a “performance issue” led to the project being pulled. While Namco Bandai Games chief operating officer Makoto Iwai put blame on the Splatterhouse developer, BottleRocket defends its development on the…
By Michael McWhertor Published March 16, 2009 -
The King Of Fighters XII Gets New Fighters, Smoother Graphics For Consoles
When The King of Fighters XII comes to the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 this July, it will come with some swell, console-exclusive bonuses, including a new graphics mode and an expanded roster. New shots of the game in action were released today, showing off an optional anti-aliasing graphical style, one that makes SNK Playmore…
By Michael McWhertor Published March 16, 2009 -
Fight Night Round 4 Is Shiny, Sweaty
What does Fight Night Round 4 get right? Well, we’re not sure how faithful the recreation of Muhammed Ali and Mike Tyson’s fighting styles are, but it nails the shine of sweat and satin. EA Sports‘ newest trailer for the now-gen boxing game plays up the Ali versus Tyson match up, touting “actual gameplay footage”…
By Michael McWhertor Published March 16, 2009 -
Layoffs: The Video Game Is Depressing Fun
If you’re suffering the consequences of the current economic shitstorm, you’ll have plenty of time to play Layoff, an examination of the current financial scandal cleverly disguised as a Bejeweled-like casual game. It’s not only educational and entertaining, it’s also depressing. Edutainment meets pain. That makes it “edutainful.” Layoff was developed by Tiltfactor Lab and…
By Michael McWhertor Published March 16, 2009 -
Rumor: You Got “The Touch” In Guitar Hero
What Stan Bush wants, Stan Bush gets. His motivational power jam "The Touch," featured so prominently in the animated Transformers: The Movie, is coming to Guitar Hero, according to the man behind the song. Wait… it gets even better. Mr. Bush writes to Transformers fan resource Seibertron.com to let music enthusiasts know that Activision has…
By Michael McWhertor Published March 16, 2009 -
Rockstar Delivers With Custom GTA: Chinatown Wars Styli
Grand Theft Auto: Chinatown Wars for the Nintendo DS arrived this weekend at Kotaku Towers West in a swag-filled box, including a pair of brilliant DS styli that make playing the game much harder. Actually, playing Chinatown Wars is challenging enough with the stock stylus. I opted to get smudgy, using nimble finger pokes to…
By Michael McWhertor Published March 16, 2009 -
Alpha Protocol Brings On The Job Training To The Spy Game
If you caught this weekend’s GameTrailers TV, you’re probably well-schooled in Sega and Obsidian Entertainment‘s Alpha Protocol, the "first modern-day spy role-playing game." If not here’s two minutes worth of introduction. Making RPG-style character progression work in a realistic setting—more realistic than, say, Mass Effect or Final Fantasy, for example—always seems like a challenging thing…
By Michael McWhertor Published March 16, 2009 -
Solid Snake Gets Squared By Michael Lau
Seminal urban vinyl toy designer Michael Lau riffs on Hideo Kojima’s Solid Snake with his upcoming collection of Gardener figures, planned for a release later this month at the CS Booth 16 event in Hong Kong. Lau’s Snake Square nods not so subtly to the Snake of Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater, packing geometric…
By Michael McWhertor Published March 16, 2009 -
Secret Agent Clank Also Getting The PSP To PS2 Treatment?
Looks like Sony will be bringing former PSP exclusive Secret Agent Clank to the PlayStation 2, one those 70 games coming to the last-gen PlayStation, according to a new listing from GameFly. Ratchet & Clank fans may remember the previous PSP outing, Ratchet & Clank: Size Matters also went from the PlayStation Portable to the…
By Michael McWhertor Published March 13, 2009 -
Nike’s Nintendo Shoe Blitz Continues With Wii Blazers
The checklist of Nintendo-themed Nike brand sneakers gets a 1-UP today, with the first peek at another Wii-inspired shoe, this time of the Nike Blazer variety. WeeklyDrop tipped us off to the new shoe, due this Summer, which joins the Wii inspired Nike Air Force 2 High—complete with Wii Remote condom details—and the Nike Air…
By Michael McWhertor Published March 13, 2009 -
Even In-Game Advertising Is Hurting, IGA May Be Up For Sale
IGA, one of the companies that serves up dynamic in-game ads for games like Burnout Paradise, is feeling the advertising pinch, reeling from a recession that has spawned mass layoffs and closures. VentureBeat reports today that the in-game advertising group—not to be confused with Castlevania developer Koji “IGA” Igarashi—is in the process of securing funding,…
By Michael McWhertor Published March 13, 2009 -
LittleBigPlanet Team’s New Project Is “Really F*cking Cool”
The creators of LittleBigPlanet and the highly marketable Sackboy aren’t resting on their laurels, ready to churn out Sackboy Kart Racing as their next project. Media Molecule co-founder Alex Evans has even begun teasing. He tells Gamasutra in a recent interview that there’s already a secret LittleBigPlanet project underway, one that capitalizes on what he…
By Michael McWhertor Published March 13, 2009 -
The Rock Deems Doom Movie A Failure
Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson, like everyone else, says that the 2005 Doom movie adaptation was an example of “trying and failing” at making the jump from video game to movie. Yes, he went there! Strong words coming from the star of Race To Witch Mountain. Johnson tells MTV News’ giggly Josh Horowitz that the “writing…
By Michael McWhertor Published March 13, 2009
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