Michael McWhertor

Summer Breakin’

We’re just a week away from the start of summer, but I’m already feelin’ it. Are you? Have you mentally checked into the next season, Kotaku readers? Tonight’s open thread might be a good place to discuss your summer plans. Mine involve work, for the most part, and plenty of travel. I’ll be going to…

Report: Developers Working With ‘Underclocked’ Wii U Hardware

There’s a good reason that Nintendo showed off video game footage culled from the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 versions of third-party games, not the Wii U, at last week’s E3 unveiling of the console. According to a new report, Wii U games just weren’t looking so hot on current hardware. Not surprising, given that…

Kotaku Presents Retro Game Master, Japan’s Cult Hit Video Game Show, Airing Exclusively Right Here

Starting next week, Kotaku will begin streaming new episodes of Retro Game Master, the Japanese TV series that forces comedian Shinya Arino to play Japan’s most popular video games, largely from the 8-bit and 16-bit era, in marathon gaming sessions. Kotaku’s parent company, Gawker Media, has licensed the series, originally known as Game Center CX,…

There Were Two Things I Liked About Binary Domain, the Robot Shooter From the Yakuza Guys

Of the many, many violent shooters on hand at E3 2011, one of the few I chose to play was Sega’s Binary Domain. It is not as awe-inspiring as BioShock Infinite or Battlefield 3, but it did at least two things that made it memorable. If Binary Domain is not on your radar, that’s perfectly…

The Original Xbox Controller is Coming Back in an Extremely Limited Way, Only for ‘Halo Fest’

Halo studio 343 Industries is offering only the most authentic of Halo: Combat Evolved experiences at this year’s Halo Fest, letting players go hands on with the Anniversary remake of the Xbox original with its original controller, the beastly gamepad nicknamed the “Duke.” 343 Industries’ Frank O’Connor let slip on the NeoGAF forum that the…

EA Says It Was Valve Who ‘Expelled’ Crysis 2 from Steam

EA and Crytek’s Crysis 2 was available on Valve’s Steam service until this week. Now it’s available “only on Origin,” Electronic Arts’ new digital store (and a few others, actually). Despite the change and conjecture about the motivations behind it, EA says it was not behind the decision to pull Crysis 2 from Steam. Instead,…

What Are You Listening To?

Kotaku readers! How are you? Would you care to join us in tonight’s open thread of random chitchat and maybe even some video game conversation to end your day? This is the off topic thread in which to do it. So let’s do it! Since it’s Tuesday, we like to have a theme to these…

Maybe A Laugh Track and Tower Defense Are Just What Gears of War 3 Needed

Gears of War‘s developers certainly didn’t invent “Horde Mode.” But Epic Games, creator of Gears, is lucky in that every other game developer who copies their popular multiplayer mode gives the studio credit for it when showing off their own take on Horde. Gears of War 3 design director Cliff Bleszinski is the one that…

Crysis 2 Pulled From Steam, Now ‘Only On’ EA’s Origin

You may have missed your chance to purchase shooter Crysis 2 on anything but EA’s new Origin service, the re-branded EA Store that aims to go head-to-head with the likes of Valve’s Steam platform. Crysis 2 has been yanked from Steam, with EA saying it’s now available “only on Origin.” Well, sort of. While Steam…

Ninja Gaiden 3 Wonders ‘What Does It Feel Like To Kill A Man?’

I’ve never killed a man. Team Ninja leader Yosuke Hayashi says he’s never killed anyone either. Despite that inexperience, he is confident that his next game, Ninja Gaiden 3, accurately explores what it means to stick a Japanese sword into another man’s body and extinguish his life force. “For us, we’re Japanese developers, we know…

Ninja Gaiden 3 Screen Shots

Nintendo Locks Down Wii U Domains Full of Usual Suspects

Now that Nintendo has revealed the Wii U, it needs to snatch up a bunch of Wii U domain names, lest some squatter claim WiiUMusic.com (or worse). No surprises here, but they’ll perhaps lessen the shock of a Wii U Play or Wii U Sports in our future. [Nintendo World Report]

PlayStation Store Update: Tour Wonderland, Outland, and Midnight Club Los Angeles

The North American PlayStation Store update has arrived. We’re back in the swing of things, with new games, new add-ons for games you already own and things to buy cheaply with your PlayStation Plus account. Perhaps the most notable new entry is Outland, the Ikaruga and Metroid inspired platformer-adventure from developer Housemarque. It is not…

Three More Neat PlayStation Vita Tricks from the New Portable LittleBigPlanet

LittleBigPlanet for the PlayStation Vita does neat things with Sony’s new hardware, adding double touchscreen controls and gyroscopic tilt tricks to now familiar Sackboy jumping and swinging. But the Vita take on LBP is capable of more. Media Molecule showed us the non-traditional platforming things Sackboy and LittleBigPlanet game creators can do with the next…

EA Sports Is Opening Up Its Own Retail Stores

Publisher Electronic Arts is making a big move in the online retail space, revealing its new digital distribution effort and Steam competitor Origin earlier this month. But the company still believes in brick and mortar—enough to open up its own retail stores, one of which will launch later this year. Chris Erb, VP of brand…

Disney’s Making Another Video Game Movie, This Time with Some Simpsons and Futurama Talent

Somewhat thankfully, it is not another Super Mario Bros. movie. Instead, Disney’s upcoming Wreck-It Ralph is “the story of an arcade game Bad Guy determined to prove he can be a Good Guy.” Better still, it has some promising talent lined up. The 8-bit video game-inspired Wreck-It Ralph, a movie formerly known as Reboot Ralph,…

New Gears of War 3 Horde Mode 2.0 Screen Shots

Dangerously Close To On Topic

Hola, Kotaku readers! Thanks for joining us in tonight’s open thread. If you’re just joining us, that’s where we get together for a little chat, one that’s not solely video game related. Tonight’s might be though. I need to talk out my post-E3 2011 grief, guys. I’m in the stage of post-show regret, where I…

These Were the Most Thrilling Moments of Mass Effect 3‘s E3 2011 Presentation

If you like Mass Effect for its blockbuster bits—the explosions, the futuristic set pieces involving giant alien machines, the narrow escapes—this trailer is for you. It represents the Mass Effect 3 moments that might draw in the people who don’t play role-playing games. During my 30 minute long demonstration of Mass Effect 3 at E3…

This is the Disorienting, Possibly Exciting Gravity For Vita Being Played By Shaky Hands

One of the more original PlayStation Vita efforts is Gravity, a game from Sony’s Japanese developers, specifically some of the people behind the Siren horror games. It’s exciting, in that it’s not another PlayStation sequel and that it has stylish, comic book-like beauty. For a clearer look at Gravity‘s graphics, watch the official trailer. But…