Michael McWhertor

The Man Behind Ninja Gaiden, Dead or Alive and Devil’s Third Reveals His Favorite Retro Games

The creative force previously behind Tecmo’s Ninja Gaiden and Dead or Alive series, now on the upcoming Devil’s Third, Tomonobu Itagaki, says he has wanted to make games since he was a teenager. He just didn’t want to make video games. The man better known for his fast-paced, reflex-based action games told Kotaku in a…

Eyes-on With Sony’s New PlayStation 3D Display (Which Can Render Splitscreen Gaming Obsolete)

Sony is trying to make 3D gaming on its PlayStation 3 more affordable with its very own PlayStation branded, stereoscopic 3D monitor—comparatively cheap at just $500 USD for 24 inches of 3D gaming. Better still is the monitor’s ability to deliver full-screen gaming to two players at once. Sony’s “official 3D Display,” due this fall,…

See Sackboy’s New Touchscreen Tricks in LittleBigPlanet for PlayStation Vita

There’s a new LittleBigPlanet for Sony’s new PlayStation Vita. It’s a game that plays mostly like the LittleBigPlanets you’ve played before, but it may be the more fun version, the one with the best new touchscreen and tilt-based tricks. Media Molecule helped walk us through the LittleBigPlanet at E3 2011 last week, which you can…

Let Me Tell You How to Defeat an Armored Demon Warthog in Dark Souls

Playing Demon’s Souls spiritual sequel Dark Souls at E3 2011 left me with just as many questions as answers. How, exactly, does the beacon fire system work? What does it mean to be “hollowed”? And why won’t Namco Bandai answer those questions when asked about this punishing and complex role-playing game? I’ll tell you what…

Songs from the Big Chair

Kotaku readers! Let’s put this E3 2011 week to bed with some much-needed catching up on things that did not happen at the Los Angeles Convention Center. So… what happened this week outside that bubble? I need your help! E3 is something a news vacuum, so I’m barely aware that the Earth continued to spin…

The Latest Victim of the Account Hacking Horde is Epic Games

Gears of War and Unreal Engine developer Epic Games now has something in common with Sony and Codemasters—the company was recently the target of hackers who may have stolen its customers’ personal data. The intrusion into Epic’s web sites and forums appears to be on a much smaller scale than that of other recently hacked…

The Nintendo 3DS eShop Gets Its First 3D Movie Trailer

As promised, the newly opened Nintendo 3DS eShop is now offering downloadable 3D movie trailers. The first is no surprise—it’s DC Comics’ big budget Green Lantern flick. Thanks for the tip, Felipe!

E3 2011 Was On A Boat (Don’t You Ever Forget)

The hottest trend at E3 this year? It wasn’t shooters; it wasn’t connectivity; it wasn’t butt-sliding or trains or social network wrappers. It was boats. Did you notice? The people at FirstPlayUK did, selecting the boat-centric scenes from trailers for Uncharted 3: Drake’s Deception, Tomb Raider, Resistance 3, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3, Assassin’s…

Seeing How the Other Half Fights in Gears of War 3‘s Pulp Fiction-inspired Campaign

If you watched Microsoft’s E3 2011 press briefing for its Gears of War 3 demo—played by Epic Games’ Cliff Bleszinski and Ice T—you only saw half the story. At an E3 demo, we saw the other half of that Tarantino-inspired battle. That campaign encounter, “Abandon Ship,” pits two teams of COG soldiers against a Locust…

PS Vita to PS3 Connectivity Was Driven by Developers, Could Mean Wii U Style Experiences for Sony’s Console

Perhaps the most potentially compelling argument for owning a PlayStation Vita, Sony’s recently renamed NGP handheld, is how beautifully it can play with the PlayStation 3. Connectivity between Sony’s two consoles was driven by developers prototyping for the Vita, the company says, and may eventually lead to the system doing a fairly good impression of…

Three Things Devil’s Third Might Have: Dildo Melee, Hard Gay and Wii U Support

Tomonobu Itagaki, the man formerly behind Ninja Gaiden and Dead or Alive games, did not bring his latest creation, Devil’s Third, to E3 2011. He promises it will be at Tokyo Game Show, however, and wants to bring death by dildo to yet another THQ-published game. I only wrung a few Devil’s Third updates from…

What Are You Playing This Weekend?

In between writing about all the video games I played at E3 2011 this week, I’ll somehow find the time to play at least one more, Q Games’ Child of Eden, the spiritual sequel to one of my all-time favorites. I’ve tooled around with the game before at events, but I’m looking forward to sitting…

What Will A Middle-Aged Ivy Look Like In Soulcalibur V?

Well, first, we should get this out of the way: recurring Soulcalibur fighter Ivy will be in Soulcalibur V, producer Hisaharu Tago says, with the increasingly underdressed fan favorite to be revealed at some point soon. So I wondered “What will Ivy look like as a 49-year-old?” Since Soulcalibur V takes place 17 years after…

Ninja Gaiden 3 for Wii U Gets Dragon Sword-style Touchscreen Controls

Team Ninja is bringing super ninja Ryu Hayabusa to Nintendo’s new console, Wii U, with Ninja Gaiden 3: Razor’s Edge. Its the more unique version of Ninja Gaiden 3, thanks to the addition of (optional) touchscreen controls. Yosuke Hayashi, head of Team Ninja, tells Kotaku that the control scheme from Nintendo DS game Ninja Gaiden:…

‘Can Snake Eat Yoshi Meat in Metal Gear Solid 3D?’ and Other Questions Kojima Productions Didn’t Answer

We definitely know that Konami and Kojima Productions are bringing PlayStation 2 game Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater to the Nintendo 3DS. And we’re sure of a few other things about this stereoscopic 3D remake. But I’m not 100% sure about that Yoshi cameo. The dinosaur from Nintendo’s Super Mario World appeared in the…

Mass Effect 3‘s New Voice Commands Are Xbox 360-only and Here’s Why

Mass Effect 3 is getting Kinect support, letting you issue commands with your voice, letting you play the devil or angel on Shepard’s shoulder. If that sounds like a feature you want, note that voice command won’t be coming to the PlayStation 3 or PC versions of the game, BioWare says. While it might make…

The Lighter, More Elegant Soulcalibur V May be Taking New Cues from Street Fighter, Mortal Kombat

There’s a new entry in the long-running Soulcalibur series, Namco’s weapons-based fighter, a game that its creators say is a “lighter, faster, more elegant” battle of swords and souls. It’s also a game with “more dynamic” battles, one drawing some influence from Street Fighter IV and Mortal Kombat Soulcalibur V, says producer Hisaharu Toga, will…

New Soulcalibur V Screen Shots

LIVE At Nintendo’s E3 2011 Mystery Developer Q&A

As Nintendo is wont to do at E3, the company is holding a post-press conference question and answer session with Nintendo brass and developers. While these Q&A panels typically reveal all-new details, this one is shrouded in even more mystery. Nintendo will surely talk about the new Wii U, new Wii U games and who’s…

First Official Tech Details on Wii U and Its Bold New Controller

Nintendo’s new controller has been revealed, a touchscreen-based device that works with all-new, high-definition hardware. This is our first official look at Wii U. We’ve seen it in person, played with its unique control scheme. It is a combination of a more traditional interface—as previously reported, the new controller has two analog sticks, one d-pad,…