Michael McWhertor

Team Fortress 2 Descends Into Medieval Madness For Holidays

Valve celebrates Australian Christmas the way our antipodean friends have done for hundreds of years—by releasing a new Team Fortress 2 update. This one’s stuffed with 20 hats, new store items and the olde weapons-only “Medieval Mode.” To play Medieval Mode, a mostly melee affair, you’ll probably want to head to DeGroot Keep, a capture…

Your Knights Contract Is Up In February

Fans of the hack and slash action game genre have Knights Contract to look forward to early next year, the medieval magic and melee adventure from Namco Bandai. You’ll get it on February 22, 2011 in North America. For those of you who may be wondering “Knights Contract?” this is the bloody action that pits…

Knights Contract Gallery

Fez Returns With Fez Begins

Polytron’s Fez, an Xbox Live Arcade game we were really hoping to play in early 2010, is now due during the new year. A new trailer for Phil Fish‘s perspective-bending platformer gets us up to speed on Gomez’s journey. The new trailer for indie game Fez credits Canabalt creator Adam Salzman and Scott Pilgrim vs.…

Demon’s Souls Will Stay Online Through October 2011

The brilliant Demon’s Souls for the PlayStation 3 will keep its unique online experience intact for at least the next ten months in North America, publisher Atlus said today, extending the life of From Software’s deviously hard role-playing game. Atlus USA has extended Demon’s Souls’ online service beyond the previously announced March 2011 (potential) cut…

What Are You Playing This Weekend?

What am I not playing this weekend might be a better question. Why? Because on the agenda this weekend are NBA 2K11, Mass Effect 2, echochrome ii, Super Mario Bros. All-Stars and many more. As we wrap up the year and try to catch up on last minute video game reviews, while also finding the…

EA’s Gay And Lesbian Employees Say “It Gets Better”

Barack Obama did it. Google did it. Pixar did it. Now, game publisher Electronic Arts is doing its part for the It Gets Better Project, the anti-bullying campaign designed to offer hope for gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender teens. The project, started by columnist and author Dan Savage, is in part a response to the…

See Uncharted 3 Played Without The Help Of Jimmy Fallon

Want to see how Uncharted 3: Drake’s Deception was meant to be played, in the hands of skilled Nathan Drake experts Naughty Dog? Here’s uninterrupted footage of the next Uncharted game for PlayStation 3 in all its fiery glory. Watch a French chateau burn to a crisp with Naughty Dog’s new fire rendering technology while…

How Uncharted 3 Will Improve Upon A ‘Game Of The Year’

How does Naughty Dog one-up its game of the year award-winning Uncharted 2: Among Thieves? By creating a bigger, bolder, more human adventure for Nathan Drake (and fixing the problems maybe we didn’t think of as problems to begin with). Uncharted 3: Drake’s Deception, officially unveiled last week at the Spike TV Video Game Awards…

Home Remedies

Hey, Kotaku. You wanna have an open thread? Might want to grab some Purell before coming into this one. It’s got sneeze all over it. It’s been one of those days, particular the type where I’m a little bit sick and tired (of being sick and tired). The only cure? Something spicy, something greasy for…

A New Look At The Cartoon Contra, Hard Corps: Uprising

Konami and Arc System Works are still plugging away at the anime-styled spin on Contra, Hard Corps: Uprising, which is due sometime this winter. To make the wait easier, an all-new look at the downloadable shoot ’em up is here. Peruse!

PlayStation App For iPhone, Android Might Not Be What You’re Expecting

Sony will be releasing an official PlayStation app for the iPhone, iPod touch and Android based handsets, an application that’s not meant to turn your handset into a PlayStation Phone. The official PlayStation app is coming to parts of Europe—UK, France, Germany, Spain, Italy, and The Netherlands—soon. Don’t expect much beyond the opportunity to read…

Frankenreview: Tron Legacy

It’s been 28 years since the last Tron film, enough time for movie reviewers to build up a healthy amount of indifference to its sequel, Tron Legacy. But some movie buffs enjoyed portions of the newest Tron. Let’s find out who! The general consensus on Tron Legacy, opening this week, is that the Joseph Kosinski-directed…

Yoshi… Gear?!?

Amazing Custom Yoshi Mech designed by Donald Kennedy! Check out the entire set of photos to really appreciate this custom work of art. Related Rampage: Custom Anatomy of Megaman Custom Yoshi Mech by Donald Kennedy / kodykoala (Flickr) (Twitter) Need your daily fill of geek eye candy? If so, head over to Justin Page’s Rampaged…

Max Payne 3? It’s Still On

Rockstar Games’ delayed Max Payne 3 was curiously absent from publisher Take-Two’s 2011-2012 release schedule today, but reps assure Kotaku “We’re still working hard on Max, and we’ll have more news in the coming months.”

Get A Longer, “Director’s Cut” Look At Resistance 3

This past weekend’s Spike TV VGAs offered a first-look glimpse at Resistance 3 gameplay. Today, a new, longer “director’s cut” version of that trailer gives us more insight into the PlayStation 3 exclusive. Insomniac Games’ James Stevenson writes on the official PlayStation blog that this version “features a lot of the extra live-action that Prologue…

Get Your Fill Of Shogun 2: Total War

Sega and the Creative Assembly’s sharp-looking Shogun 2: Total War—or Total War: Shogun 2, depending on who you ask—will get a limited edition release next year, but today it gets a beefy video preview of deep tactical gameplay. When you’re done watching 16 minutes’ worth of Shogun 2 gameplay, you might want to put in…

Jazz Jackrabbit Returns (Sort Of) With iPhone Game Demo

Gears of War designer Cliff Bleszinski once made video games about green rabbits fighting turtles, a series known as Jazz Jackrabbit. Epic Games’ former mascot returns after a long hiatus, only this time as a proof-of-concept twin-stick shooter. The latest version of Epic’s Unreal Engine development kit has been released, adding support for iOS devices—recently…

On Me In Three, Two…

Hola amigos, I know it’s been a long time since I rapped at ya, but things have been pretty crazy at Kotaku Towers West (South). So why don’t we catch up with an off-topic thread? Cool? Is everyone caught up on their Christmas shopping or whatever excuse it is you’ll use to give gifts next…

Back To The Future Sets Coordinates For Dec. 22

Telltale Games’ episodic video game take on Back to the Future fires up the Mr. Fusion on December 22 on PC and Mac. Buy it from Telltale Games and get a special DVD when the first season wraps up. [Telltale Blog]