Michael McWhertor

Rumor: Is Uncharted 3 Going To The Desert?

After exploring the South American jungles of Uncharted: Drake’s Fortune and the Himalayas in Uncharted 2: Among Thieves, where will half-tucked treasure hunter Nathan Drake find himself next? According to an informed source, Drake’s going to the desert. The same source that says an Uncharted 3 reveal is due on or around the Spike TV…

Salman Rushdie’s Simple Theory On Peace Through Nintendo

Booker Prize-winning author and famous fatwa target Salman Rushdie has a simple solution for how one should liberate Iran, the country whose former Supreme Leader once issued a death sentence against the novelist. Rushdie puts his faith in Nintendo. “I often think that the best way to liberate Iran is to just to drop Nintendo…

Infinity Blade Unsheathes For iPad, iPhone In December

Shadow Complex creator Chair Entertainment brings its Unreal Engine powered action game Infinity Blade (formerly “Project Sword”) to a finite number of iOS device on December 9th, bringing very pretty sword fighting games to iPads and iPods everywhere. Chair and Unreal maker Epic Games have dated and priced ($5.99 USD) the “action-RPG sword fighting adventure,”…

Infinity Blade Screens

The King Of Donkey Kong Country Returns References

Nintendo’s Donkey Kong Country Returns makes homage to on-again, off-again Donkey Kong high score champ Billy Mitchell, Steve Wiebe’s nemesis in the documentary The King of Kong. How so? See the patriotic neckwear worn by this giant monkey idol? Eagle-eyed NeoGAF member Lijik spotted the reference to hot sauce maker and Donkey Kong master Billy…

Cowboys & Aliens Director Says His Job Is Like Playing Red Dead Redemption All Day

Future summer blockbuster Cowboys & Aliens—based on the 2006 graphic novel of the same name—may draw some influence from another Western, Rockstar Games San Diego’s Red Dead Redemption. Director Jon Favreau—of Iron Man film directing fame—says that he and star Daniel Craig “kicked off” filming of next year’s sci-fi Western mash-up with a little Red…

A Gears of War That’s ‘Not What You’re Expecting’ Teased

Gears of War fans will want to tune into next month’s Spike TV Video Game Awards, when something new, something Gears of War related will be shown for the first time. Epic Games design director Cliff Bleszinski says the VGAs will be “showing off some new Gears of War gameplay,” while also guaranteeing the following:…

None More Black

Did you successfully manage to avoid being trampled today by the Black Friday shopping masses? Are you nowhere near the events of Black Friday madness? If you want to vent about these subjects or any other, this is the place. I’m limiting my Black Friday shopping to clothing. I really don’t need any more video…

The Smart Way To Launch An Xbox Live Game May Be To Keep It A Secret

You can play adorable, clever cooperative puzzle game ilomilo via Xbox Live Arcade right now, a small surprise of a video game launch that somebody’s trying to keep “secret.” Xbox 360 owners can now download the demo version of ilomilo via Xbox Live Marketplace, but only if they access a special site and receive a…

This Is The Monster Hunter Effect On The PSP In Japan

The power of red plastic on Wii sales in Japan is nothing compared to the promotional power of the Monster Hunter series. How else can we explain the PlayStation Portable more than doubling its sales this week overseas? The PSP sold another 96,000-plus units in Japan this week, the week before Monster Hunter Portable 3rd…

What Are You Playing This Weekend?

One might think that with an extended weekend and cheap video games abound that some of us at Kotaku Towers would be swimming in things to play. But this weekend, I’ve got but two things on the agenda. One is to help pack Meat Bun orders from our Black Friday sale—why do we always do…

Black Friday Deals Come To PlayStation Network & Xbox Live

If you’d (wisely) prefer to avoid the stampeding, budget-obsessed crowds sure to storm the Walmarts and Best Buys this Friday, why not stay home and get your video game savings digitally through Xbox Live and PlayStation Network? [More deals added] Sony and Microsoft are holding digital sales this week on a ton of games for…

Activision Teases ‘Murder Your Maker’ For Spike TV VGAs [Update]

December’s Spike TV Video Game Awards gets a little more murderous with the help of Activision. The Call of Duty and Guitar Hero publisher has launched a teaser site for Murder Your Maker, a… well, we don’t know what it is yet. But the Murder Your Maker teaser site sure smacks of a serial killer…

Review: Pac-Man Championship Edition DX Is A Spirited Thrill

Can venerable dot eater Pac-Man be modernized a second time? The spectacular light and sound show that was Pac-Man Championship Edition has been given a deluxe makeover, remixing the rules by which Pac-Man chows down on dots and runs from his ghost pursuers. Pac-Man Championship Edition DX, like its predecessor, is about eating your way…

Thank Conduit 2 For Giving Us New Media This Day

High Voltage Software’s Conduit 2 gets a chance to shine today with an all-new trailer and screen shots for Wii owners to feast upon. Get ready to set the mood, Conduit style. Sega’s next attempt at bringing an original first-person shooter to the Wii is due February 15, 2011. For our most recent impressions of…

Conduit 2 Screens

Call Of Duty: Black Ops Fever Comes To Japan

The bestselling game in Japan this past week was an American-made game, with Treyarch’s Call of Duty: Black Ops nabbing the first place spot on the country’s sales charts. Just how well did Black Ops do? The PlayStation 3 version came out on top, finding 129,000 Black Ops fans in Japan. The Xbox 360 version…

Competitive Eating For Amateurs

Who’s ready to gorge themselves on conversation? If you’ve got a buffet of things to say that aren’t just video game related, we’ve set the table in this post for all your open thread needs. Personally, I can’t wait to get my Thanksgiving dinner on, ingesting thousands upon thousands of calories worth of turkey, stuffing,…

We Might Have A New Black Ops Tomahawk Kill Champ

Cry foul all you want, Call of Duty: Black Ops tomahawk haters, but this particular axe to the knee deserves credit for its triple-banked, finely threaded toss. Lucky shot? Of course it is. But it’s still fun to watch.

LittleBigPlanet 2’s ‘Controlinator’ Makes Driving Bunnies & Camels So Easy

More controlerifous than LittleBigPlanet 2’s ‘Creatinator,’ with smoother handling than its ‘Grabinator,’ Sackboy’s newest tool—the ‘Controlinator’—makes piloting and steering anything in the PlayStation 3 sequel so much simpler. We doubt you’ll miss the roundabout ways you used to make things controllable in the original LittleBigPlanet after experiencing the wonders of the Controlinator, which as this…