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Weekend Talk Amongst Yourselves
In quite a rarity, we have the first TAYpic of the month for Weekend Talk Amongst Yourselves. In not so much of a rarity, the featured artist is Pan_1da7, so give him another round of applause as you converse about all things video games. There’s much to gab about in Kotaku’s official open thread as…
By Owen Good -
Culture
Sunday Comics: Quit Staring at My Chest
Welcome to your Sunday read of the week’s best in web comics. Make sure to click on the expand button in the bottom right to enlarge each comic. Brawl In The Family by Matthew Taranto published June 1.—Read more of Brawl In The Family Awkward Zombie by Katie Tiedrich published May 28.—Read more of Awkward…
By Owen Good -
The Hitman 500: Winners
Joey Logano’s outstanding Hitman-themed racing suit at last week’s NASCAR race was the inspiration for the latest round of wackiness in the Kotaku ‘Shop Contest. We got a real good contest that runs real good with a super crew and just want to thank everyone on the Gawker Media llc Kotaku #99 web site today,…
By Owen Good -
Is This Call of Duty: Black Knights? No, it’s War of the Roses, the Multiplayer Bludgeon-er
Back at PAX East, Stephen Totilo spent some time with War of the Roses by Fatshark, a studio that unapologetically credits Call of Duty and Battlefield as inspirations in this ultra-throwback to combat shoot—uh, stabbers? The game just released its E3 trailer and it showcases a very Hobbesian view of life in this game: nasty,…
By Owen Good -
First Look at NBA Live 13 Shows a Game Making Great Passes—Even the Bad Ones
Amaré Stoudemire stands 6-foot-10. At that height, little lob-in passes are what the Knicks power forward receives, not what he throws. But he’s a little out of position, with Carmelo Anthony set up on the right block in front of Miami’s Udonis Haslem, asking for the ball. So here goes, because, it’s not like Stoudemire’s…
By Owen Good -
Ask the E3 Trailer for Hybrid Anything
Owen Good asked, “What the heck are you all about, Hybrid?” It’s a futuristic third-person shooter being developed by 5th Cell, which you may know for its Scribblenauts games on the Nintendo DS. I’m not like that at all; I’ll be their first offering for the Xbox 360 and will be available over Xbox Live…
By Owen Good -
Did Nintendo Plan to Call the DS the “City Boy”?
People scratched their heads at “Wii” but ultimately everyone accepted it. Not many are really warming up to “Wii U” but I suspect as some point that’ll be spoken like it was always a part of the language, too. There is no way I could see myself referring to anything I own, however, as a…
By Owen Good -
The Next Tales is Indeed Tales of Xillia 2
Widely expected, Tales of Xillia 2 was indeed confirmed as the name of the series’ next sequel at the Tales of Festival in Japan today. The word comes from producer Hideo Baba himself. That trailer introduces the new world of Tales of Xillia 2, which does reflect a departure from the sword-and-sorcery motifs of previous…
By Owen Good -
Did Curt Schilling Try to Save 38 Studios with 3,000 Gold Pieces?
The Boston Globe yesterday reported something rather fitting about 38 Studios, the defunct maker of the RPG Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning. Curt Schilling, the studio’s founder, posted $5 million in actual gold coins to secure a loan to stabilize the company back in February. That’s right. One-ounce gold pieces—”some 200 pounds of South African Krugerrands,…
By Owen Good -
Hardware Wars
The Moneysaver is leading with deals on hardware this week because, well, there ain’t much in the way of software. That is par for the course in a week in which everyone in the industry and following it wants to talk about games we won’t be playing for another year or so. But we still…
By Owen Good -
The Lazy Security Patrolling Apple’s Shopping Mall
This past weekend, readers alerted us to an absolutely contemptible ripoff on the iTunes App Store. Someone had submitted a straight-up copy of the Canabalt flash game, called it Canabalt HD—which doesn’t exist on the iOS. Once again, some unscrupulous dick managed to slide Adam Saltsman’s game past Apple’s mall security. The fact it happened…
By Owen Good -
Backhanded Box Quotes: ‘A Bad Gears of Ghostduty‘
Welcome to “Backhanded Box Quotes,” a collection of super pissed-off user reviews from people just like you! Whoa, whoa, don’t take that personal. Tom Clancy’s Ghost Recon: Future Soldier Released: May 22 Critic: Error_317002 (Metacritic) • “Feels more like Gears of Duty: Future Ops.” Score: 4 Critic: tigger (Metacritic) • “I can best describe it…
By Owen Good -
The Week in Evil DLC
Downloadable content. Everyone hates it—but everyone buys it. We haven’t had a look in a long while at the extensions and pre-order bonuses designed to crowbar money from you or direct you to spend it at a retailer you wouldn’t otherwise. Can you still respect yourself if you go along with it? MLB 12 The…
By Owen Good -
Rambling, Shambling Zombie Carnaval Brings Horde Mode to the Endless Runner Genre
Zombie Carnaval seems to be a straightforward endless-runner. It’s got a zany soundtrack, outlandish transformations, and a peppy musical accompaniment, making it plainly inspired by the success formula of Jetpack Joyride. It’s only after I notice there are eight bug-eyed, green-skinned undead brethren trailing me that I see the game’s distinction, and get serious about…
By Owen Good -
Another Retirement Marks the Slow Sunset of Sports Video Games’ Greatest Roster
Today, the four-time Stanley Cup champion and seven-time Norris Trophy winner Nicklas Lidstrom retired. All of Lidstrom’s 1,564 games were played for a single team, the Detroit Red Wings, and all but one of his 20 seasons were spent on EA Sports’ NHL series, whose NHL ’94 is one of the greatest console sports video…
By Owen Good -
Even Heisman Winners Have Video Game Fantasies, and That’s NCAA Football 13‘s New Mode
Last year, as he was waiting to film a promotional spot for Nissan, Eddie George, Ohio State’s 1995 Heisman Trophy winner, chatted with Troy Smith, the Buckeyes’ 2006 Heisman winner. You know the NCAA Football video game? George said to Smith. I create myself in that, and then I put myself on SMU. Nissan and…
By Owen Good -
Culture
Memorial DLC
Slow action in North America as the United States takes a break for cookouts on Monday. Mass Effect, Prototype and Arkham City all have notable content drops. Resistance: Burning Skies arrives on PS Vita. Monday • The Binding of Isaac: The Wrath of the Lamb (PC) Tuesday • Mass Effect 3: Rebellion Pack (XBLA, PC)…
By Owen Good -
Madden 13 Swears It’s Not the Same Old Song—So It Had to Get a New One
No sports video game—no video game, I’d argue—is as harangued as Madden NFL. Read any forum thread, read the comments to any story, including this one, and the list of gamer demands for the upcoming release is quite long and quite detailed. “New music” doesn’t appear in any of it. Why, then, is Madden NFL…
By Owen Good
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