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Are You ‘Shop Enough
Most everyone has taken a swing at Time magazine’s blatantly desperate attempt to stay relevant for one more week. But there is a breed of satirist, known and feared for a cutting, cruel wit, that has yet to have its say: the video gamer. So here we go. If it’s good enough for Time’s cover,…
By Owen Good -
Weekend Talk Amongst Yourselves
Pan1da7’s adaptation of Bakery Ninja Kinect serves us breakfast in bed this Mother’s Day. I hope everyone here has called his or hers to wish her a happy day or, better yet, said so in person. Good morning and welcome to Weekend Talk Amongst Yourselves. Want a piece of the TAYpic action atop this six-day-a-week…
By Owen Good -
Culture
Sunday Comics: Simple Math
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. Nerf NOW!! by Josué Pereira published May 9.—Read more of Nerf NOW!! Awkward Zombie by Katie Tiedrich published May 7.—Read more of Awkward Zombie Penny Arcade by…
By Owen Good -
Suspects of the Old Republic: The Winners
The moving-violation misdaventures of a California man actually named Obiwan Kenobi formed the inspiration for our latest Kotaku ‘Shop Contest. You will never find a more wretched hive of scum and villainy than the 20 finalists inside, plus overall winner musica! Plenty of movie poster themes here. Toolsoldier (17) had the best of all of…
By Owen Good -
Is This Year the Last Hurrah for the Games Expo as We Know It?
I had lunch with a friend and colleague on Thursday, a guy who has been to every E3—and before that he was going to the Consumer Electronics Show when it was the gaming industry’s big expo. Absent some miracle hardware reveal, he thinks we could see the quietest and most depressing E3 ever this year.…
By Owen Good -
Games Industry Analyst Michael Pachter Estimates Gamers Outnumber Complainers 100 to 1 [Corrected]
I like Michael Pachter. I really do. I get Castleville requests from him all the time. Seriously, though, I do go to Pachter for comment occasionally in my sports columns, mostly because the deals cut in that genre are complex and often rely on a publisher partnering up with older businesses, and he understands those…
By Owen Good -
Pro Wrestling Talent Search Series Relocates to Games Design School
Here is an oddball news item, but it’s legit. WWE NXT, a kind of talent-search/reality show featuring wrestlers looking to become the circuit’s next new star, will now be taped at Full Sail University of Winter Park, Fla. Full Sail is recognizable to many video gamers as one of the main universities teaching game design…
By Owen Good -
Which Microsoft Creation is More Despised: Clippy? Or Games For Windows Live?
Maybe I’m the only one keeping score every time this is noted, but Max Payne 3 is the latest game to say fuck no, we’re not using Games For Windows Live. A tweet Wednesday from Rockstar, as noticed by PC Gamer, says it straight up. Being not a PC gamer or a Windows user, I…
By Owen Good -
Go ‘Behind the Wall’ on the Seven-Year Effort to Make a Game of Thrones Video Game
When Cyanide Studio began working with George R.R. Martin on adapting a role-playing game from his fantasy series, A Song of Ice and Fire, the Game of Thrones television series was “only a rumor.” That was seven years ago. Certainly, the fact Game of Thrones has become such a mainstream sensation helped speed things along.…
By Owen Good -
If You’ve Pre-Downloaded Diablo III in Europe, Read This to be Sure You Can Play the Game
A notice on Battle.Net’s European web site says that Blizzard recently became aware of an issue in the digital installation downloader for Diablo III‘s English and German versions. This affects European versions only, not North American. They’re asking that anyone who downloaded the game before Saturday (today) at 10 a.m. Central European time/9 a.m. GMT,…
By Owen Good -
Say It With Rage
If you’re still out of ideas for Mother’s Day, well, all we’ve got here are video games. Which, who knows, maybe your mom does want a game or two for her special day tomorrow. Not much in the way of new or upcoming releases, but there are some golden oldies and digital download deals among…
By Owen Good -
What Are You Playing This Weekend?
You have any idea how hard it is to get off a phone call discussing options to install a heat pump, or fire insurance discounts, or school district taxes, and then pick up Prototype 2 and pretend you’re still an adult? Sorry, I’m going through house-buying crap right now. That’s right, I’m gonna be a…
By Owen Good -
Backhanded Box Quotes: ‘A Steaming Pile of Mundanity’
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. This week’s review of measured disappointment and constructive criticism includes condemnation for a widely admired brand in independent games development, and sympathy for Hitler. Minecraft Xbox 350 Released: May 9 Critic: ChodeyMitchell…
By Owen Good -
There’s No Appealing to the Court of Public Opinion
If the folks behind Kane & Lynch 2 should be sued, they should be sued for something other than the “vicious vilifying” of the Chinese people. And they should be sued for a lot more than $1,585 dollars U.S. That figure would represent no more than 27 copies of the title sold at full retail…
By Owen Good -
If Biker Show Sons of Anarchy Gets a Video Game, It Won’t be ‘Some Slapcrap Browser Thing’
Back in February, word passed that Sons of Anarchy, the biker-gang television series broadcast on FX in the United States, was exploring a video-game deal. It quickly followed that the talks might concern something less than the full retail release hardcore video gamers expected. Like a bullshit free-to-play browser game that no one can respect.…
By Owen Good -
Atari Kills the Ignition on Test Drive‘s Studios
Eden Games, makers of the Test Drive series, staged a symbolic one-day walkout last year when Atari moved forward on plans to lay off more than half the studio. Now it’s moving toward washing its hands of all of it. Financial filings by Atari say the French maker of racing games is now considered a…
By Owen Good -
Like the Playoffs, the NHL Cover Vote Drags On
News and notes from around the world of sports video gaming: • Nearly every title at EA Sports is being put to a cover vote. We’ve had contests now for Tiger Woods PGA Tour, NFL Blitz, Madden and NCAA Football. We haven’t heard what NBA Live will be doing, but it’s a good bet whatever…
By Owen Good -
There’s a New Way to Pitch in NCAA Football
I’ve often felt that the recruiting simulation in NCAA Football could be a salesmanship trainer at some kind of corporate retreat. Unlike the free agency or trading periods in other sports video games, you’re not sending contract terms back and forth with the CPU. Money doesn’t talk here, you do. You have to understand a…
By Owen Good
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