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Check Out the Greatest Misses of Cabela’s Big Game Hunter 2012
This reminds me of the old Foster’s spots where Paul Hogan would mention the fact American beer ads can’t show anyone drinking beer. Similarly, Cabela’s Big Game Hunter 2012 can’t show any big game getting shot. Marketing staff don’t care, marketing staff will show you shooting and missing. It gives just as good a look…
By Owen Good -
Is MMO Loot a ‘Jackpot’ Under the Law?
Video games regulators in South Korea say MMO publishers there have obstructed an investigation into “jackpot items,” predicated on the idea that players risking in-game currency for random-item payoffs is in fact a form of gambling. While publishers have cooperated so far as to provide the virtual items’ names and virtual costs involved, they haven’t…
By Owen Good -
Sniper Voice Actor’s Book Picks Up Plugs from Team Fortress 2 “Reviewers”
You may not be familiar with the name “John Patrick Lowrie.” You probably are familiar with the name “Sniper,” whom Lowrie voices in Team Fortress 2. He’s just published the novel Dancing With Eternity and, well, his friends are giving it some kind reviews on Amazon. Heavy gave it five of five stars: Even if…
By Owen Good -
Proposed City Law Would Require Mugshot When You Sell Used Games
In Oregon, when I trade my games in, I’m required to certify there is no lien against them, like the IRS wants my copy of NCAA Football 11. It’s one of the many fun-filled ways in which local ordinances regulate the sale of used games. Madison, Wisc., is scheming up another. A proposed ordinance would…
By Owen Good -
Holding Madden for Later Release Date a Winning Move, Says EA Sports
Traditionally releasing the first or second Tuesday of August, Madden NFL 12 this year moved to the end of the month, Aug. 30. EA Sports insisted the schedule change was not because of this year’s NFL lockout, but because it provided a more natural alignment of the game’s launch to the league’s opening week in…
By Owen Good -
Metacritic Bans Review Bombers
Metacritic doesn’t just aggregate the arbitrary scores that professional reviewers assign to subjective works such as video games. It aggregates the arbitrary scores anyone can apply to subjective works such as video games. This has all sorts of fun applications, such as abuse. So, recently Metacritic banned a bunch of spam accounts set up to…
By Owen Good -
Amazon Unloading Wiis with Best Deal Yet
• Nintendo Wii console bundle (black or white) with Mario Kart and Wheel, and $20 Amazon Credit is $134.96, free ship from Amazon. Previous best deals were $150 with a $30 bonus at the end of July, and $130, no bonus at the end of August. [Dealzon]
By Owen Good -
A Reimagined Pong to Drive You Up a Wall
The title of this feature, ‘Gaming App of the Day,” may be a little misleading. It’s intended to be an honor about as much as Time’s “Person of the Year” is, and remember, that thing went to Hitler in 1938. As we can’t tell you if a game’s good until we’ve played it, we’re primarily…
By Owen Good -
Gotham City Impostors Carries a ‘Sensual’ Voice Option
Gotham City Impostors, the unusual first-person shooter that’s not about Batman, earned a T rating from the ESRB, which itself isn’t surprising. But the certificate included this weird tidbit: The game includes a “sensual” voice option. Along with cleavy outfits and underthings for the female characters, “a “sensual” voice option is also available in the…
By Owen Good -
Facebook Game Studio Formed by EA Sports Defectors Readies First Release
Rowshambow, the studio formed by the former studio general manager over EA Sports’ Madden and Tiger Woods franchises, is nearing its first release, less than six months after it opened. Woodland Heroes, built by a team with at least a dozen alumni of EA’s Tiburon studio, will soon launch on Facebook. Philip Holt, Rowshambow’s president…
By Owen Good -
NHL 12 Goes Five-Hole on a … Defenseman
Let’s just say if you’re going into the corner with Winnipeg’s Nik Antropov hot on your tail, be prepared to pay the price. You can contact Owen Good, the author of this post, at [email protected]. You can also find him on Twitter, Facebook, and lurking around our #tips page.
By Owen Good -
Zen Pinball 3D Coming to 3DS via Nintendo eShop This Fall
The makers of the popular Zen Pinball series on PlayStation Network and the Pinball FX 2 series on Xbox Live Arcade will bring the silver ball to the 3DS with Zen Pinball 3D, a downloadable title releasing this fall on the Nintendo eShop. Zen’s news release mentioned four original tables will be available at launch—Earth…
By Owen Good -
The Golden Potato
Gabe and the Golden Potato | Valve boss Gabe Newell autographed this golden potato (both his signature and “Spaaaaaaaaace!” above it) for Kotaku reader Rodger A., who won a virtual golden potato during the Portal 2 ARG release event. As he already had all the games in the Valve Complete Pack awarded to Golden Potato…
By Owen Good -
Super Pixel Bros. is a Playable Super Mario Bros., in Only 64 Pixels
This is Super Mario Bros. reduced to a 64-pixel version (sorta). Modder Brad Slattery made this handheld 8 by 8 LED board which displays a playable Super Mario Bros., if you use a lot of imagination, of course. Mario is just a single yellow blip. Just as impressive, Slattery wrote a level editor that converts…
By Owen Good -
Culture
Gears Up
The conclusion to Epic Games’ Gears of War trilogy arrives only on Xbox 360 this weel, joined by the HD remake of Resident Evil 4, another DLC extension for Fallout: New Vegas, the Rezurrection map pack for Call of Duty players on PS3 and PC, and the controversial fighter Supremacy MMA Monday • Dragon Quest…
By Owen Good -
Former Mega Man Producer Says He Offered to Finish Mega Man Legends 3 Under Contract but Capcom Said No Thanks
Keiji Inafune split from Capcom about a year ago, clearly burned out—at one point he said he “hated” his job. However, he still was committed to finishing the 3DS game Mega Man Legends 3, whose cancellation set off a firestorm of anger this summer. Inafune threw more gasoline on the blaze when he suggested that…
By Owen Good -
Come Out to Play …
Each week throws off several new video game lists ranging from the humorous to the trivial. What’s better? A list of those. Here’s a roundup of the rundowns out there. •The Top Ten Gangs in Video Game History [Joystick Division] JD plumbs the lineups of some of the most well known crime-genre games to compile…
By Owen Good -
There Will Be No Prestige Edition of Modern Warfare 3
In late August, details leaked about a Modern Warfare 3 “Hardened” special edition, but none for a “Prestige,” a more deluxe package that notoriously included night-vision goggles for Modern Warfare 2 in 2009. There are no details yet on a Prestige edition because there will be no Prestige edition for Modern Warfare 3 Infinity Ward’s…
By Owen Good -
Go Pick Up The Gunstringer‘s Soundtrack for Free
If you’re a fan of video game soundtracks, you can pick up a hefty 27-track compilation for free right now from The Gunstringer. Twisted Pixel just made it available on the game’s official page. Head over there, click on “Downloads” atop the page and you’ll see it. It’s about a 70MB .zip offering you more…
By Owen Good -
Extras and Add-Ons
The 3DS’ second slide pad got its big hands-on reveal at Tokyo Games Show this past week, and now we’re going to give the concept the respectful treatment and consideration it deserves. But this week’s ‘Shop Contest may not be exactly what you think it is. Because so few exploitable images of the 3DS slide…
By Owen Good