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There’s Still a Market for NBA Elite 11
In sports collectibles, one company’s mistake is another man’s fortune. (Ask Billy Ripken.) Five months after NBA Elite 11’s embarrassing cancellation, copies of the game are still circulating over eBay – as well as box art, download cards, and other mementoes of the game that never was. NBA Elite 11 was cancelled a week before…
By Owen Good -
Wii Swinger Parties, John Adams is a Triceratops, and the Cat’s Outta the Bag
Hey, gang. I’m taking over today’s roundup of the top news, but first – a cat, a backpack, a video camera. What could possibly go wrong? Your Neighbors Are About To Invite You To Wii Sex Parties You’ve bowled. You’ve gotten fit. And now you can use your Nintendo Wii console to throw a swinger’s…
By Owen Good -
Cleaning Von Kaiser’s Clock — With Kinect
Kinect Sports Boxing, everyone asked if that was like Punch-Out!! on Kinect. Fighters Uncaged, same thing. How about we just go ahead and play Mike Tyson’s Punch-Out!! with a Kinect? This guy does. Here is RetroKinect by modder Dan Dockery. Simple controls, punch up, punch low, dodge left and right. The programmer disposes of Von…
By Owen Good -
Underground MMA Game Adds Female Fighters to the Card
Supremacy MMA, the underground fighter coming in late spring, will deliver something the two other mixed martial arts console titles don’t have: women on the fight card. Michele ‘Diablita’ Gutierrez, a former boxer who has transitioned to MMA, and Felice ‘Lil Dog’ Herrig, who was featured on Fight Girls on the Oxygen network, will be…
By Owen Good -
What Would You Pick — a Threesome, or Marvel vs. Capcom 3?
The midnight release of Marvel vs. Capcom 3 was also the midnight after Valentine’s Day evening, a time when most normal and well adjusted people were gettin’ it on with loved ones, or at least those they’d hired for the night. Others are standing in line waiting for a video game. Our dreadlocked friend “Woolie”…
By Owen Good -
Small Screen NBA Jam is a Ported Trail Blazer
NBA Jam, available from the iTunes App Store for the iPad, iPhone and iPod Touch (on OSes 3 and 4) is the most complete port of a console sports game to this platform in its two-year history. It helps to have Electronic Arts’ muscle behind this – but it also helps that NBA Jam’s quirky…
By Owen Good -
Psychologist Clarifies Bulletstorm Comments to Fox News
One of the two experts quoted in Fox News’ notorious hit-piece on Bulletstorm has clarified his remarks, and while he stands by them, says their presentation lacks context – and that he enjoys playing Mature-rated shooters in his free time as well. To recap, Dr. Jerry Weichman, as quoted by Fox News, said: If a…
By Owen Good -
Duke Nukem Forever Is Planning One Hell of a Credits Roll
Fourteen years in the making, a lot of people have had a hand in the development of Duke Nukem Forever. Many of their names are lost forever. Gearbox Software, which will finally deliver the game in May, wants to credit everyone it can find who had a role in the game’s creation. “It is our…
By Owen Good -
What The Onion Wants From Madden NFL 12
Putting Aaron Rodgers on the cover of Madden NFL 12 is believable. Everything else, well, you should be able to tell this is satire even without The Onion Sportsdome branding. With a lockout looming, and as the league recently reconfigured its contract to terms more favorable to EA Sports, I can guarantee that this will…
By Owen Good -
ReviewsLowbrow, Sure. But Bulletstorm Isn’t Stupid
Bulletstorm did a ton of advance work securing its reputation as this year’s fratboy game, full of snickering, dick jokes and arm punches. It’s unapologetically lowbrow, but that doesn’t mean it’s stupid. Hell, some of the smartest guys I know were in my fraternity. Don’t look to Bulletstorm’s protagonist, Grayson Hunt, for enlightenment. He’s a…
By Owen Good -
CultureCan a Controller Be Programmed to Speed-Run Super Mario Bros.?
Long story short, this modder built a controller that, when plugged into a Nintendo Entertainment System, auto speedruns Super Mario Bros. in just a shade under 5 minutes. Naturally, commenters have shouted it down as a fake, but the Tool-Assisted Speedrun community is unanimous in calling the mod real. Modder pjgat09 provides a step-by-step, with…
By Owen Good -
What’s Cookin’?
My new morning routine: Get up, dump, prepare coffee, boil a pot of water to do the dishes from last night. I have no hot water in my kitchen sink. This will get fixed sometime this week. Until then, I’m washing plates old school, and using them as little as possible. Here’s our big stories…
By Owen Good -
And Now, Minecraft Spoofs Dead Island
With a haunting trailer that went instantly viral this past week, Dead Island joined Minecraft as a YouTube subject where you just can’t go wrong. What happens when you combine the two? Comedy gold. Need a refresher for what the gag is? See the original Dead Island trailer here, or see it edited in forward-sequence…
By Owen Good -
Shooting Stars
Killzone 3 and Bulletstorm get their guns off on Tuesday. The third release in the Killzone series won’t have as much cussin’ in its dialogue, says developer Guerrilla Games. Bulletstorm, frankly, doesn’t have much non-cussin’ in its script. Tuesday (Feb. 22) Killzone 3 (PS3) – The Killzone trilogy brings the fight to Earth as you…
By Owen Good -
Top 5 of Top 10: Heroes for Hire
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. •11 Public Domain Characters Who Need Their own Video Game [UGO] Actually, quite a fascinating list, drawing on literary figures, defunct comic book characters, and…
By Owen Good -
Billy Mitchell Opens an Arcade
Billy Mitchell, who supplied every villainous stereotype short of twirling his mustache in “The King of Kong: A Fistful of Quarters,” has opened an arcade at Orlando’s airport under the film’s branding – with good guy Steve Wiebe gracing the entrance. The King of Kong branding on Mitchell’s arcade probably means everyone’s aboard with it,…
By Owen Good -
Billion-Dollar Expectations Caused Activision to ‘Abuse’ Guitar Hero, Says Ex-Publisher
The ex-CEO of Guitar Hero’s original publisher, RedOctane, has weighed in on Activision’s decision to close down the franchise, completing the cycle of reaction. Kelly Sumner says the publisher “abused” the franchise and had unrealistic expectations for it. “Not every game can be a billion dollar franchise, but maybe that’s what Activision wants,” said Sumner,…
By Owen Good -
Kotaku ‘Shop Contest: Find Velocity Girl
An offhand remark in Luke’s look back at the early vision for Xbox Live Marketplace brings us this week’s challenge: Who was Velocity Girl, and what the hell does she look like? “We must get the internet masses to draw a mock-up of Velocity Girl,” said The Sentient Meat. “Sounds like a photoshop challenge to…
By Owen Good -
Weekend Talk Amongst Yourselves
This is Kotaku’s official open forum. Here you may discuss whatever comes to mind about video games. Well, go ahead, discuss something! I’m waiting! Kidding aside, thanks to reader jungletoad for today’s image. Submit your image to #TAYpics (Read this thread for directions on how to do a TAYpic.)
By Owen Good