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A Western Trilogy Arrives Too Soon for Those Caught in Drug Violence
“Call of Juarez” wasn’t a provocative title, when it referred to the Mexican border town during the Old West. As the modern-day scene of more than 3,000 murders in the past year, it’s a touchier subject. “Call of Juarez: The Cartel” will be the third offering in the Ubisoft series, and it brings the tale…
By Owen Good -
Minecraft Note Blocks Cover Bohemian Rhapsody — All of It
Not only does this note-block ballad of “Bohemian Rhapsody” span (nearly) a virtuoso five minutes in Minecraft, it’s hardly this artist’s first production. He’s also turned in covers of Mega Man and Super Smash Bros themes. Says YouTube user jae100jj, he created the cobblestone ground and torches using the mcedit tool, but everything else “(note…
By Owen Good -
Your Final Pre-Lockout Madden Roster Arrives Tomorrow
The last roster update for Madden NFL 11 hits sometime tomorrow, boosting Super Bowl MVP Aaron Rodgers to the coveted 99 OVR rating. This could be the roster Madden NFL 12 plays with if next season is interrupted by a lockout. The 2011 draft class and any free agent moves – that is, players becoming…
By Owen Good -
See This? This is My Diamond Boomstick.
Combining zombies and Minecraft crafts one hell of a video, as Corridor Digital demonstrates here in the splendidly done “The Last Minecart.” Some outstanding editing and special effects – not to mention a well-sprayed sweaty brow during the crafting sequence – make this one award-worthy, if I knew what award or which festival would be…
By Owen Good -
No More Gimped Lyrics When You’re All-In with an M
It’s an appropriate opening for a song placed in a game that begins in prison. “You know you fucked up, right?” begins “The Loser Wins,” by Atmosphere. In another sports game, this would have to be blanked out, or just not used. Not so with Fight Night Champion, which chose to be EA Sports’ first…
By Owen Good -
Former Rockstar Dev Working on Game About Iranian Revolution
A writer with credits in Grand Theft Auto III, Max Payne and, later, Alan Wake is now working on an entirely different project, likely controversial in its own way: “1979: The Game,” based on the Iran Revolution. In an interview with the Russian news site RT (above) Navid Khonsari recently discussed the project. 1979: The…
By Owen Good -
Samurai Warriors is a Big Hit with the Ladies
One of the launch titles for the Nintendo 3DS will be Samurai Warriors Chronicles, a series whose devoted fan base is 40 percent female, says publisher Koei. Hisashi Koinuma, the developer overseeing the Samurai Warriors series, quoted the figure to Nintendo president Satoru Iwata. Koinuma said he thought the series was appealing because the development…
By Owen Good -
ReviewsD.C. Universe Online is a Flawed but Heroic Undertaking
Between the action, the lives of superheroes make comic books, for better or worse, suitable to the MMO genre. It’s a crowd of unique people, all trying to be different, feeling alone in a great city of thousands. D.C. Universe Online plants a flag for massively multiplayer online role-playing games on the PlayStation 3, bringing…
By Owen Good -
Vegas Entrepreneur Bets on an Arcade
Fremont Street in Las Vegas is where you find the low rollers. The five-dollar tables and four-dollar steaks. It’s a district with lower rents and higher ambitions, and that’s where one gaming-themed bar is set to open this spring. Insert Coin(s) will be a gaming lounge that resembles “Tron meets Blade Runner,” says its owner,…
By Owen Good -
More Than 100,000 Register for APB Reboot
When it stopped taking applications last night, the new owner of APB, the cops-and-robbers MMO, said it had more than 100,000 requests to participate in the beta for APB: Reloaded, a free-to-play reboot. Those who signed up for the subscription-based MMO, which collapsed three months after launch, were invited back to the game by new…
By Owen Good -
StarCraft Modder ‘Could Be Looking at Offers’ — Including from StarCraft’s Maker
StarCraft’s top designer called last month’s stir over a “World of Starcraft” mod “a big misunderstanding,” but said the mod’s creator could be seeing job offers down the road, possibly from StarCraft’s studio itself. Dustin Browder, the game design director for StarCraft II, told Eurogamer that his shop wants to shake Ryan Winzen’s hand “and…
By Owen Good -
A Game That Stares a Laser Beam Through You
Security cameras rarely send the message you’re in a safe area. Their presence usually more likely mean you’re somewhere someone expects something to go wrong. Surveillant expands on this sense of menace, making the camera an adversary, not a friend. Surveillant, for the iPhone and iPod Touch, is a sleek 3D platformer that offers some…
By Owen Good -
D.C. Universe Online MMO Log: Turning Heel
After three weeks of fighting crime, I decided to fight for crime in D.C. Universe Online, starting anew as a villain under the tutelage of one Lex Luthor. Kotaku’s MMO reviews are a multi-part process. Rather than deliver day one reviews based on beta gameplay, we play the game for four weeks before issuing our…
By Owen Good -
The Score’s Nothin’ to Nothin’ and Nobody’s Winnin’
I can’t help it, I’m a channel surfer when I watch sports – even during the Super Bowl. The game’s scoreless on all three channels I’m watching here. Enjoy the game. Here’s some highlights from the weekend: Angry Birds, Played In Real Life Kotaku ‘Shop Contest: Evony, In Perfect Harmony Winners Boys’ Beyblade Bathtub Breakage…
By Owen Good -
The Week in Games: Let’s Go for a Drive
Test Drive Unlimited 2 peels onto the track this week, returning to Oahu, the scene of the first Test Drive Unlimited. Other releases include Mario Sports Mix and You Don’t Know Jack. Monday (Feb. 7) Mario Sports Mix (Wii) Tuesday (Feb. 8) Test Drive Unlimited 2 (PC, PS3, 360) – The racer from Atari and…
By Owen Good -
Everyone Loves a Winner, Especially in Madden Online Play
The New York Times examined the popularity of today’s Super Bowl participants – the Green Bay Packers and the Pittsburgh Steelers – in Madden NFL 11 online play. By years’ end they were, unsurprisingly, among the most popular. Both teams, which boast large national followings, hovered around the average for most of the season (used…
By Owen Good -
Top 5 of Top 10 Lists: Saturday Stuporcade
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. •Top 10 Worst Cartoons Based on Video Games [Calm Down Tom] Dungeons & Dragons, in addition to not being really a video game cartoon, was…
By Owen Good -
Dragon Age II Conspicuously Bereft of Demonic Breasts
It’s with a heavy heart that I retire our “Demon Tits” tag. Introduced with Dragon Age: Origins, it seems to be not applicable to Dragon Age II. But it does have blowjobs, according to its ESRB listing. “In one cutscene, a woman kneels in front of a male character and appears to perform fellatio,” says…
By Owen Good -
Angry Birds, Played In Real Life
If they’re making an Angry Birds board game, and handheld slingshot, at some point we were bound to see Angry Birds, the backyard edition. It’s at least as safe as lawn darts and just as plausible as intramural Quidditch. The first two boards here are authentic to Angry Birds 1-1 and 1-2; I’m not sure…
By Owen Good
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