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A Chronicle of Misspelled Slurs — Except ‘Fat,’ ‘Ugly’ or ‘Slutty’
From the message that Xbox Live user ralphy305 sent a female gamer, it’s clear the time he should have spent on his spelling and grammar was instead put to keying in a text representation of an ejaculating penis. Give the devil his due, though, ralphy305’s invective was also a hat trick hitting the titular themes…
By Owen Good -
Watch a Video Game Being Made In Seven Minutes
Three developers from Cryptic Studios participated in last weekend’s Global Game Jam, the festival that challenges participants to create a game from scratch in just 48 hours. They built this time-lapse video, compressing two days of work into seven minutes. Jimb Esser (programming), James Laird (programming and design) and Nick Duguid (art) collaborated on “Benny…
By Owen Good -
A Fistful of Dollars Stopped a Nomination for Red Dead Redemption
Check out that list of games nominated for the Writers Guild’s Video Game Writing Award. Seem like anyone’s missing? Well, there’s neither Red Dead Redemption nor anything from BioWare. The Guild says these games makers “refused” to submit a script. Why is that? The matter of a $60 fee seems to be a sticking point.…
By Owen Good -
League of Evil Offers a Meaty Experience of Its Own
Super Meat Boy’s replayable challenge and smartly simple design would make it a natural for an iPhone, right? Yeah, not much chance we’ll be seeing that. But consider League of Evil, which draws on the same concept while expanding it. Released this week by Ravenous Games, League of Evil follows the same gameplay objective as…
By Owen Good -
2010’s Most Popular Xbox Live Titles
Halo: Reach finished second to Call of Duty: Black Ops among the 2010 video game releases played most on Xbox Live. The annual rankings dropped yesterday courtesy of Xbox Live community guru Larry “Major Nelson” Hyrb. In downloadable titles, LIMBO trailed Dead Rising 2: Case Zero, and Baby Maker Extreme was the top Indie game.…
By Owen Good -
UFC Undisputed Takes a Swing at Facebook
THQ adds its UFC Undisputed to the list of licensed console sports titles with a Facebook game adaptation, wheeling out a microtransaction-supported venture that focuses on training and leveling-up your created fighter. UFC Undisputed Fight Nation doesn’t feature arcade action, but performs more like a sports management sim. In this case, you name a performer…
By Owen Good -
A Peek at the Primordial Scrawlings of Game Developers
The idea for a video game must begin in someone’s mind. From there, its first expression isn’t necessarily digital. Notebooks and paper napkins often carry the first scrawls of the next big hit. One person is chronicling them. Gamestorm, a Tumblr blog established this week, is collecting and displaying submissions from game developers, either of…
By Owen Good -
GameStorm Images
“Here is the first brainstorming sheet for Codex, my RPG project, from February 2009. I did a lot of this in the early morning while still in my pajamas, if I remember correctly. I was in the US at the time, so the paper size doesn’t match any of my other sketches.” – Agnes Heyer,…
By Owen Good -
Conduit’s Developer Vows They’ll Bring the Game to 3DS
Conduit 2 (it dropped the “The”), the sequel to the pioneering Wii shooter, has had its release date pushed back twice. Once developer High Voltage finishes it, though, they’ll begin working on an installment for the Nintendo 3DS. “Now that we’re winding things down a lot of our resources are on pulling this technology over…
By Owen Good -
Fatal Stabbing In Game Boy Dispute Nets a 5-Year Sentence
An argument over a stolen gaming handheld last May led to a fatal stabbing, a guilty plea, and a sentence to 5 1/2 years in state prison today in New Jersey. The victim’s mother is outraged. John Rosa, 23, of Paterson pleaded guilty in December to the homicide, described as “passion-provocation manslaughter” under New Jersey…
By Owen Good -
Why Would a Game With No Online Play Require an Online Connection?
For some, the inclusion of DRM – “digital rights management” which prevents copying – is a provocative act. That makes requiring an online check-in for a game with no online component, like Bionic Commando: Rearmed 2, both perplexing and obnoxious. PlayStation 3 owners buying the sequel to Capcom’s show-stealing hit of 2008 were greeted with…
By Owen Good -
Predicting the Super Bowl Winner — with NFL 2K5
Madden NFL 11 called Sunday’s big game for the Steelers. There’s still a robust roster-editing culture for the exiled, six-year-old NFL 2K5. Using current rosters, one devotee offered his own prediction for Super Bowl XLV. It’s still Pittsburgh. Sorry to get your hopes up, Green Bay fans, but Operation Sports commenter VLN13 calls the game…
By Owen Good -
Yars’ Revenge Reboot will be an On-Rails Shooter
This year Atari brings back one of the more imaginative titles from the primitive days of console gaming – Yars’ Revenge. This video features a 10-second swath of gameplay that shows the reboot will be an on-rails shooter. Producer Michael Fahrny outlines the game’s art direction, crediting anime (and specifically Hayao Miyazaki) as inspiriations for…
By Owen Good -
What to Expect From Madden If a Lockout Cancels the NFL Season
With a work stoppage in the National Football League increasingly likely, Electronic Arts has said that Madden NFL 12 will be published – but the company is assuming a lockout will wipe out the entire 2011-12 season. “In terms of a planning assumption … we’ve baked in the most conservative assumption, meaning no season,” John…
By Owen Good -
Company of Heroes Online Goes Dark March 31
Company of Heroes Online, whose beta began in July, will be closed down entirely on March 31. In-game currency – COHO Cash – is no longer for sale, and players are being urged to spend any balance they have pronto. As a token, THQ is offering anyone who registered with the beta before Feb. 1…
By Owen Good -
Dead Space 2’s Religion Not A Swipe At Scientology, Says Creator
Despite its resemblance to Scientology, Unitology – Dead Space’s fictitious religion – isn’t a parody of the controversial church, the game’s creative director told MTV Multiplayer. “I think people get that because the name is very similar,” he said. “It was really just an observation about what can happen to anybody who is fanatical and…
By Owen Good -
Bulletstorm Unlockables Won’t Carry Over to Other Titles
There had been chatter that Bulletstorm would be one of several Epic Games titles whose achievements would trigger unlockables in Gears of War 3, due at the end of the year. Those plans have been scrapped because of compatibility issues. Epic’s Joe Graf, a lead gameplay programmer, tweeted that Gears of War 3 cannot read…
By Owen Good -
D.C. Universe Online MMO Log Part Three: In Blackest Night
The makers of DC Universe Online advised that some missions are unbeatable without resorting to that classic comic-book convention, the superhero team-up. Bogged down against the Sinestro Corps, I went in search of a big friend who wanted big action. Kotaku’s MMO reviews are a multi-part process. Rather than deliver day one reviews based on…
By Owen Good
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