Owen Good

GTA‘s Latest Teaser Shows Tennis, Triathlon, and Other Vanity Sports

Another update to the Grand Theft Auto V site gives us a glimpse of the leisure activities in Los Santos—always a draw of this series—as well as a preview of some of the radio stations in the game, less than two weeks before release. “Fitness & Relaxation,” brought to you by the “Egochaser Energy Bar”…

There’s a Reason for Metal Gear‘s Sexy Sniper. What It Is, Who Knows.

First, Hideo Kojima wanted the mute female sniper of Metal Gear Solid V to appear “erotic.” That was either a poor choice of words, or poor translation, but he evidently wanted the art director to sex her up to encourage cosplay. Or figurine sales. Well, now Kojima is Tweeting, and says we have it all…

Even the Making-Of Video for the Aliens Chestburster is Horrifying

The original Chestburster from Alien lacked arms. They were added by propmasters in the sequel, which surprised special effects artist Stephen Norrington, who narrates this video about the creation of the little bastard. “I’m amazed at how much emotion comes out of those little arms,” he says.

‘On a Path to Irrelevance’: Atari founding father Nolan Bushnell, who knows a thing or two about failed consoles,thinks Nintendo is pinched. The hardware it does well—handheld gaming-only devices—”don’t make sense” compared to tablets or mobile phones. And he thinks the Wii U’s target audience is limited.

Fan-Made TimeSplitters ‘Greatest Hits’ Remake is Coming to PS4

Crytek, custodian of the TimeSplitters franchise since the dissolution of its original studio, will support a fan-made “greatest-hits” style remake of the series that was announced earlier this week. Crytek’s blessing means the game will release on PlayStation 4 in addition to PC. TimeSplitters Rewind will be made absolutely free to everyone, as a condition…

PlayStation Intern, Ordered to Test Games for Free, Sues and Wins

Chris Jarvis, 25, thought he would be shadowing a staff developer as an unpaid intern last year at Sony Computer Entertainment’s Cambridge studio in the U.K. When he showed up, he says he was ordered to test games instead. Forgive me for finding that kind of servitude, well, Dickensian. Jarvis didn’t think it was funny,…

Hooray, Your Madden ‘Monopoly’ Check is in the Mail

Good news, Madden fans. The objection to a $27 million class action settlement in the case brought against the exclusive license held by the series has been dropped. Your money should be on the way soon. Rewind: Last year, Electronic Arts settled the now-five-year-old lawsuit brought by Geoffrey Pecover, alleging that EA Sports much-loathed exclusive…

Cops Say NBA Player Beat His Girlfriend With an Xbox 360

DeAndre Liggins, a two-year benchwarmer currently with the NBA’s Oklahoma City Thunder, is accused of assaulting his girlfriend by, among other things, dropping an Xbox 360 on her head, according to police. If true, it’s the second incident in six months in which a video game console was the weapon itself in a headline-grabbing domestic…

Play the 2013 NFL Season with 22-year-old Tecmo Super Bowl

The mad magicians keeping Tecmo Super Bowl alive nearly 22 years after its debut have released their latest mod—Tecmo Super Bowl 2014, featuring all of the teams and players of the current league, just in time for the NFL’s season opener tomorrow. This is the seventh update of the NES classic, thanks to the merry…

Saints Row‘s Hilarious Dubstep DLC Ad Disguises Its Obnoxious Intent

I’ve gotta hand it to Saints Row IV. Three bucks for four sound effects (OK, and some weapon skins) is pretty fucking obnoxious, when you think about it. But when you pitch it like a blue-screen ad from a 1980s UHF station, it suddenly becomes hilarious. I’m not even sure that $3 for four sound…

Women Will Fight in EA Sports UFC

EA Sports confirmed that women fighters will be on the roster of the upcoming UFC title it will release next spring on next-generation consoles. Rivals Ronda Rousey (pictured above) and Miesha Tate will join the game, with more to follow from the UFC’s Women’s Bantamweight division. Dean Richards, the general manager for EA Sports UFC,…

See XCOM‘s New Super Soldiers in Action

It figures that right after I write my hands-on preview of XCOM: Enemy Within, Firaxis would then release the video of its PAX closed-doors demonstration. (Video during my playthrough was forbidden.) Well, it’s worth the double-dip, because you can see some things I forgot to mention. The first is that a MEC trooper—the hulking mechasoldier…

This Game is Minecraft Meets Contra, With Flying Whales

My go-to expo question when speaking to a developer, particularly and independent games developer, is “What itch does your game scratch?” Windforge, by Snowed In Studios, gets to a very hard to reach place—the one for gamers who really want to play something like Minecraft and Contra at the same time. As the game’s creator,…

Would You Sneak Through XCOM? Then Don’t Shoot Through Incognita.

Klei Entertainment hasn’t argued the comparison. To the contrary, they were the first to make it, saying their upcoming game, Incognita, is in effect espionage done in the mode of XCOM. But you find out how quickly the game is not like XCOM when you unholster your weapon. “I just want to see the combat,”…

XCOM Isn’t Any Easier in Enemy Within, but It Is More Thrilling

You’d think being given not one, but two hulking mecha-soldiers, for whom cover is a moot point because they can’t use it, would at least reduce the relentless battlefield tension that distinguishes XCOM. It doesn’t. When you can’t take cover (but you can provide it), and you have a flamethrower, a re-usable super punch, a…

A Generic Name Wouldn’t Do Justice to Secret Ponchos‘ Outlaws

Secret Ponchos features outlaws. It features guns, it features shootouts, it features eight-on-eight free-for-alls. It features exactly one poncho, however, and zero secrets. So what’s in its name? “When we started work on the game we put up a development blog, and we needed a name for it,” said Caley Smyth, a developer for Switchblade…

Kotaku ‘Shop Contest: Ultimate Exploitable

Evan gave us some fine cosplay shots yesterday, but when you need a good exploitable, sometimes you must take matters into your own hands. This is me with the Ultimate Warrior yesterday at 2K Sports’ booth here at PAX. I don’t know what we’ll get from this, but it should make all those bagsuit ‘shops…

Sunday Comics: The Bigger They Are …

Welcome to Kotaku‘s Sunday Comics, your weekly roundup of the best webcomics, chosen by our readership. The images enlarge if you click on the magnifying glass icon in the lower right corner. Brawl In The Family by Matthew Taranto. Published Aug. 30. Read more of Brawl In The Family Penny Arcade by Jerry Holkins and…

XCOM‘s ‘Flying Spider Shark’ Wasn’t Left on the Cutting Room Floor

At the beginning of the latest video for XCOM: Enemy Within you can see some hideous tentacled thing that turns invisible and sneaks up on a lone soldier to strangle him, facehugger-style. That’s a Seeker, and its original concept looked even more dreadful. “That’s our Flying Spider Shark,” said Garth DeAngelis, putting a sum-of-all-fears capper…

Kotaku ‘Shop Contest: Unhappy Family: The winners

One family’s domestic discord is another person’s punchline. Who knew The Sims 4’s rather workaday screenshot of an unhappy couple would provide such inspiration to your fertile and disturbed imaginations. There’s a full set of 20 finalists inside, starting with overall No. 1 FAHtastic! Honorable mentions begin with sciteach, who rallied back after I again…