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For the Goomba, What’s Their Motivation, Again?
Boss battles are critically important to most video game genres, providing climactic story points as well as the kind of challenge for which the game was bought in the first place. But what about the minor foes of a game? The personal blog 2-Bit Wasteland takes a sometimes irreverent, sometimes idealized look at the grunts…
By Owen Good -
The Sports Video Games of the Year
In naming the best video games of the year, the sports genre is often left to fight over a single award. And as I’ve discussed before, one probably isn’t winning an overall game-of-the-year anytime soon. Realizing that sports games don’t usually contend outside of their classification, Stick Jockey’s named an honor roll of nine awards…
By Owen Good -
Kotaku Originals: Boxing Day
That’s what they call the day after Christmas in more civilized parts of the world. In my household, we call it “Distended Saturday.” And while you’re still digesting yesterday’s feast, here’s a recap of our buffet of original reporting. Small housekeeping note, in observance of the holiday, the weekend report will be shortened to posts…
By Owen Good -
What a Day, What a Year
Christmas is a big production, but they don’t roll credits at the end of it. Still, with the home a wasteland of gift wrap and packaging, and the light slowly receding outside, it’s a good moment to reflect on 2009. This past week Kotaku recapped the year that was in video games, on subjects both…
By Owen Good -
Here’s Nintendo’s Enviro-Friendly Game Case [Update]
The TIE Fighter-Wing looking “green” game cases have been out for Xbox 360 since most November releases. Go Nintendo has an image of what they’ll look like for Wii games, beginning with Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles: The Crystal Bearers. As you can see, it keeps the octagonal hexagonal circular hub-and-spoke design on the right side,…
By Owen Good -
Stolen 360 Helps Cops Bag Prolific Bronx Burglar
Jeremiah Gilliam’s streak of 200-plus larcenies and burglaries came to an end when the criminal mastermind plugged in a jacked Xbox Live, leading the cops directly to his door. Police got a search warrant for Gilliam’s home in the Bronx based off tracing info gathered by Microsoft and Gilliam’s ISP. Seems he snatched an Xbox…
By Owen Good -
Two Big Outlets List FIFA World Cup Edition for April
EA Sports has not yet announced a date for its 2010 FIFA World Cup version, but both Amazon and Gamefly have it listed for April 27. World Cup 2010 begins June 11 in South Africa. EA has produced a dedicated version in every World Cup year going back to 1998; Pasta Padre notes the most…
By Owen Good -
The Year, NSFW
Every year has its moments suitable for framing. Here, our look back at 2009 presents the ones meant for stuffing under your mattress: It’s Kotaku’s Year NSFW, which, as the title implies, is NSFW. Bayonetta’s Got It, Flaunts It: Without a doubt, Bayonetta was the high-amp vamp of gaming in 2009, and she hasn’t even…
By Owen Good -
Pac-Man Getting the Fighter Treatment?
In Europe, Namco Bandai has trademarked something called “Pac-Man: Battle Royale,” which sounds less like a reboot or remake of a pellet-chomper, and more along the lines of Tekken with ghosts. That’s straight-up speculation. Siliconera hazarded the guess when it found the registration, and it sounds good to me, if only because it sounds better…
By Owen Good -
Drunk Scot Woman Stabs Teen in Xbox Argument
Whoa, whoa, whoa, lady. When I said, “try safe, effective, fast-acting kick his ass,” for video game-playing kids who won’t listen, I did not mean “ventilate his abdomen with a kitchen knife.” Authorities say a 13-year-old Scottish boy was stabbed by his 55-year-old babysitter after he refused to stop playing his Xbox (original or 360,…
By Owen Good -
Holiday Timewaster: Santa Fu
Mrs. Claus has been abducted, and Santa’s out to deck the walls with gingerbread men and nutcracker guts. It’s a Christmas mashup of Kung Fu for the NES and it’s (wait for it) ho-ho-holarious. Just like Kung Fu (or Kung Fu Master, the arcade original) a drunken, raging Santa battles his way through waves of…
By Owen Good -
EA’s Post-Christmas Sale Gives You 800 MS Points
EA’s running an online holiday special for the Xbox 360 beginning Christmas that takes a quick cost-benefit analysis to figure out, but as it returns you 800 Microsoft Points might be worth considering. The offer: Buy any three titles from this list and you get 800 Microsoft points back. Now, some of these are full…
By Owen Good -
Pac-Man Still Beats Mario for Most-Famous Crown
One year older, and about two dozen or so titles fewer, Pac-Man still retains the “most recognizable” title among video game characters in the United States, according to the upcoming edition of the Guinness Book of World Records. The book, which in recent years has trended strongly toward video game records (and, according to us…
By Owen Good -
Settlement Gives THQ the WWE License Until 2018
THQ wrapped up two big loose ends at the end of this year, reaching a settlement with Jakks Pacific over who owed what for the rights to World Wrestling Entertainment and, separately, extending its deal with the promoter to 2018. In the first case, a three-party settlement among all involved will see THQ paying WWE…
By Owen Good -
2009 in Review: The Sports Video Game Report
Every year in sports has its winners and losers, but in sports video games, the results aren’t about pennants and trophies. And they’re not always clear-cut, either. In many ways 2009 was like most for sports games – every major team sports title put out a new version; Madden sold a ton for EA Sports;…
By Owen Good -
Madden 10 Now Pops Up Ads with Annoying Frequency
Madden NFL 10’s in-game advertising arched some eyebrows when it released, but the grousing quickly blew over. The complaints have returned, as some users are reporting even more frequent pop-up ads, sometimes at the rate of one-per-snap. It seems that under the latest patch, which I applied on my Xbox 360 last night, a rectangular…
By Owen Good -
Mass Effect 2 Achievements Revealed
Xbox 360 Achievements has the full list of Mass Effect 2 achievements. None are secret achievements, which means you should take the spoiler alert here seriously. Looking through it, I don’t see any plot giveaways, although “Cat’s in the Cradle” might raise some interesting questions of a character’s parentage. Then again, I could be reading…
By Owen Good -
Mom Calls 911 When Kid Won’t Stop Playing Console
In Chicago last month, a kid called 911 when the ‘rents took away his Xbox 360. Saturday in a Boston suburb a mom dialed the law when her son wouldn’t stop playing. Oh yeah, Grand Theft Auto’s involved here, too. The Boston Herald reports that Angela Mejia, 49, woke up in the middle of the…
By Owen Good
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