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Splinter Cell: Blacklist Won’t Feature Offline Co-Op Play on Wii U
While none can doubt Ubisoft’s commitment to publishing on the Wii U, that console’s version of Splinter Cell: Blacklist will lack a feature the PC, PS3 and Xbox 360 versions all have: offline cooperative multiplayer. In an interview with Nintendo Life, producer Liu Jun of Ubisoft Shanghai said the feature was left out of Splinter…
By Owen Good -
Chris Roberts’ Star Citizen, which pulled in $2.1 million from its Kickstarter, continues to draw crowdfunding from other sources and has gone past the $15 million mark as of Aug. 1. That adds another ship to the game’s fleet, and another goodie to those donating to the space combat title.
By Owen Good -
Ten Years Later, Michael Vick Would Have a Harder Time Breaking Madden
Michael Vick may, for the rest of his life, remain a contemptible stereotype to much of the public: A brutalor stupid man. A laughingstock. A guy who did federal time. Still, there is one aspect of his football career that cleanly escapes the wreckage of his personal scandal, that lives on almost as a separate…
By Owen Good -
The ESRB’s ever familiar ratings badges will get a slight graphical tweak for the first time since 1999, but the wording is the biggest change. No longer will the label say “content rated by” over “ESRB.” Why the text change? ESRB president Patricia Vance said it “provides for a cleaner look.” [Polygon]
By Owen Good -
Culture
The Week in Games: Pik-Me-Up
Today’s release of Pikmin 3 on Wii U, plus Tuesday’s Tales of Xillia on PlayStation 3 and Dragon’s Crown on PS3 and PS Vita, wake the video game release calendar up from its usual midsummer slumber. Today • Pikmin 3 (Wii U) Tuesday • The Sims 3 Dragon Valley (PC, Mac) • Dragon’s Crown (PS3,…
By Owen Good -
With Pikmin 3 releasing today, now’s as good a time as any to catch up on the history and trivia behind this series—including its origins as a GameCube tech demo, its influence on Super Mario Galaxy, and the fact Nintendo crossbred a new flower variety (Bacopa Cabana) to promote it. [Did You Know Gaming?]
By Owen Good -
Kotaku ‘Shop Contest: The Karting Dead
So, we’re back to an evergreen subject for this week’s contest after a couple of suboptimal candidates fell through. (One was a pic of my boss on vacation, and I have a daily goal of remaining employed.) So it’s time to raid Gergo’s Dayshot archive! I had eyes on this thing when Gergo dug it…
By Owen Good -
Does Your Gamertag Have Herpes? Beware Xbox Live Enforcement United
I do not envy Xbox Live’s enforcement moderators. They have an endless and thankless task policing the service’s notoriously juvenile user base. And mind-numbing, too, if a the experience offered by “Enforcement United”—Xbox Live’s new crowdsourced tattling system—is any indication. Announced last week, Enforcement United is going to be part of a self-policing strategy designed…
By Owen Good -
Culture
Sunday Comics: Infinite Variety
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. Brentalfloss the Comic by Brent Black, Andrew Dobson and Dan Roth. Published July 30. Read more of Brentalfloss the Comic Penny Arcade by…
By Owen Good -
Kotaku ‘Shop Contest: Sharksassin: The Winners
Assassin’s Creed IV: Black Flag played the shark card last week and you all called its bluff in the ‘Shop Contest. Today we have two dozen finalists compiled, including three double-finishers, plus SteveFish, a first-timer at overall number one! Gang, it is no secret the ‘Shop Contest has been through a challenging year, thanks to…
By Owen Good -
For the Last Time, Sony Shuts the Door on PlayStation All-Stars
PlayStation All-Stars Battle Royale fans, I am here to crush your dreams. There is no hope of additional DLC. There will be no more stages. Sony’s Santa Monica Studio, the studio in charge of the game (for as long as it continues), flat-out shut the door. But free costumes! It’s kind of sad Santa Monica…
By Owen Good -
“What if the classic arcade game Contra had been made into a live action movie back in the 1980s?” asked action-figure maker Mint Condition Customs. Interesting question, since Konami practically built the game with spare parts from 1980s action flicks. These custom figs are still outstanding. [via MTV Multiplayer]
By Owen Good -
Minecraft‘s Ending Makes for a Lovely Song
When you’re deluged within-game recreations of basketball, the first 15 minutes of Star Wars, and a giant Golden Toilet, in can be tough to remember that Minecraft is a game with a conclusion. Someone’s adapted a song from what happens after that conclusion—which I guess means this video should carry a spoiler alert. When you…
By Owen Good -
Alien Anal Probe Saved as Saints Row IV‘s Australian Crisis Ends
The absurd monthlong standoff down under has at last been resolved: Saints Row IV has been granted classification and may be sold in Australia, with one change. And, according to publisher Deep Silver, it isn’t the alien anal probe weapon. A 20-minute mission in which Shaundi takes “alien narcotics to obtain superpowers” has been stripped…
By Owen Good -
Tekken X Street Fighter Looking for the ‘Right Time’ to Release
Street Fighter X Tekken released on March 6, 2012, meaning Namco Bandai has been answering so-where-the-hell-is-it questions about Tekken X Street Fighter since March 7, 2012. Five games under the Tekken brand have appeared since, raising offhand speculation about TxSF‘s priority. Street Fighter‘s star producer certainly didn’t help things much when he joked that the…
By Owen Good -
Third Update to Super Mario Bros. Crossover Pays Tribute to Rare Port
The third update of fan-favorite flash game Super Mario Bros. Crossover has just released. This is the one that incorporates perhaps the rarest port of the series, a Japan-only version that gave Mario the hammer from Donkey Kong In addition to the features of Super Mario Bros. special, this update will offer new map skins…
By Owen Good -
You Only Live Once in XCOM. No, Really. You Only Live Once.
Video game permadeath is not a concept unique to XCOM but it has, perhaps, its most visceral application in that series. Like its predecessors, if one of your men die in The Bureau: XCOM Declassified, that is it. He is gone for good. This can be a tragedy. Or, in the case of this video,…
By Owen Good -
EA Sports’ First Amendment Defense in College Lawsuits Shot Down Again
For the second time, a federal appeals court has struck down a key defense Electronic Arts has used in its long-running legal fight against college athletes who say their likenesses have been used in EA Sports video games without their permission. Electronic Arts had claimed a First Amendment right of artistic expression in how it…
By Owen Good -
The 3DS and Its Strong Lineup Push Nintendo to a Profit
While the Wii U’s sales may be a stark disappointment to Nintendo, it still found hope in its handheld lineup, with particular thanks to the western release of Animal Crossing: New Leaf. Sales of the 3DS and its titles helped boost the company to a profit in the first quarter of its fiscal year. The…
By Owen Good
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