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Video Games Join a Century-Long Tradition of Blaming Media Violence, Says the ACLU
As bizarre as it is to read the name Starcraft in a discussion of video games’ corrupting influence, you’ve got to hand it to the American Civil Liberties Union for properly centering the discussion of What Must We Do following the Newtown Massacre. “Media violence has long been a target of lawmakers seeking a cheap…
By Owen Good -
Lazlow Saved Grand Theft Auto‘s Radio Station Master Recordings from Superstorm Sandy
Lazlow Jones co-wrote the radio scripts for all the Grand Theft Auto games (save Chinatown Wars, of course) going back to III, and appears as a radio personality in all of the games. He also, evidently, has all of the master copies of the recordings. In his home. Which is on Long Island. Or, well,…
By Owen Good -
The Sports Video Games of the Year
Rarely considered for overall video-game-of-the-year honors, the uncommon diversity of sports video games, and the unique demands placed on them to recreate both a real-world sport and the real-life experiences associated with it, support their own class of awards more than any other genre. These are Kotaku‘s Stick Jockey Sports Video Games of the Year.…
By Owen Good -
Culture
Sunday Comics: The Blame Game
Welcome to your Sunday read of the week’s best in web comics. Make sure to click on the expand button in the bottom right to enlarge each comic. Penny Arcade by Jerry Holkins and Mike Krahulik. Published Dec. 21. Read more of Penny Arcade Awkward Zombie by Katie Tiedrich. Published Dec. 17. Read more of…
By Owen Good -
Kotaku ‘Shop Contest: Sons of Throttle: The Winners
Last week’s Shop Contest asked for a mashup of Sons of Anarchy, the badass motorcycle gang TV show, with Full Throttle, the badass motorcycle gang video game. You folks must not be fans of one or the other or both, because all we got was seven ‘Shops out of it. Here they are. AirCairo is…
By Owen Good -
Culture
Presenting Your New Sunday Comics Lineup
Last week you voted on the lineup for Kotaku’s Sunday Comics feature. The roster going forward will be: Penny Arcade by Jerry Holkins and Mike Krahulik. Awkward Zombie by Katie Tiedrich. Manly Guys Doing Manly Things by Kelly Turnbull. Brawl In The Family by Matthew Taranto. Nerf NOW!! by Josué Pereira. Nerf This by Scott…
By Owen Good -
The Moneysaver: ‘Twas the Weekend Before Christmas … [UPDATE]
Whether you’re shopping for someone else or for yourself, this is the final blowout weekend before … all the after-Christmas sales to clear stock and snarf up the money grandma gave you. There’s still a ton of action from the major names in games retailing, much of it in the form of digital downloads. Our…
By Owen Good -
What People Said About the Terrible Game the NRA Made Six Years Ago
Welcome back to “Backhanded Box Quotes,” a collection of measured, thoughtful criticism from the user reviews of Metacritic and elsewhere on the Internet. Wayne LaPierre, the National Rifle Association’s No. 1 mouthpiece, emerged from Oz’s curtain this morning to condemn the worst video games of American culture. Funny, the NRA made one itself: NRA Gun…
By Owen Good -
Oh, So That’s Why The World Didn’t End Today
If the Earth did not perish in a rain of fire or a collision with the shadow planet Nubira or whatever today, you can thank the gang at DICE. They resolved a potentially catastrophic crash by patching the PC version of Battlefield 3 just in time. Hat tip to reader Zeronline for noticing and sending…
By Owen Good -
What Are Splatterhouse, Kindergarten Killer and the Other Games the NRA Slammed Today?
Names such as Mortal Kombat and Grand Theft Auto are longtime punching bags in an often-clueless discussion of violent video games in the mainstream. So it was no surprise to hear Wayne LaPierre, executive vice president of the National Rifle Association, invoke them in a rambling attempt to deflect blame from the assault weapons that…
By Owen Good -
The NRA’s Absolutely Unhinged Response to Newtown Condemns Video Games as a ‘Shadow Industry’ that ‘Sows Violence Against Its Own People’
Reports suggested that the National Rifle Association, backed into a corner since a gun massacre last week killed 20 six- and seven-year-olds, would come out swinging at video games and other violent entertainment in a news conference today, and boy, they did not disappoint. Wayne LaPierre, the NRA’s executive vice president, gave a teeth-sucking condemnation…
By Owen Good -
You’ll Want a Red Mage Muppet after Seeing This Final Fantasy Musical
Four years ago today, we featured a video from Brentalfloss—the New York comedian Brent Black—for the very first time. On that anniversary, we’re delighted to bring you what might be his finest work yet, a Muppets musical starring the mages from Final Fantasy. “I’ve been working on this video off-and-on for over 2 years,” Black…
By Owen Good -
Don’t Bet On Seeing a Pitcher on MLB 13 The Show‘s Cover
Odds are strong that the cover of MLB 13 The Show will be graced by a National League hitter, as six of seven candidates in this fan-voted contest are batters, and five of them are from the senior circuit. The field was completed yesterday, leaving the Yankees’ C.C. Sabathia as the lone hurler and Detroit’s…
By Owen Good -
Bill O’Reilly Talks About Video Games and Violence and Ends Up Being Somewhat Reasonable About It All
Bill O’Reilly has made a great living as Fox News Channel’s national scold for the past 15 years, with video games among many targets in his campaign of cultural warfare. So at the beginning of this segment on his program last night, when he smugly diagnoses Adam Lanza, the Newtown, Conn. shooter, as a violent…
By Owen Good -
With NRA Set to Blame Video Games, Conservative Magazine Says Don’t
In America, neither the left nor the right have an exclusive claim on scapegoating violent video games for some societal ill. Both do it in different ways and for different purposes. But tomorrow, the National Rifle Association is expected to blast games and Hollywood in a response to the Newtown, Conn., mass killings last week.…
By Owen Good -
Borderlands 2 Will Raise Its Level Cap Early Next Year
IGN today reported that Borderlands 2‘s level cap, currently at 50, will rise sometime in the first three months of next year. It’s not going to come with Sir Hammerlock’s Big Game Hunt, announced and previewed today. 2K Games told IGN that Gearbox Software still is considering whether to do it as part of a…
By Owen Good -
OK, Now This Video of an Angry Bird Attacking a Baby is Totally Real. Swear.
So, that viral video of the eagle snatching a baby off the ground is a confirmed fake. But this? Totally for reals. Trust me. Animal control officers are worried that, since this marauding Red Bird didn’t clear the area in one shot, he may keep returning until he three-stars the level. Video by Chris Person
By Owen Good
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