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Is This the Face of a Heel? Debating Fighter Hayabusa’s Virtue in Nintendo’s Pro Wrestling
There were no storylines in Pro Wrestling for the Nintendo Entertainment System, beyond the ones you and your buddies would create for the six wrestlers it featured. But nearly everyone’s status—good guy or bad, face or heel—was easily interpreted in how the character was presented. Star Man was a face. The Amazon would assault you…
By Owen Good -
ESRB Opens No-Cost Ratings Service for Digitally Distributed Games
Downloadable games sold through the three console makers’ online services will be rated by what the Entertainment Software Ratings Board is calling a “streamlined, no-cost service,” in a statement released today by the ESRB. The new “Digital Rating Service” gives developers and publishers access to a “brief but detailed online questionnaire” to define a product’s…
By Owen Good -
Join the Jalopnik-Kotaku Club in Forza Horizon and Get These Six Cars For Free, Sort Of [Updated]
Forza Horizon, which released yesterday, introduces a “car club” concept to the game, and it isn’t just a leaderboard of your friends. You may share your best rides with anyone else who joins up, and they may take those cars out on the open road of Forza Horizon‘s Colorado. Update Car clubs are capped at…
By Owen Good -
The NFL’s Greatest Players Revere Tecmo Bowl Too
Super Bowl MVP Hines Ward retired after this past season. He’s 36. Atlanta’s Tony Gonzalez, also the same age, is coming to the end of a hall-of-fame career as a tight end. Emmitt Smith, an extraordinarily tough running back for Dallas, was enshrined at Canton in 2010. “Runnin’ the football was awesome,” he said, “in…
By Owen Good -
Culture
The Week in Games: Meadow of Honor: Warfarmer
What is this week’s biggest release? Is it Forza Horizon or Street Fighter X Tekken on the Vita? Is it The Unfinished Swan or Skylanders Giants? Is it Medal of Honor: Warfighter?. Or is it the game that feeds a land, raises a hard-working generation, and bestows upon a nation the greatness it needs to…
By Owen Good -
Be Sure to Drink Your Ovaltine, and Decode This Assassin’s Creed Image
As Assassin’s Creed‘s is basically predicated on brainwashing and an enormous conspiracy theory, it’s the perfect subject for the kind of viral clue-hunting alternate-reality game that surfaced on the game’s official site this past week. On Friday, the game—“Hacked History”—reached 100 percent completion. That is, everyone spotted all the anomalies presented in three historic paintings.…
By Owen Good -
As Time Runs Out on the Xbox 360, Look For a Conservative Gameplan from Sports Video Games
Army, Navy, Air Force, I haven’t played with or against a service academy in years in NCAA Football. This year, the game added parachutists to deliver the ball to the 50-yard line at Michie Stadium—and I’m told play-by-play man Brad Nessler now pronounces Michie Stadium correctly (it’s MIKE-ey, not “Mitchie”). All positive steps forward, fine.…
By Owen Good -
No, EA Sports has not Quietly Killed Named Rosters in Its College Football Video Game
“Roster Share,” a service in which NCAA Football 13 players trade edited rosters over EA Sports servers, has been down for a few days on both the Xbox 360 and the PlayStation 3. This has given rise to conspiracy rumors that EA has spiked the feature, especially as it’s tied to a use-of-likeness lawsuit brought…
By Owen Good -
ChrisWarcraft’s Weekly NFL Quest, Level Seven: Acquire the Plumage of the Crimson Songbird
Football is a role-playing game. That’s how Chris Kluwe, the Minnesota Vikings punter and noted World of Warcraft and RPG fan, is approaching it. Each week in the NFL, ChrisWarcraft characterizes his upcoming game in terms of an MMO quest. We’re going to chart his progress and see how fast he levels up. Last week,…
By Owen Good -
Kotaku ‘Shop Contest: Sexy Video Game Halloween 2.0
Halloween is 10 days away, and this lingerie warehouse’s costume series of sexed-up, dumb-as-hell ripoffs of video game characters is this week’s theme. Designed to “appeal to” gamers (if by “appeal to”, one means “titillate”), the lack of imagination behind them is still palpable. Really, no Sexy Samus? Sexy Chell? And if they’re doing sexy…
By Owen Good -
Modders Bring PlayStation’s All-Stars to Super Smash Bros. Brawl
From the moment the concept leaked around Thanksgiving last year, PlayStation All-Stars Battle Royale has been slapped with labels like “PlayStation Smash Bros.” So, OK, fine, here you go. A bona fide Sony Smash Bros., courtesy of four Super Smash Bros. Brawl modders. The modders—ExorcistRain, Frusciante, KTH and Kingskull95—have delivered a Smash Bros. with all…
By Owen Good -
Culture
Sunday Comics: You Can’t Look It Up on GameFAQs, Either
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 Sept. 15.—Read more of Penny Arcade Awkward Zombie by Katie Tiedrich published Sept. 15.—Read more of Awkward Zombie…
By Owen Good -
BioShock Infinite‘s New Trailer Brings You the Beast America has to Offer
Here is “The Beast of America,” the latest trailer BioShock Infinite has to offer, going live moments ago via Facebook. Supposedly stitched together according to fan preference (I voted to see Songbird, Zeppelins and Handyman in the trailer’s Facebook promotion) it’s 100 percent in-game footage. The opening looks somewhat familiar, if only momentarily. Handyman features…
By Owen Good -
Kotaku ‘Shop Contest: Comic-Con Cosplay Extravaganza: The Winners
Didn’t Spider-Man save J. Jonah Jameson’s astronaut son from an out-of-control space capsule? (Answer: Yes, in Amazing Spider-Man No. 1) So, here Arniejolt has Spidey reprising a rescue from the troposphere to lead this week’s edition of the ‘Shop Contest. Getting started, uscg_pa (10) put together a bang-up magazine cover, but … yeah, kinda misspelled…
By Owen Good -
Why Didn’t Anyone Use Facebook or Twitter on the Xbox 360? In a Word, Screenshots.
I am an inveterate Twitter-er, with the second-most Tweets of anyone on Kotaku‘s staff. I’ll interrupt a game to bash out a 140-character punchline to something that just happened or occurred to me in one. It’s just my nature. After locking myself out of my bathroom and resolving the matter by literally kicking down the…
By Owen Good -
Castles and Customization Among First Details to Emerge on Dragon Age III
Character customization will return “in a big way” for Dragon Age III according to a BioWare panel spilling details and concept art on next year’s game at the Edmonton Comic & Entertainment Expo today. Already known as Dragon Age III: Inquisition and slated for a “late fall 2013” release, BioWare said it would release concept…
By Owen Good
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