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Curt Schilling Says Meddlesome Governor Ruined Amalur 2 Deal
Baseball star Curt Schilling is finally talking about the crumbling of his gaming company, 38 Studios, telling the Providence Journalthat comments about 38 by R.I. governor Lincoln Chafee killed a $35 million deal for a Kingdoms of Amalur sequel.
By Stephen Totilo Published May 29, 2012 -
ReviewsResistance: Burning Skies: The Kotaku Review
The PlayStation Vita has two analog sticks and can run some of the same games that are on the PlayStation 3. That’s good news for Sony’s wonderful handheld hardware and bad news for Resistance: Burning Skies a mediocre new first-person shooter that has no excuses for underachieving. Burning Skies is the fifth game in a…
By Stephen Totilo Published May 29, 2012 -
Harley Quinn’s Revenge is Batman: Arkham City‘s Bad New Ending
Harley Quinn’s Revenge has had the opposite effect on me than whatever its creators likely intended. The linear, two-hour $10 PS3/Xbox 360 epilogue to last October’s excellent Batman: Arkham City has diminished my desire to return to that game and give me new worries about this Batman series’ future. This add-on is as delicious a…
By Stephen Totilo Published May 29, 2012 -
GameStop Says They Won’t Mess With Your Game Informer Subscription After All [UPDATE 3]
Earlier this week a person claiming to work for mega gaming chain GameStop posted a warning on Reddit to all prospective shoppers: if you sign up for a Game Informer subscription while you’re at the shop, you will be signed up for a digital subscription, not for the print magazine—unless you ask. Worse, the person…
By Stephen Totilo Published May 25, 2012 -
Curt Schilling’s Role-Playing Game Supposedly Needed to Sell 3 Million Copies to Not Fail
Yesterday, Curt Schilling bragged that Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning beat EA’s sales expectations. Today, Rhode Island governor Lincoln Chafee told reporters that Amalur needed to sell more than double that number just to break even. Governor Chafee spoke to reporters today during a press conference about the game studio run by Curt Schilling that has…
Stephen Totilo and Owen Good Published May 24, 2012 -
Call of Duty Creators Say Oliver North Helped Make Their Game More Authentic
Lt. Col. Oliver North is a polarizing figure in American history and, we found out, earlier this month, an advisor on the next huge Call of Duty game, Black Ops II North isn’t your average video game consultant. He was one of the main actors in the Iran-Contra scandal that wracked America in the ‘80s.…
By Stephen Totilo Published May 24, 2012 -
In Defense of Perfect Scores
You will see, occasionally, the complaint that a video game has been given a perfect score. 10/10. 5/5. All five stars. The complaint tends to be that there are too many of these perfect numbers. These scores must come, the thinking goes, from easily-impressed reviewers who are as full of bias as they are breathless.…
By Stephen Totilo Published May 24, 2012 -
I Made Some E3 Predictions, Because That’s What You Do on Talk Shows
Spike TV’s All Access Weekly airs tonight at midnight, but you can watch it right here. Why would you? Because your Kotaku editor-in-chief is on it, chatting with host Katie Linendoll about next month’s E3. We’re talking winners, losers and, uh, we’re doing some guessing. We shot this a couple of weeks back, giving Spike…
By Stephen Totilo Published May 24, 2012 -
This Great Video Game Trailer Is Incredibly Upsetting
Most video game trailers flirt. They tell you: If you play this game, you will feel awesome. The new live-action trailer for Metro Last Light doesn’t do that. It’s here to make you sad. It’s harrowing, wrenching, emotionally-manipulative and captivating. I usually prefer video game trailers that show some gameplay. Not this time. This one’s…
By Stephen Totilo Published May 24, 2012 -
Why Call of Duty Still Has Single-Player Campaigns
Call of Duty was always popular, but became a cultural phenomenon only in 2007 thanks to a revised multiplayer system that hooked players with a then-innovative ability-unlocking level-based system. That year’s Call of Duty IV: Modern Warfare became the new GoldenEye, the new Halo… the new multiplayer game that it seemed like everyone who had…
By Stephen Totilo Published May 24, 2012 -
Ask a Video Game Developer Anything … Call for Questions
We did it twice (this time and this time). We’re doing it again: Ask a video game developer anything…preferably about the world of game-making! Put your questions in the comments section, please. In a week or so, Jeremiah Slaczka (5TH Cell creative director! Scribblenauts! Hybrid! Kotaku columnist!) will answer the very best ones in the…
By Stephen Totilo Published May 23, 2012 -
Survey for Games Journalism Awards is Itself Award-Worthy
The people at the National Academy of Video Game Testers and Reviewers have sent me a survey in an e-mail that was topped with the deceptive subject line “Game Reporter of the Year?” I thought I’d won! No, I merely have a survey I can fill out. I mean, I merely have a survey I…
By Stephen Totilo Published May 23, 2012 -
Go Try Angry Birds on Facebook. It’s Different Today.
Angry Birds on Facebook is now Angry Birds Friends, a re-naming that will either horrify you or launch a new Facebook gaming addiction. (Try it here.) The absurdly popular game is still free on Facebook, of course, but now it’s more linked to friends and operates more like Bejeweled Blitz, running regular multi-level tournaments every…
By Stephen Totilo Published May 23, 2012 -
I Was Impressed By Company of Heroes 2‘s Fire And Snow
The physical feature that most impressed players of the first great Company of Heroes real-time strategy game was the earth. In combat, under the impact of a grenade or tank shell, it cratered. There were many other things to like in the first CoH, which is one of the best-reviewed video games of all time.…
By Stephen Totilo Published May 22, 2012 -
Sony Web Address for Next PlayStation Doesn’t Work Anymore
Above, an image screencapped on my computer the day this past March when we broke the news that the so-called PlayStation 4 is codenamed Orbis That URL up there used to work, curiously bringing people to same PlayStation developers’ site that similar web addresses for PS3 would take you to. I tried it again today.…
By Stephen Totilo Published May 22, 2012 -
I Played XCOM: Enemy Unknown With An Xbox Controller. It Works.
Given its pedigree, you might expect XCOM: Enemy Unknown, the October-scheduled throwback to a classic computer strategy game, to be playable only by mouse and keyboard. Can’t work any other way, right? I played the new turn-based strategy game on a PC last week in Santa Monica. I played it with an Xbox 360 controller…
By Stephen Totilo Published May 22, 2012 -
X-Com First Person Shooter Severely Delayed Yet Again
The bold first-person shooter take on classic strategy game X-Com, long in development by BioShock 2 creators 2K Marin, has been pushed back another year by publisher Take Two to some time between April 1, 2013 and March 31, 2014
By Stephen Totilo Published May 22, 2012 -
If You Have a TV Nearby During E3, Turn on Spike TV
In two week’s time, the E3 press conferences will be over. You’ll have seen the biggest newest from Nintendo, Sony, Microsoft, EA and Ubisoft. You’ll know all about the Wii U, the next big things for Xbox 360 and the future of PlayStation. But how will you have seen this news? If you are near…
By Stephen Totilo Published May 22, 2012 -
I’m Actually On the Bandwagon for a Vita Game Called PulzAR. Join Me?
The first time I saw the word PulzAR on a list of upcoming PlayStation-brand video games, I laughed. Or did I scoff? One of the two. PulzAR?? Really? Having played Halo, I should know that you can’t judge a game by its name. I didn’t have to. PulzAR, I would soon learn is an augmented…
By Stephen Totilo Published May 22, 2012
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