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Medal of Honor Maker Defends Taliban Renaming, Addresses Free Speech Concerns
The 11th-hour renaming of the playable Taliban fighters as the “Opposing Force” in this month’s forthcoming Medal of Honor game is upsetting some gamers who say publisher Electronic Arts isn’t standing up for games or free speech. To those gamers, EA said today, try the demo version of the game and see what impact the…
By Stephen Totilo Published October 1, 2010 -
Talk Amongst Yourselves
Welcome to October. A new month brings a new image for Talk Amongst Yourselves. This one is by Hans Holbein, 16th century artist behind some creepy made-for-Halloween works like this one. Talk about games here. Go to #TAYpics to begin riffing on this image. I’m excited to see what you come up with. Thanks to…
By Stephen Totilo Published October 1, 2010 -
Video Proof That Outland Is The Child Of Ikaruga And A Platformer
We’ve described Outland. We’ve shown screenshots. Now watch the 2011 downloadable game from the makers of Super Stardust HD in action. The trick is the color-switching, Ikaruga-style. When the hero is red, red bullets don’t hurt him and red elevators work. Blue bullets do hurt him, but he can switch to blue. When he’s blue,…
By Stephen Totilo Published September 30, 2010 -
Running Backwards While Shooting A Shotgun Is A Bad Idea In Real Life
One brave or foolish gamer claims he took out his shotgun, went somewhere remote, and tried a common video game first-person shooter maneuver. The results were painful. This is how one man says he tried to back-up-and-shoot, using a shotgun, a broom, and a warehouse. He suffered some distress. The details were revealed in the…
By Stephen Totilo Published September 30, 2010 -
The Wii Drawing Tablet Might Be The Best Wacky Wii Peripheral
Do you look at the Wii Remote and see the potential for an advanced fishing rod or bowling ball? Imagine it as part of a drawing tablet. I tested that set-up this week. It’s what Mario Paint Wii could’ve been. The Wii drawing tablet is technically called the uDraw Game Tablet. It is shipping in…
By Stephen Totilo Published September 30, 2010 -
Skilled Photographers Struggling To Snap Good Photos Of Nintendo 3DS
The 3DS may be one of the most impressive pieces of gaming hardware ever promised, but it also may be the least photogenic. The glasses-free 3D graphics just don’t show well unless you see them in person. Normal cameras, even the ones wielded by professional photographers at this week’s big Nintendo conference in Japan, reduce…
By Stephen Totilo Published September 30, 2010 -
Talk Amongst Yourselves
We bid farewell to September’s AY image with this Lara Croft riff by reader MrMrScott. Celebrate by talking about games here. And please nominate an October painting over at #TAYpics (old paintings, please; include name of painter and art.)
By Stephen Totilo Published September 30, 2010 -
Amazon Pegs World Of Warcraft: Cataclysm Release For Early 2011
While the public still does not know what the official release date will be for World of Warcraft: Cataclysm, online retailer Amazon indicated overnight a belief that the anticipated game expansion will be released in January. We’ve collected several e-mail tips from readers who report receiving e-mails from the online retailer in the last several…
By Stephen Totilo Published September 30, 2010 -
Xbox 360 Transformed Into A Stereo, Via Zune
Xbox Live Gold members have been able to use Last.fm to turn their game console into a stereo. Come November, those with a Zune pass can also do the Xbox stereo thing through the Zune library. The video you see above is a sneak listen to the improved Zune music integration coming in the November…
By Stephen Totilo Published September 29, 2010 -
The Next Way To Play Pac-Man Is Without Touching Anything
Remember Pac-Man? Remember the recent popularity of Nintendo DS game Brain Age that supposedly made you smarter. Combine the two. Put them on an Xbox 360 next spring, and make it run on Kinect — no controller required. You’re looking at a video I shot last night of a Namco representative using Body and Brain…
By Stephen Totilo Published September 29, 2010 -
We Cannot Show You The New ESPN On Xbox 360 [UPDATE]
Are you excited for ESPN on your Xbox 360? Check your zipcode. I live in New York City, but Time Warner Cable in Brooklyn does not support ESPN3.com, so my Xbox 360 can’t use the ballyhooed Xbox integration. The video you can see here is captured from my Xbox 360, which is running the new…
By Stephen Totilo Published September 29, 2010 -
At Play With The New Xbox 360 Dashboard
We’ve got the new Xbox 360 dashboard, still in beta, running on some of our Xbox 360s at Kotaku. The update will be coming to all 360 owners later this fall. Let’s talk features. Updated with a longer video tour. The dashboard update is slated for November. Presentation is lighter. Fonts are changed. We’ll have…
By Stephen Totilo Published September 29, 2010 -
Talk Amongst Yourselves
Today we present a screenshot of TAY that you will be able to enjoy by the end of March 2011. Meanwhile, please talk here about video games. Thanks to reader Ben for today’s image. You all have one last chance to submit a September riff over at #TAYpics
By Stephen Totilo Published September 29, 2010 -
Zombies Confirmed For Call Of Duty: Black Ops
Confirming what it calls one of the “worst kept secrets” the makers of the next Call of Duty said today that you’ll be able to shoot zombies in Call of Duty: Black Ops in the game’s four-player co-op mode. The November—scheduled Black Ops is being made by Treyarch, the studio that tucked a zombie-shooting mode…
By Stephen Totilo Published September 29, 2010 -
ReviewsPlayed: DeathSpank: Thongs of Virtue
DeathSpank: Thongs Of Virtue is video game deja vu if deja vu involved feeling like you’ve done the thing you’re doing before — but maybe not ever before in a boat. Style: You are DeathSpank one of the intentionally more dimwitted video game action heroes, and you are in a cartoon parody world in which…
By Stephen Totilo Published September 28, 2010 -
The Kotaku Guide To Fall Video Games
Fall is supposed to be the best time of the video game year, the entree and the dessert after the first nine month’s meager salad and interactive appetizer. But in 2010, the winter and spring were bountiful and fall is at risk of seeming pathetic. Could it be? These are your fall games of 2010.…
By Stephen Totilo Published September 28, 2010 -
Talk Amongst Yourselves, Minecraft Edition
This here is our Rubens painting that you’ve all been Photoshopping this month, but it’s been re-done in Minecraft. Take a bow, reader KindaGamey! The rest of you, please discuss video games. Oh, for reference, this is the original Rubens. Submit your image riffs to #TAYpics. Only two days left before we change images. But,…
By Stephen Totilo Published September 28, 2010 -
One Way To Save World War II Video Games
The cry goes out: Another World War II video game? Writer Rob Zacny argues that the war is not the problem. The tired perspective is. It grows stale fighting World War II once more from the triumphant, glorious American perspective, Zacny writes in a fantastic essay on the website Gamers With Jobs. Zacny was disappointed…
By Stephen Totilo Published September 27, 2010 -
How An Indie Xbox Answer To Old-School Dragon Warrior Reached 30K
Breath Of Death VII is, by at least one Kotaku reader account, the best role-playing game of the year. It costs $1 and, as of last week, sold 30,000 copies. How? This chart appears in a recent post-mortem of the game by one of the game’s creators, Robert Boyd. That Kotaku spike is a result…
By Stephen Totilo Published September 27, 2010 -
Left 4 Dead’s The Sacrifice Gets A Poster
Left 4 Dead games and expansions must be accompanied by a movie-style poster, according to some law of physics governing development studio Valve Software. The Sacrifice, which is out on October 5 for L4D 1 and 2, now has its own. The Sacrifice is the newest piece of Left 4 Dead content that bridges Valve’s…
By Stephen Totilo Published September 27, 2010
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