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2009 Game of the Year Finalist Debate: Assassin’s Creed II
There aren’t many ways that the multimillion-selling Assassin’s Creed II can be seen as an underdog, but in a discussion of 2009’s Game of the Year, it’s the dark horse. It’s not the interactive-movie-with-heart that is Uncharted 2. Nor is it the likably rough-edged innovative experiment Demon’s Souls. It is a sequel that atones for…
By Stephen Totilo Published January 20, 2010 -
The Avatar Video Game Disappointment
I was ready to like Avatar: The Game, the official video game of the movie like I’ve liked no other movie-game before. I said so when I reviewed the movie last month. And then, well… I feel I owe readers of that review an update. How was virtual Pandora, you might wonder? Hey, I’ve been…
By Stephen Totilo Published January 19, 2010 -
Mass Effect 2 Is Latest EA Game To Sweeten The Deal For “Original Purchasers”
In the war against used game sales, publisher EA appears to be favoring one tactic: Adding value for those who purchase the company’s games new. The publisher announced such a tactic today for Mass Effect 2. With Mass Effect 2, as with last fall’s Dragon Age: Origins and The Saboteur, EA will reward “original purchasers”…
By Stephen Totilo Published January 19, 2010 -
Kotaku Programming Reminder: Talk Live With Mass Effect 2’s Greg Zeschuk On Wednesday
As noted yesterday, Greg Zeschuk, co-founder of role-playing-game powerhouse BioWare, will be our guest on tomorrow’s live Kotaku call-in podcast. Show time’s 11am MT, 1pm ET. Call-in and listening details will be live on the site at show time.
By Stephen Totilo Published January 19, 2010 -
Boston School Training The Next Video Game Composers
Composers working on video game soundtracks seem to either be veterans of game-making or TV/movie folks crashing the medium. Take note, then, of schools like Berklee Music College in Boston that just might train people to compose music for games. The Boston Globe reports: Berklee is offering five classes this semester in video game audio…
By Stephen Totilo Published January 19, 2010 -
Bioshock 2’s Chief Creator Against A Tide Of Skeptics
Jordan Thomas has no overall map for Rapture, the majestic underwater city in which the BioShock series is set. He doesn’t have blueprints or a population figure. He works a little more by instinct. Thomas is the creative director of Bioshock 2. He’s got one of those dream gigs in games, overseeing a major release…
By Stephen Totilo Published January 19, 2010 -
Best Video Game Cut Scenes of 2009
We’re not just debating the best video game of 2009 this week. We’ve got other awards to dole out. Today, I declare which ’09 game had the best cut scenes and which was the runner-up. Winner: Little King’s Story The obscure Wii-only Japanese role-playing game mixes city-building with Pikmin-style roaming-gang action with unexpectedly touching storytelling…
By Stephen Totilo Published January 19, 2010 -
Nintendo Spot Makes UK Most Irritating Ad List, But Isn’t That Annoying
A Nintendo DS ad took the number nine spot among the most irritating TV ads aired in the UK last year, as determined by England’s Marketing magazine. The ad doesn’t seem that annoying to me, but then I have no attachment to its stars, British comedians Ant and Dec. Now, the number one ad is…
By Stephen Totilo Published January 18, 2010 -
Report: ESPN Coming To Xbox 360?
The New York Times reports that ESPN and Microsoft are in talks to bring a subscription-based service to Xbox Live that would stream live sporting events through the Xbox 360, no cable TV connection needed. The paper notes that none of this is official, sourcing anonymous “people close to the talks”: Microsoft has held in-depth…
By Stephen Totilo Published January 18, 2010 -
God of War III’s Wildest Moment (So Far) Explained
Squint or you’ll miss God of War protagonist Kratos in new screenshots released by Sony today. Click through them here and I’ll explain what in the world is happening via captions next to each shot. The shots were captured from the briefest playable sequence of a major game that I’ve ever been asked to try.…
By Stephen Totilo Published January 18, 2010 -
BioWare’s Greg Zeschuk Takes Your Calls During This Week’s Podcast
Our podcast adventures continue this week, with our second week recording live from CBS Radio’s studios. This time, the co-founder of Dragon Age and Mass Effect 2 studio BioWare will take your calls live. Greg Zeschuk will be our in-studio guest for the hour. On Wednesday at 11am Kotaku Time (that’s 1pm ET, 10am PT),…
By Stephen Totilo Published January 18, 2010 -
Apple Invites Us To Jan 27 Special Event, Think iSlate?
Invitation sent to Kotaku today: “Please join Apple on January 27 for a Special Event.” Assumption made by Kotaku today: iSlate reveal? Now, why would Kotaku be sent that? “Come see our latest creation,” the colorful invitation states. Earlier this month, The Wall Street Journal reported that Apple’s long-rumored tablet computer, the iSlate (perhaps?) would…
By Stephen Totilo Published January 18, 2010 -
Haiti
To: Owen From: Stephen Re: When I Get To Friday… It feels wrong to be writing about video games all week, disseminating so much information to the public and not personally mentioning the suffering in Haiti once. I considered some Haiti stories to write for Kotaku, reached out to some people in game development with…
By Stephen Totilo Published January 15, 2010 -
Rockstar Has Some Fun With “Eye Of Sauron” Comparison, Still Won’t Comment
Capping off a week during which Rockstar Game’s New York team was unfavorably described as an Eye of Sauron overlooking its development studios, the company just posted some new editions to its wallpaper series. The company entitled the three-image series: “The Eye Is Watching.” Earlier in the week, an anonymous ex-Rockstar employee described to MTV…
By Stephen Totilo Published January 15, 2010 -
Should Video Games Permit Three-Player Arm Wrestling?
Yesterday, I found the line between reality and unreality that video games would not cross. It involved arm wrestling. I was visiting the offices of a public relations firm in Manhattan on Thursday to check out early builds of upcoming games from the publisher Hudson Entertainment. Among those was Deca Sports DS, the first portable…
By Stephen Totilo Published January 15, 2010 -
Monday Night Combat Might Be The Xbox 360’s Most Violent New Sport
With a trailer that makes it look like a cross between Team Fortress 2 and Monday Night Football, here is Uber Entertainment’s Monday Night Combat, coming to Xbox Live Arcade. From the studio with the parkour-loving game developer. Official description: Monday Night Combat is a class-based, third-person shooterā€¦ and the most popular lethal sport of…
By Stephen Totilo Published January 15, 2010 -
Ken Levine Explains Irrational Switch, “Underwater Horse” Connection
Some time this year Ken Levine will finally let people know what game he and his studio are working on, the creative visionary behind BioShock told Kotaku today. Not yet. Today, he wanted to discuss the re-renamed Irrational Games. As reported earlier this week, 2K Boston, the lead development studio behind BioShock, System Shock, Freedom…
By Stephen Totilo Published January 15, 2010
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