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How The Last Generation Changed JRPGs For The Better
One of this generation’s most controversial JRPG trends might also turn out to be its best. When Team Kotaku first started planning out our Last-Gen Heroesfeature, I started thinking about how JRPGs have evolved over the past generation—a generation that some would argue has been disastrous for the genre. Between a polarizing thirteenth Final Fantasy,…
By Jason Schreier Published November 8, 2013 -
UncategorizedWarlords Of Draenor Brings The Original Warcraft Trilogy To WoW
Before World of Warcraft there was plain Warcraft, the award-winning, genre-defining real-time strategy trilogy. Many players of the MMO have never experienced those classic stories. The next World of Warcraft expansion, Warlords of Draenor, is going to fix that. “What if those dark days could come again?” asked Blizzard’s Chris Metzen on stage at BlizzCon…
By Mike Fahey Published November 8, 2013 -
UncategorizedBlizzard’s Heroes Of The Storm Looks Spectacular
During the opening ceremonies of BlizzCon 2013, Blizzard showed off the latest gameplay footage for the all-star MOBA they are calling Blizzard: The Game, Heroes of the Storm. That looks spectacular. Almost as good as the cinematic trailer Blizzard opened the Heroes of the Storm segment with. Beta signups for the game should be live…
By Mike Fahey Published November 8, 2013 - Uncategorized
Way to spoil your own World of Warcraft expansion reveal, Blizzard. Spotted by MMO-Champion in the pre-stream footage for Blizzcon 2013, World of Warcraft‘s next expansion, as expected, is Warlords of Draenor. For more info, check out the free live stream of the convention’s opening ceremony, kicking off at 2PM Eastern.
By Mike Fahey Published November 8, 2013 - Uncategorized
Third-Graders Really Don’t Like Video Games Tracking What They Do
By now, most adults are used to the idea that the software and services they use—including video games—record what they do to send feedback to the companies that make them. But when some third-graders found out that games they love have some kind of data-mining, it was a heartbreaking combination of funny and sad. NPR…
By Evan Narcisse Published November 8, 2013 - Uncategorized
Brothers, Plus and LIVE Discounts, Tearaway, Eneloop Pack [Deals]
New deals abound and great deals from yesterday persist. For your weekend gaming fix, pick up the excellent Brothers: A Tale of Two Sons, which occupies Game of the Year shortlists for many a game journalist. Brothers: A Tale of Two Sons [Steam] ($9) | GreenmanGaming | Use code GMG20-P6Y1F-KC19F Don’t forget to put in…
By Shane Roberts Published November 8, 2013 - Uncategorized
GameStop Is Super Helpful, Reminds You To Get Xbox Live For Your PS4
The new consoles are coming, and GameStop’s monthly newsletter for November has several helpful suggestions for launch day accessories that’ll maximize your PlayStation 4 experience, like additional controllers, the new Eye Camera, and a relatively useless small plastic rectangle. Pointed out to us by several readers and appearing in my own inbox (I’m a Rewards…
By Mike Fahey Published November 8, 2013 -
UncategorizedImpressions of the New Zelda, Five Hours In
The new Zelda does not feel like a game to skip, I’m happy to report after having played the game for five hours. Even if you’ve grown tired of Zelda games. I’ll spoil nothing about The Legend of Zelda: A Link Between Worlds, but will share some important findings (!) with you about the November…
By Stephen Totilo Published November 8, 2013 -
UncategorizedThe Hunger Games Recreated With Cats That Don’t Care
Cats don’t care that these children are forced to fight each other for others’ amusement. They don’t care about how cute Jennifer Lawrence is. They also don’t care that you think Battle Royale was better (it was). But they’re still the stars of this speed run through the general plot by The Pet Collective. They’re…
By Tina Amini Published November 8, 2013 -
UncategorizedYouTube’s New Comment Moderation Seems To (Not) Be Going Well So Far
YouTube’s new comment moderation system sounds pretty neat, but it’s really going to hinge on how people interact on the Internet. And there’s only so much you can do to moderate that. This comment thread is perhaps the perfect example of that. Here’s the NSFW version of the top screenshot: The top comment—with 75 “thumbs…
By Tina Amini Published November 8, 2013 - Uncategorized
A Turn-Based RPG Inspired By Final Fantasy Tactics
Today in Kickstarters That Look Pretty Cool, here’s Gridlock Tactics, a “biopunk” role-playing game whose creators say they were inspired by the likes of Final Fantasy Tactics and Disgaea The people behind Gridlock Tactics—some of whom worked at Beenox, the studio behind the last few Spider-Man games—want $50,000 to make it happen. They hope to…
By Jason Schreier Published November 8, 2013 - Uncategorized
Here’s what’s going on Talk Among Yourselves, our reader-written blog: Rathorial calls numeric progression a Last-Gen Zero and says that a lot of RPGs from the last console cycle used numbers the wrong way. In DamsonRhee’s house, the Xbox 360 is a Last-Gen Zero. Man, look at that Wario! I hope someone from Nintendo is…
By Evan Narcisse Published November 8, 2013 - Esports
Blizzard Turned StarCraft II Players Into Trading Cards
Further proving that eSports is all grown up and should be recognized as a real sport, Blizzard created a deck of StarCraft II trading cards. Baseball and basketball players have trading cards—why shouldn’t these guys have at least a few? The cards you see above will be handed out to lucky attendees during the game’s…
By Gergo Vas Published November 8, 2013 -
UncategorizedSony Viral Teases Something Street Fighter For The PlayStation 4
Packed with references to Capcom’s famous fighting game franchise and tagged with the #4ThePlayers hashtag, this viral video from Sony seems to indicate something Street Fighter is happening on the PlayStation 4, but what? VG24/7 looks to have been the first to post the “Hadouken Cabs” viral this morning, sent to them in an email…
By Mike Fahey Published November 8, 2013 - Uncategorized
The Xbox One Dashboard Is Definitely a Next-Gen Improvement
Two weeks before launch, the Xbox One dashboard is clean, runs swiftly and does some cool new things gamers will like. It wasn’t perfect, but I was looking at something that Microsoft says is roughly 85% ready. It wasn’t quite what we’ll be able to use at launch, but it’s close. I got the demo…
By Stephen Totilo Published November 8, 2013 - Uncategorized
Just waking up? It’s cool. Here’s some stuff you missed overnight. Ain’t No Wedding Like An Incredible World Of Warcraft Cosplay Wedding The One Real “Next-Gen” Game Of The Last Generation An Army Of PS4 Consoles, Massed At The Gates Miss Universe Contest Interrupted By Transformers Cosplay (Huh?)
By Luke Plunkett Published November 8, 2013 - Uncategorized
Guess which classic RTS looks fantastic in Lego form: Age of Empires II! Artizan, the creator, intends to recreate as much of the game as possible. You can see his progress here and even support him if you want to. An ambitious project, but it’d be nice to see those larger buildings (and catapults) next…
By Gergo Vas Published November 8, 2013 - Reviews
The Hori Gem Pad May Just Make You a Better Fighting Gamer
Hori as a company has been making video game controllers for years. These have ranged from joysticks and FPS controllers to a mouse for console gaming. Their newest controller, the Gem Pad, is specifically designed for those who think fighting games are best played with a pad, and not a stick. A little background before…
By Richard Eisenbeis Published November 8, 2013 - Uncategorized
Veteran Game Dev Risks Health for 80-Hour Charity Gaming Session
You probably shouldn’t try this at home. Leave it to the professionals—like Billy Joe Cain. Cain’s been in the gaming industry for about twenty years, during which he worked on games for Origin Systems and Electronic Arts. He also set up a world record (several of them, in fact) playing the 1980 arcade game Defender—a…
By András Neltz Published November 8, 2013