- Uncategorized
Everything You Need to Know About The Wii U (That Nintendo Was Willing To Tell Us)
The new Wii is called the Wii U. It’s coming out in America on November 18 and will cost $299, not counting hidden costs. Nintendo blasted out a ton of news about it today. But they didn’t tell us everything. Here’s What We Know It’s $299, for the basic version that includes the console (which…
By Stephen Totilo Published September 13, 2012 - Uncategorized
Chinese Developer Straight-Up Rips off Facebook Game
We’ve seen Chinese and Vietnamese “developers” flat out copy successful Flash games, and steal visual assets from titles like Torchlight before. Now they’ve taken it upon themselves to rip off an actually good Facebook game, Woodland Heroes, a real-time strategy game made by alums of the studio that makes Madden NFL Worst part? The copycats…
By Owen Good Published September 13, 2012 -
UncategorizedHappy 20th Birthday, Harley Quinn! You’re Getting This Stunning Statue to Celebrate.
I mean, she should be right? The Dark Knight’s always beating up on her puddin’ and spoiling all her psychotic, malicious fun. But, darn if she doesn’t look downright flirty here, in a new statue coming from DC Collectibles. The piece—sculpted by Jack Matthews—stands about 9.25 inches tall and sports the character design that debuted…
By Evan Narcisse Published September 13, 2012 -
UncategorizedA Moment To Remember The Song That Sold Borderlands
As we sit here waiting for the launch of Borderlands 2, it’s easy to forget that a lot of people thought that the first game was going to be a huge flop. It was a new idea amid a flood of sequels, and a totally untested quantity—did we really need another first-person shooter? Why would…
By Kirk Hamilton Published September 13, 2012 - Uncategorized
Amanda Palmer Asks Musicians To Play For Free, Pisses Off Musicians [Update]
Now is the time on Kotaku Melodic where we talk about a music thing that’s not really games-related. Y’all have been warned. Okay, here we go! It’s an old story: Famous, beloved musician raises a crapload of tour money on Kickstarter. Said musician writes an enthusiastic blog post asking for volunteers to play with her…
By Kirk Hamilton Published September 13, 2012 - Uncategorized
Fantasy Drafts Are Returning to Madden‘s Career Mode
The official Twitter feed for Madden NFL 13 just announced that fantasy drafts—a mainstay feature of the game’s franchise mode for nearly a decade—will return to the game’s Online “Connected Careers” mode tomorrow. Fantasy drafts dispersed the entire NFL population of players and allowed franchise holders to reconstitute their teams through a league-wide “draft” of…
By Owen Good Published September 13, 2012 -
UncategorizedOkay, I’m Ready To Set The FarmVille 2 Theme Music On Fire Now
Well, that didn’t take long. I’ve been playing FarmVille 2 for just over a week, and I am 100% ready to light the theme music on fire. Listen to it. It’s up top. Now imagine that music plays every single time you load up the game. Every. Single. Time. FarmVille 2 isn’t really a game…
By Kirk Hamilton Published September 13, 2012 -
UncategorizedThe London Philharmonic Is Totally Going To Record The Music From Fez (And Some Other Games, Too)
You may recall that a while back, we held a vote to help the London Philharmonic determine which music they’d include on their follow-up to their first “Greatest Video Game Music” album. Many a vote was cast, and in the end, Mass Effect 3 won. Which was a lit-tle bit awkward, since IGN also held…
By Kirk Hamilton Published September 13, 2012 -
UncategorizedBalloon Trip Breeze Brings Back Memories of the NES’ Balloon Fight
What I recall of Balloon Fight on the Nintendo Entertainment System was whaling on one button or the other to maintain altitude, to the point of thumb cramps. Balloon Trip Breeze, the Wii U’s obvious homage to the NES classic, relies on the use of a stylus with the Wii U GamePad’s touchscreen, as Kotaku‘s…
By Owen Good Published September 13, 2012 -
UncategorizedMario Gets His Race On In “Boost Rush” Mode For New Super Mario Bros. U
At Nintendo’s press event today, Jason took a look at the new “Boost Rush Mode” for New Super Mario Bros. U for the Wii U. Here, you can see the mode in action—it involves pushing the screen to scroll faster by hitting boost blocks. Also, check out the nifty secret Luigi finds near the end.
By Kirk Hamilton Published September 13, 2012 - Uncategorized
Hold Off On Trading In Your Wii for a Wii U If You Want To Be Able to Keep Your Data
GameStop may be offering a trade-in bonus on your Wii right now, but you may not want to rush to trade up for a shiny new Wii U just yet. Wii owners will be able to transfer their data—including saved games and purchased Wii Shop titles—from their Wii to their new Wii U, but there’s…
By Kate Cox Published September 13, 2012 -
UncategorizedDraw Up Some Crazy Plays in the Dirt with the Wii U’s GamePad in Madden NFL 13
The basic pass routes in American football are, off the top of my head, the post, the slant, the square-out, the streak, the hook and the wheel. Here, Kotaku‘s Jason Schreier introduces us to the Curli-Cue, the Zag-Zig-Zag, the One-Oar-In-the-Water and the Field Sobriety Test, all of which were improvised routes using the touchscreen feature…
By Owen Good Published September 13, 2012 -
UncategorizedYou Asked For More Pikmin, So Nintendo Is Giving It To You. Twice.
Pikmin 3 isn’t the only Pikmin game on Wii U. Watch me throw Pikmin as Captain Olimar in this mini-game for Nintendo Land, the compilation title for Wii U that’s out on launch date, November 18.
By Jason Schreier Published September 13, 2012 - Uncategorized
Why, Yes, That Is an NHL Goal Horn You Hear in Fart Cat
Hockey fans might think they’re hearing a familiar sound in Fart Cat, the rude-and-crude mobile game that released last week, when they finish off a level and the titular feline floats an air biscuit into the basket. And they’d be correct. That is the bleat of the same horn the St. Louis Blues use to…
By Owen Good Published September 13, 2012 - Uncategorized
Nintendo Isn’t Supporting or Selling a Second Wii U GamePad for the U.S. Launch
Speaking to Polygon today, Nintendo product marketing manager Bill Trinen said that the stand-alone Wii U GamePad, being released in Japan at half the cost of the full console, won’t be priced or released in North America until there’s content that requires doubling up. Second Wii U GamePad won’t be supported or priced at launch…
By Mike Fahey Published September 13, 2012 -
UncategorizedDress Heihachi Up as Mario, Kazuya as Link in the Wii U Version of Tekken Tag Tournament 2
There’s already a ton of character customization options in the newly released Tekken Tag Tournament 2 but the Wii U version will be getting fan service of the highest order. Namco Bandai will be releasing themed outfits that turns characters into Bowser, Zelda or other characters from iconic Nintendo games. TTT2 on Wii U will…
By Evan Narcisse Published September 13, 2012 - Uncategorized
Nintendo Wants To Take Over Your Living Room
Today’s Nintendo news bonanza taught us two things. 1. Nintendo has learned how to use the Internet. Finally. 2. Nintendo is using this newfound knowledge that the Internet exists not just to support games, but to try to take over your living room. It’s one hell of a gamble. Let’s flash back to 2006. When…
By Jason Schreier Published September 13, 2012 - Uncategorized
Batman: Arkham City Looks, Um, Different on the Wii U [UPDATE]
These screens are supposed to be showing off the new armored looks Battle Armored Tech (B.A.T.) Mode for Batman and Catwoman in the Wii U edition of last year’s hit superhero game. But, really, these shots highlight the fact that Arkham City doesn’t look demonstrably better on Nintendo’s upcoming console. Honestly: these images look terrible.…
By Evan Narcisse Published September 13, 2012 - Uncategorized
Wii U Games Will Cost $59.99
Games for Nintendo’s new system will cost $59.99, the Mario creators have confirmed to us. This is an increase from last generation: the standard retail price for Wii games was $49.99. The Wii U comes out November 18. The base package will run you $299.99.
By Jason Schreier Published September 13, 2012
