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Tony Hawk and Guitar Hero Development Team Heeds the Call of Duty
Neversoft, the Activision developement studio known for introducing Tony Hawk to video games and carrying the Guitar Hero torch, updated its website to reflect its new role supporting the Call of Duty franchise. Fingers crossed for skateboarding guitarist zombies. [Gamespot]
By Mike Fahey Published June 15, 2012 -
UncategorizedWhat Were All Those Indie Games Doing at E3 Anyway?
Most game enthusiasts expect to hear about the new Halo, Call of Duty and Final Fantasy (sorry if you were waiting on news for FFXV) at the annual Electronic Entertainment Expo. What they may be surprised by is a size-changing game like Scale, the loopy cosmic momentum of Gravity Ghost or the colorful Kinect creativity…
By Evan Narcisse Published June 15, 2012 - Uncategorized
Here’s A Friendly Tease For All You RPG Fans
If you’ve kept up with my regular column about Japanese role-playing games, you likely know that one of my favorite games of the past few years is a charming RPG called Legend of Heroes: Trails in the Sky The problem with Trails in the Sky, released last year for PSP, is that it ends on…
By Jason Schreier Published June 15, 2012 -
UncategorizedThe Elder Scrolls Online is Not as World of Warcraft as You Might Fear
About a month ago, on the top floor of a seven-story hotel whose elevators were temporarily out of service, I saw the massively multiplayer online version of The Elder Scrolls. (You know, the Skyrim series.) Two of the top people who have been creating this game in secrecy for the last couple of years played…
By Stephen Totilo Published June 15, 2012 - Uncategorized
Talk Amongst Yourselves
Today is the best sort of days. It’s a summer Friday. Let us all rejoice! Welcome to Kotaku’s official forum, known affectionately as Talk Amongst Yourselves. This is the place where we gather on a daily basis to discuss all things video game and existential. Want to talk about new games, old games, games that…
By Evan Narcisse Published June 15, 2012 - Uncategorized
BioWare is ‘Looking at Free-to-Play’ for Star Wars: The Old Republic
Back in December BioWare’s dueling doctors told us they couldn’t see their newly-launched massively multiplayer online Star Wars role-playing game going free-to-play in the foreseeable future. Then BioWare botched several free game updates and lost a good chunk of the game’s subscribers. Suddenly free-to-play isn’t looking so bad. In an interview with Games(TM), lead designer…
By Mike Fahey Published June 15, 2012 - Uncategorized
Dead or Alive 5 Developers Would Love If Their Game Was in Fighting Tournaments But…
These days, it’s impossible to make a fighting game without the awareness that the community surrounding those games is going to put it through its paces. The fact that there’s a dedicated group of players who’ll be picking apart movesets and stun durations isn’t daunting to fighting game creators, though. For some, it’s inspiring, When…
By Evan Narcisse Published June 15, 2012 -
UncategorizedA Terrifying First Look at the Sequel to the Scariest PC Game Ever
In case you don’t want to watch the first teaser trailer for Amnesia: A Machine for Pigs, let me summarize it for you: Pretty, pretty, pretty, pretty, oh god what is that? What the hell is that?! There’s a terrifying monster pig creature out there, and the truffles he’s rooting for are your soul. If…
By Mike Fahey Published June 15, 2012 - Kotaku East
Watch Out! It’s a (Tokyo) Jungle Out There
Evolved from a PSN title to a disc-based release, Sony’s newest PS3 game, Tokyo Jungle has caught the attention of many with its interesting urban environment, animal survival concept. But does this title bring gameplay equal to its unique narrative base or does it never completely manage to escape its budget title roots? Good —…
By Richard Eisenbeis Published June 15, 2012 - Kotaku East
Teenager Lured Little Girl with Video Games. Then, He Raped Her.
Early this past March in China’s Gushi County, 14 year-old Xiao Qiang told seven year-old Xiao Hua she could play games on his mobile phone. He lured her into a room in an abandoned shoe factory. There, he proceeded to sexually assault her. After raping Xiao Hua, the boy continued to bully and abuse her…
By Brian Ashcraft Published June 15, 2012 - Kotaku East
Red Games Are Patriotic Communist Games That Always Have China Winning
Chances are when you hear “China”, you immediately think of communism, Tiananmen Square and Chairman Mao. Well, those three things don’t really scream video games, but in China they are an important part of China’s video gaming history. Chairman Mao and his vision of China a red China has influenced a genre of video games…
By Eric Jou Published June 15, 2012 - Kotaku East
And Japan’s Most Popular Manga is… (Survey Says)
Last month, goo Research polled 1,939 Japanese people from ages 15 to 44 about their manga reading habits. Questions ranged from which manga they read to who their favorite character is—they even asked about favorite one-liners. So if manga is your drug of choice, read on to see which are the most popular in Japan…
By Richard Eisenbeis Published June 15, 2012 - Kotaku East
A Small Fleet of Cars. Pokémon Cars.
If you collect Japanese toy cars, you’re well aware of the Pikachu toy car. This wasn’t a one off dealio. Japanese toy maker Takara Tomy is running a campaign this summer with Toyota dealers to give away Pokémon mini toy cars as part of a promotion with the new Pocket Monsters feature film. This month…
By Brian Ashcraft Published June 15, 2012 - Kotaku East
Decades Later, Dirty Doorknob Manga Locks Up an Adult Film Version
Last year, Kotaku profiled the male and female photographers behind Doorknob Girl, a collection of photos featuring young women licking doorknobs. The NSFW photos, which are now available in book forum, sexualize an object that most view as innocuous: the doorknob. But this wasn’t a first. Over a decade ago, an underground manga artist named…
By Brian Ashcraft Published June 15, 2012 - Kotaku East
Forget Food! Chinese Kids Want Virtual Gaming Loot, Instead
According to a population study done by Nanjing Normal University and published by Tencent, over 33% of Chinese junior high students in the Nanjing area are willing to go hungry in the morning so that they can purchase items for online games. In their study, Nanjing University surveyed over 1,200 junior high, high school, and…
By Eric Jou Published June 15, 2012 -
Kotaku EastFinal Fantasy, King of Fighters, and Magic: The Gathering Collide in This Arcade Game
Trading card games are big in Japan—from Yu-Gi-Oh! to Pokémon to Magic: The Gathering. And given the popularity of video games also, it’s really not surprising that videogame makers figured out how to combine the two. Today, outside of fighting games and medal games, these card/video games are the most popular thing you’ll see in…
By Richard Eisenbeis Published June 15, 2012 - Kotaku East
Chinese Doctors Tells Parents With Young Children to Say No to the iPad.
Children ages three and under should not be allowed near touch screen devices such as tablet computers and smartphones, say Chinese doctors in Guangzhou. According a recent study done in Guangzhou, the doctors found that children are adversely affected by touch screen devices. The study states that the children can develop “severe” eye problems ranging…
By Eric Jou Published June 15, 2012 - Kotaku East
South Korea To Ban Those Gold Farming Bots
According to the South Korean Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism, roughly sixty percent of game items for sale were acquired via bots. In online games, these programs allow players to hunt and collect items without controlling them directly. And soon, these programs will be outlawed. The Korea Times reports that the country has decided…
By Brian Ashcraft Published June 15, 2012 - Kotaku East
Oh, The Ways Japanese Anime Has Changed Over the Years
These image of popular anime K-On! has been making its way through the Japanese internet. They show K-On! as the anime actually appears now as well as how it “would” appear if it had been drawn in the 1990s, the 1980s, the 1970s, and even the 1960s. K-On!, of course, is not a decades old…
By Brian Ashcraft Published June 15, 2012 - Kotaku East
How Japan’s Most Wanted Criminal Almost Escaped at a Comic Book Cafe
On March 20, 1995, Japan experienced the country’s worst act of modern terrorism. It was domestic terrorism carried out by the religious cult Aum Shinrikyo. Members of the doomsday group released sarin gas on the Tokyo Metro, killing thirteen and injuring thousands more. Ten male Aum Shinrikyo members carried out the attack: five of them…
By Brian Ashcraft Published June 15, 2012