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Growing the Jazz Audience ‘Can’t Be Done.’ Maybe That’s Okay?
Look, I’m under no illusions about jazz music’s unpopularity. I grew up playing jazz, went to school to study jazz, made a living as a jazz musician for a while out of school. Jazz is beautiful, jazz is the best. And people, by and large, don’t care about it at all. Here at Kotaku Melodic,…
By Kirk Hamilton Published May 24, 2012 - Uncategorized
“Hacker” May Have Asked for Microsoft’s Help Breaking Into Call of Duty Creator’s Emails
According to a report from Robert Schwartz, the lawyer currently representing Call of Duty creators Jason West and Vince Zampella in their big case against Activision, the notorious “Project Icebreaker” sounds even crazier than we first thought. Schwartz tells Game Informer that Thomas Fenady, the Activision IT expert approached to hack into Infinity Ward’s email…
By Luke Plunkett Published May 24, 2012 -
UncategorizedThis Amazing Trials Evolution Level is a Musical Marvel
Even though I’m on the record saying that Trials Evolution‘s soundtrack is so bad it’s like they were kidding, the game itself is a blast, and some of the user-generated levels are truly spectacular. Like this one, from YouTuber TheJonDeezie, who has made this video of “Desert of Music,” a very challenging track laid out…
By Kirk Hamilton Published May 24, 2012 - Uncategorized
Max Payne 3‘s Astonishing Soundtrack Flattens The Competition
Hot damn, am I enjoying Max Payne 3. Though… well, “enjoying” might be the wrong word for it, you know? It has me in a vice-grip, and every time I play I find myself locked in a tense, curse-shouting battle with the deadly enemies inside of my Xbox 360. The game is relentless, always pushing…
By Kirk Hamilton Published May 24, 2012 -
UncategorizedSomehow The Video For The Song From Robot Unicorn Attack Is Even Weirder Than Robot Unicorn Attack
I adore Robot Unicorn Attack. I also adore its sequel, Robot Unicorn Evolution. I like these games for a lot of reasons, but the biggest one has got to the the song that plays as you leap and bound through them—Erasure’s “Always.” It’s the strangest thing, that song. It’s at once memorable and hooky, terrible…
By Kirk Hamilton Published May 24, 2012 -
UncategorizedThe Kotaku Mixtape Vol 9: Tommy Tallarico
Growing up, there were certain game composers I was aware of. Uematsu? Check. Koshiro? Check. But Tommy Tallarico wasn’t one of them. A lot of that is because he was a sound designer first, dipping his hands in everything from Prince of Persia to the best of Shiny Entertainment. He also co-founded Videogames Live, which…
By Chris Person Published May 24, 2012 - Uncategorized
Kotaku Melodic Begins
It’s Thursday at 7PM Eastern, do you know where your music coverage is? That’s right, it’s here! Welcome to Kotaku Melodic, your one-stop-spot for all things “Kotaku” and all things “Melodic.” Curious about Kotaku Melodic? Find everything you want to know right here. Sit back, turn up your speakers, and enjoy the music.
By Kirk Hamilton Published May 24, 2012 -
UncategorizedCheck Out Blake Griffin’s Best Dunks as If They Happened in the Original NBA Jam
News and notes from around the world of sports video gaming: • SB Nation put together that delightful compilation of chiptunes and pixelated highlights to give us Blake Griffin’s theoretical NBA Jam highlight reel from the 1993 classic. Enjoy. [SB Nation] • NHL 13‘s cover vote is down to its final four. Claude Giroux and…
By Owen Good Published May 24, 2012 - Uncategorized
Curt Schilling’s Role-Playing Game Supposedly Needed to Sell 3 Million Copies to Not Fail
Yesterday, Curt Schilling bragged that Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning beat EA’s sales expectations. Today, Rhode Island governor Lincoln Chafee told reporters that Amalur needed to sell more than double that number just to break even. Governor Chafee spoke to reporters today during a press conference about the game studio run by Curt Schilling that has…
Stephen Totilo and Owen Good Published May 24, 2012 - Uncategorized
If We Won’t Have MLB 2K to Kick Around Next Year, Here’s What The Show Must Do
Baseball fans have started to come to terms with the idea that MLB 13 The Show will be their only video game option next year. MLB 13 The Show needs to come to terms with that, too. Consistently well reviewed, The Show‘s dirty secret is that there are areas of its product that are growing…
By Owen Good Published May 24, 2012 -
UncategorizedHere’s Me Shooting a Bow and Swinging a Sword From Horseback in Skyrim. It’s Pretty Sweet.
Bethesda announced today that along with the 1.6 update for Skyrim, players will finally have the ability to use their weapons while on horseback. I think I speak for all Skyrim diehards when I say: Finally! I went ahead and opted in for the patch on Steam so that I could try it out, and…
By Kirk Hamilton Published May 24, 2012 - Uncategorized
People Thought Hideo Kojima Was “Crazy” When He Said He Wanted to Make Video Games
When Hideo Kojima started out in the games industry, he met a lot of people like himself, would-be creators like him who had set other life goals for themselves. The famed game designer wanted to make movies but never found a path to that aspiration and he worked with many others who got into games…
By Evan Narcisse Published May 24, 2012 - Uncategorized
One Man’s Quest to Draw Something Becomes Draw Everything
Unlike me, Bora can actually draw. And also unlike me, and unlike several million other players, Bora has stuck with Draw Something He’s on a mission to draw every single word in the Draw Something dictionary, a quest that can end only in madness. Words repeat, and many can be quite dull. Still, as his…
By Kate Cox Published May 24, 2012 - Uncategorized
Mounted Combat Arrives in Skyrim
Your Skyrim horse is now good for something other than getting accidentally killed in the heat of battle. Update 1.6, available today on PC, adds the ability for players to charge into battle on their faithful steed. By opting into the latest Steam Beta Update, players can check out the new mounted combat feature in…
By Mike Fahey Published May 24, 2012 - Uncategorized
Ponder the Endless Cycle of Grabbing Loot in Diablo III with the Game Club Right Now!
Hey everybody, welcome back to the Game Club! We’re about to start our second discussion about Diablo III. It’s been over a week now, so I imagine that many of you have gone to hell and back and lived to tell the tale. If you’ve been waiting for a place to tell your tale, you’ve…
By Mike Epstein Published May 24, 2012 -
UncategorizedCall of Duty Creators Say Oliver North Helped Make Their Game More Authentic
Lt. Col. Oliver North is a polarizing figure in American history and, we found out, earlier this month, an advisor on the next huge Call of Duty game, Black Ops II North isn’t your average video game consultant. He was one of the main actors in the Iran-Contra scandal that wracked America in the ‘80s.…
By Stephen Totilo Published May 24, 2012 - Uncategorized
38 Studios and Big Huge Games Shutting Down [UPDATE]
Reports are circulating that Kingdoms of Amalur creators 38 Studios has shut down Big Huge Games, the developers who helped build the hit action RPG that came out earlier this year. If this is true, the shuttering of an entire studio would be the biggest bit of fallout yet from the 38 Studios/Rhode Island financial…
By Evan Narcisse Published May 24, 2012
