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UncategorizedAnother Glimpse at the Future of Video Game Planets
Tinkering around with Directx 11, Romanian developer Silviu Andrei is building an engine capable of rendering not corridors, or arenas, but entire planets Similar to the Outerra project that we’ve featured previously, Andrei not only has a very nice ocean up and splashing, but seamless travel between space and the planet’s surface. While there’s the…
By Luke Plunkett Published May 10, 2012 - Uncategorized
Stop Preordering Video Games
It’s not hard finding things that are wrong with the video game industry these days. From rip-off DLC to paid-for cheats to games that are sold essentially incomplete, consumers are increasingly getting short shrift. If you want to push back, though, what are your options? Stop buying games? Effective, perhaps, but that’s also cutting off…
By Luke Plunkett Published May 10, 2012 -
UncategorizedAwesome New Racer Drives Outside Your TV Screen
Hobbyist Blair Kelly has been working on a project called Arduino Wifly Mini, which takes a remote-controlled Mini Cooper, crams it full of cameras and has you controlling it with your choice of video game peripherals. You can use either an Xbox 360 or PS3 pad, but the car also supports force feedback if you…
By Luke Plunkett Published May 10, 2012 - Culture
From Dune to Dublin’s Wilderness to Zombies, This Art Has Seen it All
Mark Molnar is a concept artist and illustrator who has worked with of the biggest names in entertainment. People like WETA, Games Workshop, Time Warner and Square Enix. To see more of his work, check out his personal site Fine Art is a celebration of the work of video game artists, showcasing the best of…
By Luke Plunkett Published May 10, 2012 - Uncategorized
World of Warcraft Stems the Bleeding, Stops Losing Subscribers
Since so much has been made over the past year of World of Warcraft’s declining subscriber numbers, it’s only fair to point out that at last count yesterday morning, the game’s playerbase had stalled at 10.2 million, exactly where it was at last count. With an expansion to come later this year, that number may…
By Luke Plunkett Published May 10, 2012 - Uncategorized
GameStop Admits Defeat, Starts Selling Steam Vouchers
A GameStop source has told Kotaku that, given the relative failure of the company’s push into online PC sales via its purchase of Impulse, it’s now trying something a little more practical. Namely, selling Steam vouchers in its bricks-and-mortar stores. After all, if you can’t beat ’em, skim a little of their money off the…
By Luke Plunkett Published May 10, 2012 -
UncategorizedReggie’s Body is Ready for an E3 Fighting Game
Expo Fighter is a 2D fighting game in development that leaves dojos, headbands and scantily-dressed Japanese women at the door, instead focusing on combat between…video game company executives. On the stage at E3. That’s the good news. The bad news? It’s asking for $18,000 as a crowd-sourced project, which for a browser-based, free-to-play title seems…
By Luke Plunkett Published May 10, 2012 - Uncategorized
This Skyrim Statue Hides an Amazing Secret
Look at the detail on this statue of Alduin, the badass villain of Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim. The plated scales, the individual teeth, the glowing red eyes, the curled tongue. It’s insane. Now, know that the inscription on the base reads “Happy Birthday Tim”. Yup. This is a cake It wasn’t meant for looking. It…
By Luke Plunkett Published May 10, 2012 -
CultureTotal RecallArcade Lights Made Michael J Fox’s Hair Look Magnificent
Of all the teen movies that crawled out of the 1980s, High School USA was far from the finest. And yet here we are, watching a scene of it, right here on Kotaku. Why? Because Michael J Fox is in it, looking divine. And because it reminds us Crispin Glover has always been a little…
By Luke Plunkett Published May 9, 2012 - CultureTotal Recall
What Arcades Looked Like Before Video Games
The word “arcade” is these days synonymous with video games, but it wasn’t always that way. In 1968, there was no such thing as a consumer video game. So arcades had to make do the old-fashioned way. With pinball machines, novelty amusement machines and lightgun games. There was even room for a fortune teller. These…
By Luke Plunkett Published May 9, 2012 - Uncategorized
No, What Does “Exacerbate” Mean?
Hello Kotaku. We’re at that midway point again, where the beginning of the week becomes the end of the week, and round and round we go. Welcome to the open thread. Here, as always, are some things that you might enjoy “Teacher vs. Bieber” – You mean you’re not the least bit curious about what…
By Kirk Hamilton Published May 9, 2012 - Uncategorized
Twitter Is Pretty Sure Bioshock Infinite Has Become Duke Nukem Forever
Perhaps you heard today that Ken Levine and Irrational’s much-hyped, ambitious Bioshock Infinite has been delayed until 2013 Why was it delayed? Was it because it’s a really ambitious-looking game that needs more time to be completed? Was it because they decided to add multiplayer? Or was it because the game is actually a flaming…
By Kirk Hamilton Published May 9, 2012 -
UncategorizedWorld of Warcraft‘s Panda Warriors Now Have the Ability to Get Down
Maybe the Pandaren race coming to World of Warcraft isn’t cute enough for you. Or maybe they’re too cute already. Wherever you fall on this crucial issue, there’s one thing you need to know. Those pandas? They can dance now. According to MMO Champion, the latest beta patch enabled the male and female Pandaren warrior…
By Evan Narcisse Published May 9, 2012 - Uncategorized
Here’s Hoping The Next Xbox Really Does Feature Squeeze-Controls
A report over at Engadget shows a patent filed by Microsoft for a device that uses “personalization using a hand-pressure signature.” The image in their patent filing is a chunky, lovable Xbox 360 controller that, going by the title, will be able to detect your identity based on your hand-pressure via a “presure sensitive surface.”…
By Kirk Hamilton Published May 9, 2012 - Uncategorized
Nearly 23 Million Mass Effect 3 Multiplayer Matches, And Yet The Reapers Just Keep Coming
A scant two weeks after Mass Effect 3 launched, BioWare shared some stats about how the galaxy of multiplayer reaper-killing fared. Now, two months later, they’re back with an update. It seems I’m not the only one who keeps coming back for more, as close to 23 million matches have been completed so far, and…
By Kate Cox Published May 9, 2012 -
UncategorizedWe Support These Same-Sex Marriages in Video Games
Today, President Barack Obama announced his support for gay marriage. At which point the internet at large threw the guy so many high-fives Vishnu himself would’ve probably been a bit overwhelmed. And yeah, maybe it was kinda bullshitty and way overdue and certainly politically calculated, but still. It’s nice that he said it. Of course,…
By Kirk Hamilton Published May 9, 2012 -
UncategorizedSimon Cowell Is Impressed By Your Laser-Harp Performance of the Tetris Theme
Sometimes the headline says it all, doesn’t it? On Britain’s got Talent, contestent Greig Stewart, a 27 year-old software developer came on to do a musical performance. But of course, he didn’t just sing a rendition of a show-tune or dance to a tune… he played the Tetris theme on a laser-harp of his own…
By Kirk Hamilton Published May 9, 2012 - Uncategorized
PS3 Gets a $299 Call of Duty Bundle
Sony announced today that on may 25 they’ll be releasing a bundle which includes a 320GB PS3 and a copy of Modern Warfare 3. And that’s it. No second controller, no bonus DLC, no fancy custom console. Just a black console and the game.
By Luke Plunkett Published May 9, 2012