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Judge Thinks Xbox 360 Infringes on Multiple Patents
A story that’s been brewing since 2010 just took an interesting turn: a judge from the US International Trade Commission agrees that Microsoft’s Xbox 360 infringes upon five patents held by Motorola, mostly related to video codecs. Note this is just a preliminary ruling, and it’ll take more decisive court action before anything drastic happens.…
By Luke Plunkett Published April 23, 2012 -
UncategorizedThis Portal Cover Vid Is Pretty Entertaining
The song (a cover of Jonathan Coulton’s now-infamous “Still Alive”) is well done, too. Don’t turn it off after the first few squeaky seconds. It gets better. I swear. Bonus points if you spot the Duck Hunt dog. And the Skyrim giant. Professor Shyguy – Still Alive (Portal Cover) [YouTube]
By Jason Schreier Published April 23, 2012 - Uncategorized
Play Lots Of Video Games, Get Better At School
Turns out video games aren’t all that bad. CNN says so. They’ve got a story on 23-year-old Trace Curry, a student who goes to Sinclair Community College in Dayton, Ohio. Curry studies aviation. He’s in a program that teaches him how to pilot unmanned aerial vehicles. And he’s doing quite well, which he says is…
By Jason Schreier Published April 23, 2012 -
UncategorizedMIT Students Turn Campus Building Into Playable Tetris Game
The Massachusetts Institute of Technology has a long (long) history of student “hacks,” harmless but clever pranks. Several tend to show up in any given year. Previous reasonably recent favorites (of mine) include turning a building into The One Ring, flying Nyan Cat through a lobby, and an upside-down lounge The students’ newest adventure brought…
By Kate Cox Published April 23, 2012 - Uncategorized
Unlikely Fan Fiction Crossover Battle: It’s Why Tails is Fighting the Murlocs That Matters
Sometimes it’s not the battle that really matters, but rather the events leading up to the battle. For instance, in 1monkeyfromhell’s “The Winter of Tails”, Sonic’s sidekick is on the run because everyone he knows has been murdered in horrible ways. Ouch. Cream the Rabbit? Raped and murdered by “some bizarre creature”. Knuckles the Echidna?…
By Mike Fahey Published April 23, 2012 -
UncategorizedWinning Mario Party 9 by Doing Absolutely Nothing
How hard is it to win Mario Party 9 against computer opponents? If you set the AI difficulty to easy, you don’t even need to touch the controller. This video might be a month and a half old, but I’ve been watching it and laughing all morning, so I’d say that’s worth something. YouTube user…
By Mike Fahey Published April 23, 2012 - Uncategorized
Nintendo’s President, Steven Spielberg, and the Dead Eyes of a Serial Killer
In a transcript for a never-before-seen installment of Iwata Asks unearthed by Nintendo Gamer, the president of Nintendo explains to legendary director Steven Spielberg why it would not be acceptable to put Mario in the fridge. Here at Kotaku we’ve become big fans of Nintendo Gamer‘s Iwata Asks parody series, riffing on Nintendo’s own interview…
By Mike Fahey Published April 23, 2012 - Uncategorized
The Dorkly Weekly: Pokémon Hypno-Therapy
There are Pokémon that breathe fire; Pokémon that shoot electricity; there are Pokémon that warp the very fabric of reality. And then there’s the Pokémon that opens for comedy acts at Cerulean City’s Chuckle Hut. Psychic Pokémon have their uses, but I can’t recall one of them that I’ve actually wanted to keep in my…
By Mike Fahey Published April 23, 2012 -
UncategorizedGreat Moments in Video Game Humor: Devil May Laugh His Ass Off
One could liken a video game boss fight to a pair of actors on a stage engaged in a heated argument, trading overblown barbs instead of blows. In Devil May Cry 4, Dante and Angus take that comparison and run with it. The Devil May Cry series is known for its over-the-top action and tongue-barely-in-cheek…
By Mike Fahey Published April 23, 2012 -
UncategorizedThe Star of the Next Call of Duty Could Be This Machine-Gun Quadcopter
The sun sets every day. And it rises, too. You can depend on things like that. Just like the yellow gas giant we orbit around, you can also depend on a new Call of Duty game coming out this year. No surprise there, right? But what kinds of terrible, death-dealing technology will it feature, you…
By Evan Narcisse Published April 23, 2012 - Uncategorized
The Arrow of Kotaku Off-Kilter Signifies the Start of Something Silly
It may look like all of the other arrows, but trust me, this one is completely screwed up. You would not want to be stuck on a plane for an hour and a half sitting next to this thing.
By Mike Fahey Published April 23, 2012 - Uncategorized
Fake Gamers of the Week: A Couple Too Beautiful For This World
Joy. Bliss. Serenity. It’s difficult, almost impossible to believe that two human beings could achieve such eternal happiness, such unequivocal euphoria. Such… perfection. But the truth, dear readers, the truth is that this couple—this beautiful, radiant couple—is no couple at all. These two ecstatic video gamers died a long time ago. And now they’re in…
By Jason Schreier Published April 23, 2012 - Uncategorized
Norway Mass Murderer Was ‘Unremarkable,’ Says Former World of Warcraft Guildmate
The Norwegian mass-murderer responsible for the deaths of 77 people was “unremarkable” and “not very opinionated,” one of his World of Warcraft guildmates has informed Kotaku Last week, we profiled the virtual life of Anders Behring Breivik, who says at one point he spent an entire year playing Blizzard’s massively multiplayer online role-playing game for…
By Jason Schreier Published April 23, 2012 -
UncategorizedGame Developer Recreates the Solar System While Looking for Work
Chris Albeluhn’s out of work, like all too many Americans. But instead of wasting time on Facebook or sleeping until 3 p.m. like I used to do when between jobs, Albeluhn made an interactive 3D map of the universe using the popular Unreal Engine. The out-of-work developer started raising funds on IndieGoGo and currently has…
By Evan Narcisse Published April 23, 2012 - Uncategorized
Nearly 40% Of The US Population Enjoys Free-To-Play Games, And Bunches Of Them Pay
Free-to-play games are all the rage here in 2012. With MMOs, social games, and mobile games leading the way, some analysts see the model as the inevitable wave of the future across genres. And given how very well freemium games seem to be doing, they might just be right. The NPD analyst group’s newest report…
By Kate Cox Published April 23, 2012 - Uncategorized
Why the PlayStation Vita Needs—But Won’t Get—a Price Cut
Even when you’re at a a fan convention packed with wall-to-wall gamers, it can be hard to find people playing Sony’s newest handheld. The fact that the Vita is so difficult to spot is just one bit of anecdotal evidence that the gaming portable is having a rough time. But does this mean it’s time…
By Evan Narcisse Published April 23, 2012 - Uncategorized
Another Day, Another Death Threat From Gamers to The People Who Make Video Games
“The very first death threat I got was when we decided not to support dedicated servers in Modern Warfare 2,” Robert Bowling, the former public face for the Call of Duty series, recently told me. That was in 2009. He’s had many more since, including batches of them every month throughout last year. “They were…
By Stephen Totilo Published April 23, 2012