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Inflata-Tank Commander: The Winners
A plushy piece of mechanized armor at PAX East rolled into the ‘Shop Contest last week, seeking orders from our talented artists. Yes, there’s a Tiananmen Square reference inside, but we also have 19 other winners, including first-timer hampstasandwich! Element (5) gets us started with the flying-tanks glitch in Battlefield. JimThePea (8) supplies the obligatory…
By Owen Good Published April 14, 2012 -
UncategorizedAn Exercise Bike is the Controller for this Mario Kart Mod
Now, this is exergaming with a purpose. Modder Brent Smith of Canada rigged an old exercise bike with some sensors, switches, transistors, and the indispensable Arduino microcontroller, turning the whole thing into a Super Nintendo controller for use in Mario Kart. Pedaling at a certain rate equals holding down the A button for acceleration, and…
By Owen Good Published April 14, 2012 -
UncategorizedSpace Quest Creators Reunite and Promise a New “Spaceventure”
Mark Crowe and Scott Murphy, creators of the Space Quest series of adventure games by Sierra Online, today announced they were gettin’ the band back together, under the (Two) “Guys from Andromeda” nickname they coined for themselves so long ago. There isn’t much yet to announce in the way of funding, game direction or details,…
By Owen Good Published April 14, 2012 - Uncategorized
This Sure Does Look Like a Tease of SSX Tricky
Yesterday, the official Facebook page for SSX tossed up that splash image, and the deliberately-worded caption underneath sounds very much like SSX Tricky has a hand in the snowboarding title’s upcoming DLC release. “SSX fans have shown their love for the game’s rich history,” the game’s makers said. “We love that history as well, and…
By Owen Good Published April 14, 2012 -
UncategorizedTurn a GameCube into a Handheld Thanks to the Magic of Tupperware
This Tupperware cereal container (I think that’s what it is) forms the casing for a fully-functional handheld Nintendo GameCube built by user CKmods of YouTube. You can pop the top off it to get to the guts of the machine, but I wouldn’t advise laying the thing down on its back. That’s because the disc…
By Owen Good Published April 14, 2012 -
UncategorizedThe Ability to Destroy a Planet is Insignificant Next to the Power of this LEGO Star Wars Street Organ
This enormous cylinder made of LEGO may look like a Katamari wad that rolled through Hoth, Naboo and the Death Star, but it’s actually a drum driving a synthesizer, player-piano style, that plays the main Star Wars theme. As you can see, the middle section and its structures are what appear to be driving the…
By Owen Good Published April 14, 2012 -
UncategorizedLive, Without a Net, Prototype 2‘s Latest Trailer Falls from a Rooftop
There is no gameplay in this Prototype 2 trailer, which went out late Friday. But there is some rather badass live action, explaining the backstory of protagonist James Heller. He is burning alive with the Blacklight virus—and his desire for revenge upon Alex Mercer. Prototype 2 arrives April 24. If you’re wondering about the vocals,…
By Owen Good Published April 14, 2012 -
UncategorizedTaking a 3DS with You Inside the Louvre is Like Actually Being Inside the Louvre
As mentioned back in December, the audio guides used by the Louvre, one of the most famous museums in the world, were to be replaced this spring by the Nintendo 3DS, using content programmed by Nintendo. This promotional video shows the device in action. I may be missing the point, but beyond the narration explaining…
By Owen Good Published April 14, 2012 - Uncategorized
Four Base Hits
A foursome of March releases including, finally, MLB 12 The Show have all seen $10 price cuts, leading us into this week’s edition of The Moneysaver. If this bunch doesn’t appeal to you, a sale on PC downloads ends today, as another one on Kinect games begins. There are more than 70 deals, incentives and…
By Owen Good Published April 14, 2012 - Uncategorized
Valve is Working on “Wearable Computing” (Among Other Things)
In a lengthy and detailed post on what looks like an interesting new “employee blog” section of the company’s site, Valve’s Michael Abrash, a very smart man, has outlined a project he’s working on at the games developer and online network operator: wearable computing. Yup. Computers you can wear. Think Google’s Glasses, only, made by…
By Luke Plunkett Published April 14, 2012 - Uncategorized
The Best of Kotaku, This Week
Welcome to the weekend round-up of everything Kotaku that is awesome. While I was away you got some furry images from Fahey. I hope you enjoyed that. But I’m back with an image of Metal Gear Kirby. Solid Kirby? Kirby Snake? Something like that. As usual, we hit the Best Comment From The Community before…
By Tina Amini Published April 14, 2012 -
CultureTotal RecallMaybe I Liked GoldenEye For Weird Reasons
Earlier this week, we published an intelligent takedown of the beloved Nintendo 64 James Bond first-person shooter GoldenEye. Maybe, our guest writer wrote, this game was a little bit flawed. Maybe the campaign was monotonous and the multiplayer map design was weird. Maybe we can still love the game despite or because of its flaws.…
By Stephen Totilo Published April 14, 2012 -
CultureTotal RecallThere was Once a U.S. National Video Game Team, and This Guy Was Its Captain
A leader of a national team of athletes could reasonably expect to make a few endorsements or appearances, and in his day, Donn Nauert had his. Whether supplying a pro’s advice on Gradius or judging a video gaming triathlon, the captain of the U.S. National Video Game Team offered confidence, rectitude and, of course, a…
By Owen Good Published April 13, 2012 -
UncategorizedCatch the First Proper Trailer for Pokemon Black &White 2
Here, take a look at the debut gameplay trailer for upcoming Pokemon sequels Black & White 2 on the DS, showing some of the new trainers in action. Both games will be out in Japan on June 23, and in the US and Europe sometime in the Fall. [thanks Sam!]
By Luke Plunkett Published April 13, 2012 - CultureTotal Recall
The Greatest Justification For Messed-Up Video Game Graphics I Ever Saw
I’ve forgotten most of the things I read in video game instruction manuals when I was a kid. But one thing I read in the instruction manual for the Commodore 64 version of Double Dragon stuck with me. It taught me something about the reality of video games. I’m talking about a note in the…
By Stephen Totilo Published April 13, 2012 - Uncategorized
Super Comfy Movie-Theater Seating That You Can Fall Asleep In
Welcome to your open thread, Kotaku! And happy Friday the 13th! Since not everyone seemed to appreciate the Titanic movie-going experience I posted the last time I did open thread, I have a new movie theater suggestion for those looking more for comfort than experience. You’ll just have to go all the way to Malaysia…
By Tina Amini Published April 13, 2012 - Uncategorized
Remembering PAX East, in Splashes of Black and White
PAX is always a good time. You run into old friends, and meet new ones. You check out games before release, attend concerts featuring your favorite chiptunes bands, feast your eyes on impressive cosplayers, and play games and tournaments with strangers that share your passion. We saw a ton of this and more, but it’s…
By Tina Amini Published April 13, 2012 -
UncategorizedYou Can’t Help But Smile As Pinkie Pie Mercilessly Slaughters Her Enemies in Skyrim
Sometimes the Skyrim mods are so beautiful it’s almost painful. Take on My Little Pony mod, video copious amounts of slaughter, add a happy song and you’ve got a recipe for… cupcakes? To recreate this wonderous thing on your PC, just grab the Pony Weapons and Armor mod at Skyrim Nexus, or grab the weapons…
By Mike Fahey Published April 13, 2012 - Uncategorized
Star Wars: The Old Republic Expands Free Month Offer to Include Less Valuable Players
Yesterday BioWare made a substantial portion of Star Wars: The Old Republic‘s player base angry by offering a free month of play to its “most valued” players—those that had reached level 50 in the game. Today the developer continues to surprise and delight players by expanding the promotion as to not alienate people. While the…
By Mike Fahey Published April 13, 2012