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Microsoft Registers Several “Halo Infinity” Domains, but haloinfinity.com Remains in the Hands of a Japanese Baldness Clinic
The domain registry watchdog Fusible reports that Microsoft’s brand protection partner snapped up the full monty of HaloInfinity-dot-whatever domain names—except for a big one—which likely tips off some kind of activity or release involving that title. Joystiq hilariously notes that haloinfinity.com, not among them, is from the looks of it a placeholder site that for…
By Owen Good Published April 4, 2012 -
UncategorizedMarvel Pinball Tries to Control the Raging Spirit That Dwells in World War Hulk
Revealed about three weeks ago, Avengers Chronicles is the next series of tables that Zen Studios is making for its Marvel Pinball and Pinball FX 2 downloadable games on PlayStation Network and Xbox Live, respectively. Here’s the first trailer for one of those tables, World War Hulk It looks absolutely huge, which is intentional, I’m…
By Owen Good Published April 4, 2012 - Uncategorized
Now These Here Are Some Rockin’ Mass Effect Leggings
Chicagoan Alexandra Threw has posted the above Mass Effect-inspired N7 Leggings to Etsy, where you can buy a pair for $75. As video-game themed leggings go, these are pretty damned cool. I wonder if Threw could get an endorsement from the Commander. “I’m Commander Shepard, and these are my favorite leggings on Etsy. Wait, what’s…
By Kirk Hamilton Published April 4, 2012 - Uncategorized
Homophobes Slam EA With Thousands of Letters Over Same-Sex Romance
The past year has seen a great deal of discussion about the existence of same-sex romance options in EA and BioWare’s Mass Effect franchise and their MMO Star Wars: The Old Republic One recent, particularly irrational anti-gay “family values” campaign has kicked off a wave of thousands of letters to EA disapproving of the addition…
By Kate Cox Published April 4, 2012 -
UncategorizedStealthy Divorcés and Killer Astronaut Bears: Some Peter Molydeux Game Highlights
Since writing it up on Monday, many more games have been added to the full list of playable prototypes from the goofy, high-energy Peter Molydeux game jam. I haven’t had time to play even a fraction of the nearly 300 game prototypes available for download, but I have had a chance to play some of…
By Kirk Hamilton Published April 4, 2012 -
UncategorizedMachinarium Follow-Up Botanicula Gets Release Date, Looks Adorable
Man, I want to play Botanicula. Amanita Design won me over forever with their splendid adventure game Machinarium, and I’ve been looking forward to its follow-up Botanicula ever since I first heard about it. Today, Amanita announced that Botanicula will be released for Windows, Mac and Linux on April 19th. No word on an iOS…
By Kirk Hamilton Published April 4, 2012 - Uncategorized
GameStop Begins Buying and Selling Used Skylanders Toys
GameStop might not accept your band game instruments as trade anymore, but the company does have its eye on another sort of colorful plastic toys. Gaming website Pixelitis recently received information about a Skylanders trade-in program being tested at several U.S. GameStop locations. Having spent the months following Christmas 2011 fielding calls from desperate children…
By Mike Fahey Published April 4, 2012 -
UncategorizedThe Spooky-Smart Platformer Closure Is All About Shadowplay
Lots of indie platformers these days are basically Mario with a twist. The quality of the game, then, relies hugely on that twist. Braid was an incredible game because the time-manipulating twist so fundamentally changed the template set forward by Super Mario Bros. that it became its own whole thing. Closure is a new downloadable…
By Kirk Hamilton Published April 4, 2012 -
UncategorizedUSC’s Song Girls Finally Immortalized in a Video Game
News and notes from around the world of sports video gaming: Do little jugs get your attention? No? Well, how about the Song Girls of USC, or the Texas Pom Squad. Or a guy from Michigan staring up the crotch of Paul Bunyan. Trophies and university-specific cheerleaders are part of the coat of polish the…
By Owen Good Published April 4, 2012 - Uncategorized
Retired Pro Football Players Get the Go-Ahead to Blitz EA for Using Likenesses in Madden NFL
Like a quarterback scrambling in the pocket, Electronic Arts has been dodging court cases related to its sports titles left and right. In recent years, the litigation’s been initiated by athletes—both college and professional—that would have the publisher dole out a cut of profits for using their likenesses. The latest one could potentially involve thousands…
By Evan Narcisse Published April 4, 2012 -
ReviewsTiger Woods PGA Tour 13: The Kotaku Review
Last year’s sports video game of the year, the Tiger Woods PGA Tour series this year faces what NBA 2K12 did in October—a nearly impossible encore. Tiger Woods PGA Tour 12 at last delivered The Masters, reviving a series that had plateaued and giving longtime golf fans moments and memories that were legitimately emotional. How…
By Owen Good Published April 4, 2012 - Uncategorized
Sonic‘s Co-Creator Joins Nintendo
Well this is a line-crossing worth taking note of. Gamasutra reports that Hirokazu Yasuhara, co-creator of Sonic the Hedgehog, has taken a job at Nintendo. Because it’s never the wrong time for a Ghostbusters quote: Dogs and cats! Living together! Mass hysteria! Yasuhara has joined Nintendo’s Software Technology devision, an American-based second-party developer that has…
By Kirk Hamilton Published April 4, 2012 - Uncategorized
Kingdoms of Amalur‘s “Teeth of Naros” DLC Will Add Bite to the Game
EA and 38 Studios just keep making the already-sizeable Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning bigger. On the heels of last month’s massive pirate-themed DLC, EA has announced the next bout of content for the game, a forbidding area called the “Teeth of Naros.” The “Teeth of Naros” is named for a troll god, we are told,…
By Kate Cox Published April 4, 2012 - Uncategorized
Attention PAX East Attendees, We’re Hosting a Crazy Panel on Friday
On Friday, April 6, you can take over Kotaku for one hour…. if you attend our PAX East panel! Our panel will run from 2:30-3:30pm on-site at the Arachnid Theater, and it just might destroy our site’s sterling reputation. Hooray! We’re calling it: “Take Over Kotaku (For One Hour)” Have you dreamed of filing a…
By Stephen Totilo Published April 4, 2012 - Uncategorized
Report Claims That These Are the Next PlayStation’s Processing Specs
Following up on news broken by Kotaku on Sony’s next PlayStation, IGN is reporting that the console codenamed Orbis will use two AMD chips for graphics and processing. Citing unnamed sources, the article says that the Orbis might be sporting AMD’s A8-3850 APU and Radeon HD 7670 GPU. The 7670 is an update of the…
By Evan Narcisse Published April 4, 2012 - Uncategorized
Did These Horrible Deeds Clinch EA’s Spot as America’s Worst Company?
Game publisher Electronic Arts took home the grand prize in The Consumerist’s Worst Company in America contest, and they don’t seem pleased about it But do they deserve the gold star? How do they stack up next to the other finalists? Let’s go through the four companies that made it to the Final Four and…
By Jason Schreier Published April 4, 2012