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Here’s What New York’s Chinatown Fair Looks Like Right Now
Excitement swirled around the gaming industry this week in the wake of reports that New York’s legendary Chinatown Fair may be reopening for business. Film director Kurt P. Vincent, who directed a documentary about the beloved landmark called Arcade, reported that he had found workers moving arcade cabinets back into the building. According to Vincent,…
By Jason Schreier Published March 20, 2012 - Uncategorized
From Flower to Journey and Beyond: A Talk with Kellee Santiago of Thatgamecompany
Kellee Santiago is president and co-founder of thatgamecompany, which released Journey last week. Their previous game, Flower, is a featured, playable game at the Smithsonian American Art Museum’s new exhibit The Art of Video Games, which opened this weekend. Santiago was at the museum as one of the featured panelists in Friday’s festivities, and I…
By Kate Cox Published March 20, 2012 -
UncategorizedHere’s Everything I Can’t Stand About Ninja Gaiden III
There are times in life when you shouldn’t mess with a good thing. To me, Ninja Gaiden III exemplifies this. Why are there Quick Time Events in Combat? What’s with all the cheesy British stereotypes? What the heck happened to the Ninja Gaiden I know and love? In the video above, you’ll see exactly what…
By Chris Person Published March 20, 2012 - Uncategorized
Did Nintendo Just Create Better Words For ‘Multiplayer’?
If you thought the word “multiplayer” was a good way of describing the thing you do when you play a video game with friends, please consider the word “together.” That’s the option you’ll get in the new 3DS game Kid Icarus: Uprising if you choose not to play the game’s Solo mode. “Together” is pretty…
By Stephen Totilo Published March 20, 2012 - Uncategorized
Congressman Really, Really, Really Wants To Slap Cigarette-Style Warning Labels On Video Games
It may have been in early 2009 when Congressman Joe Baca first got the idea that video games should be slapped with health warnings. He wrote a bill that would mandate it. It went nowhere. He did the same thing in 2011. That bridge went to nowhere, too. If he was a predictable legislator, he…
By Stephen Totilo Published March 20, 2012 - Uncategorized
Crossover: Ken Levine Talks About Why There Aren’t Any Bioshock Graphic Novels and the Comics Artists He Absolutely Adores
Part of Panel Discussion’s mission is to look at the ways and places where comics and video games intersect and here in Crossover, we’ll be talking to game creators about the comics stories and creators who’ve shaped their sensibilities. Anyone familiar with the full scope of Ken Levine’s resume probably figured out that the Irrational…
By Evan Narcisse Published March 20, 2012 -
UncategorizedThis Brave Man is Selling His Entire Comics Collection, All 150 Longboxes
Mark Waid says he’s “reached a point.” A point where he no longer needs his comics collection. He’s got 150 longboxes of comics. He’s done with them. He wants to sell every single comic. And he’ll use the proceeds to finance the creation of a new line of digital comics Mark Waid is a fantastic…
By Stephen Totilo Published March 20, 2012 -
UncategorizedTelltale’s Walking Dead Adventure Can Be Yours for Five Installments of $4.99
Telltale explores the dark recesses of an already dark universe next month, when the first of five monthly installments of The Walking Dead hit PC, Mac, Xbox Live Arcade and PlayStation 3. That’s right, no staggered release for this Telltale epic. The Walking Dead is officially a thing, creator Robert Kirkman officially looks cuddly, and…
By Mike Fahey Published March 20, 2012 - Uncategorized
The Panel Discussion Dozen: 12 Comics That Will Send You Sub-Orbital This Week
If you’re here in the Panel Discussion programming block, you might be a lapsed comics reader, trying to find a way back to the JLA Satellite. Or you might someone killing time until you pick up your weekly Wednesday pull list. Or maybe you’ve said goodbye to dozens of longboxes to embrace the promise of…
By Evan Narcisse Published March 20, 2012 - Uncategorized
Calm Down, Before Watchmen Won’t Be the End Times for Comics Creativity
If you listen to certain corners of the internet, the souls of comics fans everywhere are going to cry out for justice come June 6th. That’s when DC Comics starts rolling out Before Watchmen, the controversial prequels to Alan Moore’s beloved dystopian superhero opus. Written and drawn by legendary creators Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons,…
By Evan Narcisse Published March 20, 2012 - Uncategorized
Excelsior! Panel Discussion Starts Now, True Believers!
Are we still pretending that comics and video games don’t have anything to do with each other? Not anymore, we’re not. Welcome to Panel Discussion, where the focus will be on comic books and sequential art, whether they connect directly to video games or not. Confused? Read this.
By Evan Narcisse Published March 20, 2012 - Uncategorized
What Ever Happened To This Part of Mass Effect 3‘s Leaked Script?
Last November, the Internet obtained a copy of the script to Mass Effect 3, the popular sci-fi role-playing game that came out earlier this month. Developer BioWare said the script was out of date, but much of it is true to the game—including the controversial ending But as tipster Chris showed me today, one significant…
By Jason Schreier Published March 20, 2012 -
UncategorizedCertain Video Games Can Help Kids Beat Cancer, Researchers Say
Researchers have looked at mainstream video games for years, trying to determine the effects games have on players’ brains. Maybe they make us faster decision-makers, or better thinkers, or more aggressive. Studies come out nearly weekly and often seem to contradict each other’s findings. But one specially designed game has been having a beneficial effect…
By Kate Cox Published March 20, 2012 - Uncategorized
We’re Getting a Wu-Tang Clan Version of FarmVille from the Creators of Draw Something
Draw Something creator OMGPOP will release a new Facebook game next week called The Street, Business Insider reports today OMGPOP is working with hiphop group the Wu-Tang Clan to develop the game, which will star group members Raekwon, GZA, Ghostface Killah, and others. Business Insider says it looks like “FarmVille for hustlers.” OMGPOP CEO Dan…
By Jason Schreier Published March 20, 2012 - Reviews
Resident Evil: Operation Raccoon City: The Kotaku Review
Last week, I spoke to a room full of teenagers at the Brooklyn Public Library about video games and technology. When they asked me what unreleased games I was playing as a perk of my job, I answered that I was getting up to my elbows in an upcoming Resident Evil game. “Resident Evil 6?!,”…
By Evan Narcisse Published March 20, 2012 - Uncategorized
How Can I Take Dungeons & Dragons Online‘s New Druid Class Seriously Now?
Dungeons & Dragons Online‘s Menace of the Underdark expansion launches on June 25, bringing with it the new Druid class, seen here dragging its ass across the carpet. Somebody get me a rolled-up newspaper.
By Mike Fahey Published March 20, 2012 -
UncategorizedWTPT: I Might Actually Play This Video Game If It Weren’t Just a Music Video
German electronic music producer Faderhead clearly has a taste for video games. His latest track, “Fistful of F*ck You,” couldn’t be more suited to this video game style music video. In the most heroic of quests—aka searching for a club to make his scheduled on-stage performance—Faderhead fights through bouncers, horrific-looking club-goers and homeless people. There’s…
By Tina Amini Published March 20, 2012 -
UncategorizedA Look Under The Skin of The New Sim City
Here’s a neat behind-the-scenes glimpse at Glassbox, the engine powering EA’s upcoming SimCity, the fifth game in developer Maxis’s popular sim series. Developer Dan Moskowitz gives us an official look (we saw the unofficial one a few weeks ago) at the map layers, agents, zones, and other insidey functionality that will make the game flow.…
By Jason Schreier Published March 20, 2012 - Uncategorized
Driving Through Traffic Jams Never Felt This Good
Some mobile games are built to be nothing but diversions, pointless timekillers for subway rides and doctors’ appointments. Others are good enough to keep you up all night. TrafficWonder, a wonderful traffic game by developer Yo Ambulante, drives proudly through the latter category. It’s a delightfully devilish puzzler that tasks you with guiding reckless cars…
By Jason Schreier Published March 20, 2012 -
UncategorizedDeus Ex Designer Warren Spector Isn’t a Real Spectre? I Feel Cheated.
Earlier this month at the Game Developers Choice Awards, Deus Ex and Epic Mickey designer received a Lifetime Achievement Award for his contributions to the gaming. This Mega64 tribute to Spector featuring Epic’s Cliff Bleszinski aired during the program. I’m surprised they didn’t take the award back on the spot. I mean come on, Warren…
By Mike Fahey Published March 20, 2012