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UncategorizedGood Lord, Computer Gaming World Had Some Hip Menu Music
If you bought a copy of the magazine Computer Gaming World in the early 2000’s, chances are you heard a track by Tomas Diablo. The magazine was one of several PC-centric gaming mags that would come with a bundled CD each month. One of my fondest gaming memories was the PC Gamer CD, upon which…
By Kirk Hamilton Published March 15, 2012 - Uncategorized
Now You Can Get Free Sheet Music for Bastion‘s Best Tunes
I (and everyone else on the planet basically) loved the music to Bastion. Now, SuperGiant is sharing sheet music for four of the songs from the game. Best of all they’re free, not for sale like I originally thought. Awesome. These tunes are simple enough that just about anyone could learn them, yet iconic and…
By Kirk Hamilton Published March 15, 2012 -
UncategorizedThe Kotaku Mixtape Vol 2: Yuzo Koshiro
Few composers have defined game music the way Yuzo Koshiro has. A prolific musician spanning many genres, his soundtracks for games like Streets of Rage and Actraiser are almost required listening to game music nerds everywhere. Today on the Kotaku Mix Tape, we’re giving you a tiny sample of Yuzo Koshiro’s works. In the video…
By Chris Person Published March 15, 2012 -
UncategorizedPersona 3‘s Awesome Music Breaks The Mold (And Our Faces)
When I think of epic JRPG battle music, I usually think of driving guitars, pulsing drums, and soaring melodies. I do not, generally, think of weird funky hip-hop and a lady singing “Baby, baby, baby, baby” over and over again. And yet that’s exactly what Persona 3‘s battle music is, and damned if it isn’t…
By Kirk Hamilton Published March 15, 2012 - Uncategorized
Kotaku Melodic Starts Here
Greetings one and all, and welcome to Kotaku Melodic. We had a week off last week, but we’re back with two hours of the very best stuff from the worlds of music, video games, and music in video games. We got a whole bunch of posts planned, so turn up your speakers, grab some headphones,…
By Kirk Hamilton Published March 15, 2012 -
UncategorizedVegas Now Taking Bets on Madden‘s Cover Contest
News and notes from around the world of sports video gaming: • Madden‘s play-in round of voting lasts until next Wednesday. Right now, last year’s finalist Michael Vick is losing to teammate LeSean McCoy; two guys (Brandon Lloyd, Brandon Marshall) who won’t be on their teams when the game releases next year, look to advance,…
By Owen Good Published March 15, 2012 - Uncategorized
Video Games’ Strangest Disappointment: When the Ref Doesn’t Screw You
This Saturday was about as throwing-things livid I’ve been over a sports contest in a decade. The last time I was this angry was in 2003, when Jorge Posada doubled off of Pedro Martinez to tie the seventh game of the American League Championship Series. I kicked a trashcan across the newsroom of the Rocky…
By Owen Good Published March 15, 2012 - Uncategorized
An Earthquake Doomed His Church, So He Rebuilt It In Minecraft
When game developer Chris Yee heard that Christchurch Cathedral was set to be demolished, he decided to rebuild it. In a video game. The cathedral, which was partially destroyed in an earthquake that hit the New Zealand city of Christchurch on February 22, was then slated for demolition. To commemorate it, Yee decided to rebuild…
By Jason Schreier Published March 15, 2012 - Uncategorized
From RPM Racing to Diablo III: A Timeline of Blizzard’s No-Rush Release Schedule
With the long-awaited Diablo III due out in May some 12 years after the release of Diablo II, we decided to take a look back at the release history of the company that puts out a new game “When it’s done.” Aside for the Warcraft franchise, which has seen pretty regular releases since 2002, Blizzard’s…
By Mike Fahey Published March 15, 2012 - Uncategorized
New Ratchet & Clank Collection Thankfully Omits The Bad One.
You’ll be able to buy a Ratchet & Clank Collection for PlayStation 3 this fall. It collects the first three games in the series, all wonderful, all from the PS2. It omits the fourth PS2 Ratchet, the armored-hero multilplayer-centric, more badass Deadlocked. We would like to commend Sony and Ratchet creators Insomniac for their good…
By Stephen Totilo Published March 15, 2012 -
UncategorizedIn This Hilarious Dystopian Future, Gang Wars Are Fought With Dance Dance Revolution
Welcome to The FP, Bitch! At least, I’m assuming that at some point someone in this movie will utter that line. As they do, you will be welcomed to The FP, a new and absolutely ridiculous movie from Drafthouse Films, which comes out tomorrow in theaters nationwide. Above, you can watch the first ten minutes…
By Kirk Hamilton Published March 15, 2012 - Uncategorized
Talk About Making the Tough Choices in Mass Effect 3 at Kotaku Game Club!
Welcome back to the Kotaku Game Club‘s discussion of Mass Effect 3. We’ll be covering the middle portion of the game’s campaign today, picking up where left off last week, after the mission on the Turian Moon of Menae, and looking at everything through the mission on Thessia. It’s a lot of material, but some…
By Mike Epstein Published March 15, 2012 - Uncategorized
Microsoft: New Xbox Won’t Be Shown at This Year’s E3
Microsoft’s saying that the successor to the Xbox 360 won’t be the star of the show at 2012’s Electronic Entertainment Expo. Speculation had been rising that Microsoft would be the next major platform player to show the successor to their current hardware. Rumors reportedly have the console code-named Durango , claim that it won’t be…
By Evan Narcisse Published March 15, 2012 - Uncategorized
Baldur’s Gate: Enhanced Edition Announced, Server Explodes [Update]
The mysterious Baldur’s Gate countdown has ended with the bang of servers exploding, but not before an email arrived announcing something called Baldur’s Gate: Enhanced Edition for release this summer. The servers at BaldursGate.comare down, but I think I’ve got a pretty good idea of what the upcoming release entails. Officially licensed by Wizards of…
By Mike Fahey Published March 15, 2012 - Uncategorized
Why Are Game Developer Bonuses Based On Review Scores?
Last night, Obsidian’s Chris Avellone tweeted an interesting detail about his roleplaying game Fallout: New Vegas “[Fallout: New Vegas] was a straight payment, no royalties,” he said in response to a fan question about the game’s financial success. “Only a bonus if we got an 85+ on Metacritic, which we didn’t.” Metacritic, an aggregation website…
By Jason Schreier Published March 15, 2012 -
UncategorizedSkyrim’s Newest Update Makes Views to a Kill Much More Awesome
You’re still playing Skyrim. With content from the game’s Creation Kit making the game more weird and grand on a daily basis, why wouldn’t you be? But maybe you’re a bit tired of how all your finishing blows looks the same. Worry no more, Dovahkiin! The 1.5 update’s live on Steam now and will include…
By Evan Narcisse Published March 15, 2012 - Uncategorized
The Faces Behind the Voices of Mass Effect 3
Like radio, film, and theater companies going back hundreds of years, BioWare games often have a very familiar voice cast from one production to the next. A Dragon Age II player can’t help but hear Varric’s dry tones from the Male Trooper in Star Wars: The Old Republic, nor can a Mass Effect fan miss…
By Kate Cox Published March 15, 2012 - Uncategorized
Ice-T Likes Mass Effect 3 But Doesn’t “Give a F**k About the Stories”
Everybody knows that rapper/actor/Coco-lover Ice-T is a vocal video game enthusiast, right? Checking in on the game series that he’s shouted out over the last few years—Call of Duty, Medal of Honor, Gears of War—it’s probably safe to say that Ice-T’s a fan of shooters, especially competitive ones. So it’s a bit surprising that the…
By Evan Narcisse Published March 15, 2012 - Uncategorized
Fired Kane & Lynch Reviewer Gets the Last Laugh, 5 Years Later
Game reviewer Jeff Gerstmann, who parted ways with GameSpot five years ago after publisher Eidos took issue with his review of Kane & Lynch, has returned to his old stomping grounds. GameSpot parent company CBS purchased Gerstmann’s website, GiantBomb, today. GiantBomb will still exist as an autonomous publication. [Justin.TV]
By Jason Schreier Published March 15, 2012 - Uncategorized
There Was Going to Be A Mass Effect First Person Shooter
BioWare’s Montreal studio was developing a competitive first-person shooter called Mass Effect Team Assault in 2010 before transforming that effort into the third-person multiplayer mode in Mass Effect 3, according to a new behind-the-scenes iPad app created by gaming journalist Geoff Keighley. “The goal was simple,” Keighley reports in The Final Hours of Mass Effect…
By Stephen Totilo Published March 15, 2012