- Culture
The Dinosaurs, Robots and BioShocks of Artist Ben Mauro
Ben Mauro is a concept artist from New Zealand who has recently worked on The Hobbit. The new Superman movie, Man of Steel. Neill Blomkamp’s Elysium. Even the upcoming Star Wars TV show, Underworld He’s also done video game work with Insomniac Games on both Ratchet & Clank and Resistance, as well as helping out…
By Luke Plunkett Published February 17, 2012 - Uncategorized
Valve’s $100 Joke Ends in Half-Life Delay Gags
Valve’s $100 Valentine’s Day gag was actually taken up by a lot of people, who figured the money was well spent since it gave them a chance to broadcast a message to the entire Team Fortress 2 community. What resulted, then, were not actual engagements, but people making Half-Life 3 jokes for the whole world…
By Luke Plunkett Published February 17, 2012 - Uncategorized
Damn It, Link, Put Those Eyes Away
Artist OMOCAT takes Zelda and dials the cuteness up as far as it can go without making you puke. Even the Zelda stuff that’s already cute, doesn’t matter, it gets cuter Those with a high tolerance for sweetness head through the gallery above. If you make it out alive, OMOCAT’s got plenty of other awesome…
By Luke Plunkett Published February 17, 2012 - Uncategorized
KOTOR, Mass Effect & Dragon Age Writer Leaves Games Behind
Drew Karpyshyn, who’s been a writer at BioWare for over a decade now, will be walking away from the games business to focus on his novels. In that decade, Karpyshyn contributed to some of the best-written video games of all time, including Knights of the Old Republic, Jade Empire, the first two Mass Effect games…
By Luke Plunkett Published February 17, 2012 -
CultureTotal RecallWhy People Give a Shit About a 1988 PC Role-Playing Game
Brian Fargo, whose credits include Bard’s Tale and the original Fallout, wants to make a new Wasteland game. This is a very good idea. It’s also a very good idea that Fargo wants to be involved, because there wouldn’t have been a Fallout without Wasteland Released in 1988 on the PC, Wasteland was a pioneering…
By Luke Plunkett Published February 17, 2012 -
CultureTotal RecallRetro Rumble Episode 1 – Don’t Pee in the Pool
You know how outfits like Major League Gaming are full of sponsored kids playing the latest game at breakneck speeds? This is the exact opposite. Welcome to Episode 1 of Retro Rumble, where a bunch of guys play (usually) terrible old video games to see who is the best. Or, least terrible. Today the crew…
By Luke Plunkett Published February 16, 2012 -
CultureTotal RecallWe Asked The Red Carpet: Were Old Video Games Actually Bad? Or Good?
I have a nearly irrational dislike for retro video games. I assume most of the old “classics” wasted my youth with their needlessly bottomless pits and/or a hunger for my quarters. Do old video games deserve my scorn? Will no one speak up for the quality of these things? I sought an answer to my…
By Stephen Totilo Published February 16, 2012 - Uncategorized
You Better Think!
Hello, Kotaku! It’s been a wild day—we launched our first installment of Kotaku Melodic, and I think it went really well. I hope you were out there reading. But now it’s time for the open thread. Here are a few things from around the internet for your perusal: Walk on grass, endlessly. – I don’t…
By Kirk Hamilton Published February 16, 2012 - Uncategorized
Reset Glitch May Wipe Out Gotham City Impostors Data
A glitch coming when a user updates Gotham City Impostors‘ trial version to a full game is causing reset of some players attributes and statistics, developer Monolith has said, which is particularly troubling since some players have boosted their attributes with paid upgrades. Monolith, answering a lengthy (and upset) thread on the game’s official forums,…
By Owen Good Published February 16, 2012 - Uncategorized
Insomniac Programmer Michael Kuehl Passes Away
Michael Kuehl, a programmer with Resistance developers Insomniac – and who had also worked at Infinity Ward and Electronic Arts – has tragically passed away at the age of 32. Kuehl was struck by a car while riding his motorcycle, and died from his injuries. Our thoughts go out to his family and colleagues.
By Luke Plunkett Published February 16, 2012 - Uncategorized
His Creations Come to Life
For Reals | COPENHAGEN, DENMARK: Minecraft creator Notch witness his work made real through the magic of Lego. (Photo: Imagur) Gameplay and Story Are Exactly Like Music and Lyrics Look, okay. Let’s press “pause” on the debate. You know the debate I’m talking about, right? That endless disagreement in the video game world about gameplay…
By Mike Fahey Published February 16, 2012 -
UncategorizedLooks Like the Persona Fighting Game is Coming to the West
Earlier today, Atlus teased an announcement for it loyal fans in North America by sending an image of a giant black rectangle. A little PhotoShop work reveals that image to be a teaser for what looks like Persona 4 The Ultimate in Mayonaka Arena Or, as most people call it, The Persona 2D Fighting Game…
By Luke Plunkett Published February 16, 2012 -
UncategorizedWhy the Chrono Cross Soundtrack is My Favorite
I think I know part of the reason Chrono Cross is less acknowledged than its predecessor, Chrono Trigger. It’s because it’s a sequel in spirit only, keeping some conceptual commonalities and a sparse few plot ones. On the most basic level they’re about the same thing: The deeply disorienting idea of a world exactly like…
Leigh Alexander Published February 16, 2012 -
UncategorizedFallout 3‘s Tunnel Snakes Rule, and So Does This Amazing Classic Remix
Who could forget the Tunnel Snakes, the dorkiest, least menacing group of post-apocalyptic greaser wanna-be gangsters to ever grace a role-playing game? I sure couldn’t. And who could forget this classic video, which though it’s a few years old, still holds up remarkably well? Not Jenn Frank, anyway, who was kind enough to remind me…
By Kirk Hamilton Published February 16, 2012 -
UncategorizedThe Mind-Numbing Music of the PlayStation Vita
Every time I boot up my Vita, I get into an elevator. This elevator takes me to all kinds of cool places—fun games, great graphics, really cool online features, and a highly functional and enjoyable PSN experience. But there’s a catch: on this elevator, they’re playing incredibly tedious background music. It loops over and over…
By Kirk Hamilton Published February 16, 2012 - Uncategorized
Check Out the Wicked-Grooving New iOS Game Beat Sneak Bandit
Today, Simogo’s rhythm-puzzle game Beat Sneak Bandit arrived on the Apple App Store. Our own Evan Narcisse already wrote it up for us, but I’ve been playing it too and it is terrific. I highly recommend checking it out.
By Kirk Hamilton Published February 16, 2012 -
UncategorizedA Lovely Video Game Ballad To Invigorate Our Jaded, Shrunken Hearts
Last year’s To The Moon was an emotional game, a throwback storybook that really wore its heart on its sleeve. I liked it a lot. A big part of the game’s emotional oomph came from the music, which was composed by its creator, Kan Gao. But the song that many people will associate with it…
By Kirk Hamilton Published February 16, 2012 -
UncategorizedGameplay and Story Are Exactly Like Music and Lyrics
Look, okay. Let’s press pause on the debate. You know the debate I’m talking about, right? That endless disagreement in the video game world about gameplay versus story. “The two things are incompatible,” say some people. “Video games are not a narrative medium! Video games are games! Why do you think most video game stories…
By Kirk Hamilton Published February 16, 2012 -
UncategorizedAvishai Cohen, One of the Great Composers of our Time
Who says that all the music we listen to during Kotaku Melodic has to be video game music? No one, that’s who. For this “listen here,” I want to highlight one of my all-time favorite musicians, the Israeli bassist, pianist, and composer Avishai Cohen. Avishai got his start playing in the pianist Chick Corea’s band…
By Kirk Hamilton Published February 16, 2012 - Uncategorized
What do Robocop, Washing Machines, Dilbert & Lil B have in Common?
The answer? A song. In 1989, the British developer Ocean created a tie-in video game for the movie Robocop. The game was released on many platforms and featured an eerie yet serene theme song totally unlike the Basil Poledouris theme featured in the movie Fast forward a few years: The washing machine brand Ariston needed…
By Chris Person Published February 16, 2012