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UncategorizedThe 3DS Circle Pad Pro is Mostly Great, Actually
It sure has been a week for twin-thumbstick portable gaming. In addition to the PlayStation Vita (which has two thumbsticks built in), I’ve been playing around with the “Circle Pad Pro” attachment for the Nintendo 3DS. The Circle Pad Pro is a chunky plastic contraption that fits around the 3DS, retrofitting it with a right…
By Kirk Hamilton Published February 17, 2012 -
UncategorizedThe New SSX’s Ready to Take You Around the World in These New Videos
The dev studios working on EA’s upcoming snowboarding reboot are using satellite data to recreate some of the world’s most iconic mountan ranges. How do the results look? You can take a gander in three clips above, which take you to near the South Pole, the American Midwest and into a plucky Pacifica principality. There’s…
By Evan Narcisse Published February 17, 2012 - Uncategorized
Introducing ‘Random Encounters,’ Your Weekly Destination For All Things JRPG
There’s a little Lego figure standing next to my computer screen. It’s a miniature depiction of Darth Maul, from Star Wars: The Phantom Menace, and he’s holding a double-sided lightsaber. Sometimes, when I’m trying to think, I’ll take that lightsaber and snap it in and out of Darth Maul’s outstretched little Lego hand. Everything about…
By Jason Schreier Published February 17, 2012 - Uncategorized
Sleeping Dogs Screenshots Give Glimpses of Open-World Hong Kong Chaos
First we had that crazy live-action trailer, complete with obligatory Asian crime movie kitchen fight. Now come screens from the game formerly known as True Crime Hong Kong, showing off chases on land and water and some combat besides. Sleeping Dogs is due out later this year.
By Evan Narcisse Published February 17, 2012 - Uncategorized
Why Did Batman: Arkham City Have 440 Trophies? Why Did Batman Fight A Shark? And More Questions Answered
I had a chat with Sefton Hill, chief game designer at Rocksteady Studios, in Las Vegas last week. The man’s team just made two terrific Batman games, so it was time we talked. Off-limits topics: The thing about Harley Quinn at the end. OK to discuss: Lots of other stuff. Stuff you might consider to…
By Stephen Totilo Published February 17, 2012 - Uncategorized
Black Ops 2 Reportedly Outed by Amazon as This Year’s Call of Duty
French game site Gameblog.fr reported earlier today that Amazon’s French digital storefront leaked details about the next installment in Activision’s blockbuster FPS series. The site claims that a product page for the sequel to the 2010 Call of Duty title went live on Amazon.fr and that, after they reported this, Activision France requested that the…
By Evan Narcisse Published February 17, 2012 - Uncategorized
Pick Bachelor Number Three, A Pigeon, in Hatoful Boyfriend
Hatoful Boyfriend puts the player in the shoes of a reasonably well-adjusted high-school sophomore girl. She attends class, studies hard, participates in extra-curricular activities, and works part-time in a café during the summer. She just happens to be the only girl, and only human, at St. Pigeonation’s, the country’s premier school for birds. Literal birds,…
By Kate Cox Published February 17, 2012 -
UncategorizedWTPT: Kick Off The Weekend With Some Laughs at the Mario Bros’ Expense
Before you clock out today, don’t miss the videos we’ve compiled for you, as well as our Gaming App of the Day. WATCH: This episode of Epic Rap Battles of History shown above features our favorite brother-duo from gaming history up against the famous Wright brothers. So, who won the rap battle? Honestly, I might…
By Tina Amini Published February 17, 2012 -
UncategorizedFling Fowl Where No Fowl Has Been Flung Before in Angry Birds Space
Next month Rovio launches a whole new game in the Angry Birds universe … into space! More than a simple expansion pack or companion game, Angry Birds Space is a whole new game, promising a mix of innovative new gameplay mixed with familiar elements from the award-winning series millions of fans around the world have…
By Mike Fahey Published February 17, 2012 -
UncategorizedHere’s How Alan Wake’s American Nightmare New Survival Mode Plays
After playing a few hours with it, I can say that Alan Wake’s American Nightmare‘s survival mode, officially dubbed Fight ‘Til Dawn, feels spiritually closer to Resident’s Evil‘s survivor mode than Gears of War‘s Horde mode. The emphasis is on surviving, not on mowing down schloads of enemies with your chainsaw gun (though if you…
By Elyas Gorogo-Baker Published February 17, 2012 -
UncategorizedWitness the Interspecies Fighting Game Insanity of the Animal Kaiser evo.3 Trailer
I’d never heard of Animal Kaiser before seeing this video but, after seeing animals doing backflip bodyslams off the top rope of a wrestling ring, I can only weep at the fact that this game isn’t in my life. This trailer’s hyping the release of the latest title in Namco Bandai’s Japan-only beast battle series,…
By Evan Narcisse Published February 17, 2012 -
UncategorizedQuell Reflect is a Soothing Puzzle Game for Grown-Ups
Most of the games I have on my phone are in some way frenetic. They’re filled with bold, bright colors, quick action, and noisy effects. After watching my friend’s preschool-aged niece school us all at Angry Birds, I have found myself occasionally desiring something a little more calm and adult. Enter Quell Reflect. This puzzler,…
By Kate Cox Published February 17, 2012 -
UncategorizedPerfectly Pixilated Prince of Persia Prowls the Streets of Israel
In this brilliant video from Israel’s Karahat, the hero of Jordan Mechner’s 1989 platforming classic comes to life in pixel-perfect form, right down to the stumbling animations and Mario prison romance. Maybe the Mario bit wasn’t in the original game. Everything else was, more or less. Kaharat (which means bald head, appropriately enough) isn’t just…
By Mike Fahey Published February 17, 2012 - Uncategorized
Today’s Video Gaming Kids Don’t Know How Good They Have It
In today’s completely grown-up edition of Speak Up on Kotaku, commenter DukeofWulf muses on how easy it is for kids today to fill all of that free time they’ve got with copious amounts of free gaming, the little snots. Today is a good day to be a kid. When I was young, I had all…
By Mike Fahey Published February 17, 2012 - Uncategorized
Fifth Annual SOE Competition to Award $10,000 Scholarship
Sony Online Entertainment has just announced their fifth annual “Gamers In Real Life” (G.I.R.L.) scholarship competition. Although the acronym has always mildly annoyed me, I think the program itself is great. Winners receive $10,000 in scholarship funds and the opportunity for a paid internship at SOE’s San Diego headquarters. While girls and women become an…
By Kate Cox Published February 17, 2012 - Uncategorized
Talk Amongst Yourselves
What madness is this, then? This is Kotaku’s official forum, known affectionately as Talk Amongst Yourselves, where we gather on a daily basis to discuss the joys and wonders of gaming all rolled up into one. Pan1da7—that guy again!—puts today’s TAYpic in the bowels (literally) of what looks like the House of the Dead. I…
By Evan Narcisse Published February 17, 2012 - Uncategorized
Bethesda: Skyrim DLC Will Feel More Like Expansion Packs
We’ve been promised substantial downloadable content for last year’s blockbuster Skyrim, but it sounds like Bethesda is thinking really big. “For Fallout 3 we did five DLCs,” Howard told me during an interview last week at the DICE Summit. “That was a very aggressive path for us. Our plan now is to take more time,…
By Stephen Totilo Published February 17, 2012 - Uncategorized
Video Games Could Be Super Effective Against Congenital Cataracts
Once considered the enemy of the child’s eye, recent medical research has shown that video games can have a beneficial effect on vision. Now a psychologist at McMaster University in Canada says the 40 hours of action-packed gaming could significantly improve the vision of people born with cataracts. A cataract is a clouding of the…
By Mike Fahey Published February 17, 2012 - Uncategorized
L.A. Noire and Batman: Arkham City Lead Nominations for British Video Game Awards
Just like a comic-book plotline where two crimefighters battle it out to find out who’s best, the members of the British Academy of Film and Television Arts will decide whether Cole Phelps and Batman had the better video game. The nominees list for the media organization also boasts numerous nods at Portal 2, LittleBigPlanet 2,…
By Evan Narcisse Published February 17, 2012