• Reviews

  Battlefield 3: The Kotaku Review

  Spurts. I’m writing this in short bursts at the keyboard, stopping every sentence or two to swivel in my chair slightly, turn a little toward the television and pick up a controller. A, A, A. I press the Xbox 360’s green face button three times and wait. Sometimes the message pops up immediately: “You have…

  By Brian Crecente Published October 31, 2011
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  The Vita is Beautiful. The Vita’s Case is Not

  The PlayStation Vita is a lovely-looking machine. Its case looks like something my eye doctor would give away to keep my eyeglasses in. Which means it looks durable and not-so-pretty. Take a look yourself in this image that popped up on the PlayStation Blog as part of the promotion for the week-early $299 Vita bundles…

  By Stephen Totilo Published October 31, 2011
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  Paranoia, Madness, Suicide and Cannibalism; Who Says 16-Bit Can’t Be Scary?

  Nine students trapped in an otherworldly school building in which spirits are trying to kill them in grisly ways, if they don’t eat each other first; we don’t need high-quality 3D graphics where the downloadable PSP title Corpse Party is going. In a post on the PlayStation Blog Xseed localization specialist Tom Lipschultz talks about…

  By Mike Fahey Published October 31, 2011
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  This is How Our Copy of The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword Begins

  The mailman may have squashed our copy of the Wii’s new Zelda game, but that doesn’t appear to have impacted the quality of the game’s intro. Fresh from Nintendo to our Wii here at Kotaku, behold the first few minutes of The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword (up until we get control of Link). If…

  By Stephen Totilo Published October 31, 2011
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  Fresh Screens of the Free-to-Play Ghost Recon Online Deployed to Field

  Ubisoft airdrops in a new look at its upcoming free-to-play online shooter Ghost Recon Online right into the middle of Battlefield 3 and Modern Warfare 3 territory. Incoming! These screens serve as a reminder that while we’re busy complaining over the latest full retail online shooter there is a fre-to-play alternative waiting to take the…

  By Mike Fahey Published October 31, 2011
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  Prove That You’ve Purged Your Old Games, Win More Stuff!

  Maybe you just moved in with your lady friend and she put her foot down as to many games you can bring into her precious, fancy girl house. Or perhaps your mom did something similar. Or possibly, just possibly, you made the decision yourself, after hearing about Best Buy’s awesome trade-in program—either way, the deal…

  Sponsored post Published October 31, 2011
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  Get 20% More Evil in Today’s Free The Binding of Isaac Update

  Edmund McMillen’s The Binding of Isaac managed to be one of the creepiest, most f-ed up games come out in quite some time. So, it’s especially fitting that the co-creator of Super Meat Boy’s offering a sizable update on All Hallow’s Eve for his action-RPG shooter. Here’s what the update adds, from McMillen’s blog: -Added…

  By Evan Narcisse Published October 31, 2011
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  When You’re Too Terrified to Finish the Game

  In today’s spooktacular edition of Speak Up on Kotaku, commenter God Hand BrynnFlynn wonders if they’re alone in being so terrified by a game that they just couldn’t go on. See, here’s the thing. I’m 22 years old. As a 22 year old, you’re not supposed to be afraid of the dark, you’re not supposed…

  By Mike Fahey Published October 31, 2011
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  A Lady Holds a Resident Evil Pistol. Capcom Copyrights a Cake.

  It’s Halloween. What better day to talk about overpriced Resident Evil food? So, let’s do that! Then, let’s talk about a gun. To promote Resident Evil‘s fifteenth anniversary, Capcom is teaming up with a Japanese restaurant company to roll out Resident Evil food. There are T-virus drinks that change colors and themed dishes. Capcom even…

  By Brian Ashcraft Published October 31, 2011
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  Taiwanese Animation Offers WTF Take on Grand Theft Auto V Trailer

  The folks at Next Media Animation—who’ve become infamous for presenting bizarre CGI takes on the news—speculate on what the teaser for Rockstar Games’ just announced upcoming sequel will look like. Honestly, while it apes some of the visual signifiers of the GTA games, the silent clip makes close to no sense whatsoever. Does the kid…

  By Evan Narcisse Published October 31, 2011
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  Plants Vs. Zombies Composer Tries Her Hand at Magic: The Gathering Rap

  It’s an indie game geeksplosion as the woman behind the Plants Vs. Zombies music teams up with the programmer for Xbox Live Arcade’s Spelunky to rap about their shared love of Magic: The Gathering This is the sort of video I would normally avoid, but the sheer indie gaming power contained within (coupled with Laura…

  By Mike Fahey Published October 31, 2011
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  Talk or Treat Amongst Yourselves

  It’s Halloween. That means it is time to dress up in costume, beg for candy and talk here about video games, as people have been doing for generations. Why, remember the big Talk Amongst Yourselves egg-throwing incident from ’73? Thanks to Pand1a7 for today’s image. And! For this bonus TAY GIF: People! It’s the end…

  By Stephen Totilo Published October 31, 2011
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  Online Problems For Record-Setting Battlefield 3 Almost Fixed, EA Says

  Battlefield 3‘s launch was plagued with online issues, blocking gamers from going online with the popular multiplayer shooter, booting others and causing wide-spread server issues. But in an interview this morning with Kotaku, Electronic Arts says that after shipping 10 million copies of the game and having more than 2.2 million players log in to…

  By Brian Crecente Published October 31, 2011
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  Flattery, Thy Name is Cut the Birds

  Cut the Birds is awesome. Not the game itself, mind you. Just the premise. I mean, it’s not often you see a cheap knock-off go after not one game, but two In case you haven’t worked it out by the subtle title, Cut the Birds (maybe they even stole the name...from Crecente) is Angry Birds…

  By Luke Plunkett Published October 31, 2011
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  One Year After Release, Microsoft Moves Kinect Toward Business and Science

  While conceived as a device meant to expand the reach of Microsoft’s Xbox 360 gaming platform by allowing people to play video games without the need for controllers, the Kinect has always been destined for a broader future. Last November, when the Kinect array of microphones, sensors and cameras was on the cusp of hitting…

  By Brian Crecente Published October 31, 2011
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  Two Girls, Two Arcade Sticks

  Ultimate | TOKYO, JAPAN: Capcom showed off the new Hori fight stick. (Photo: Game Watch Impress) Watch the First 23 Minutes of Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim, Right Here The game might not be out yet, but those wanting to see how the opening moments of Skyrim go down, you can see it all in these…

  By Brian Ashcraft Published October 31, 2011
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  Will There Be a Grand Theft Auto First-Person Shooter?

  For your typical Western game developer, first-person shooters are bread and butter. Rockstar Games is not your typical Western game developer. “We’re deliberately avoiding that right now,” Rockstar co-founder Dan Houser told Japanese game magazine Famitsu. “It’s in our DNA to avoid doing what other companies are doing.” So, while other companies were making FPS…

  By Brian Ashcraft Published October 31, 2011
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  Why Battlefield 3 Has a Singleplayer Campaign

  Battlefield is a series long renowned for its multiplayer prowess, but for the latest instalment, developers DICE dropped in a fairly slick and expensive singleplayer campaign. Leading many people to wonder, uh, why? Normally it’s the other way around! Singleplayer games get multiplayer modes added because that’s where the longevity/money supposedly is, but adding singleplayer…

  By Luke Plunkett Published October 31, 2011
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  Brad Pitt Is too Old, Mean for Video Games

  Never mind that 47-year-old actor Brad Pitt is married to Angelina Jolie, star of the Tomb Raider movies, the Hollywood actor is apparently worried that their children are playing too many games. A source told the National Enquirer that Pitt took the kid’s laptops and hid them in storage. “He [Pitt] wants them playing in…

  By Brian Ashcraft Published October 31, 2011
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  Dante vs Star Wars vs Catwoman

  No offence to the few who do an amazing job with it, but I’m sick of Final Fantasy cosplay. There’s just too damn much of it. So for this week’s Fancy Pants, I’m going cold turkey. No Final Fantasy. No Kingdom Hearts either, for that matter. Filling the void will be some cosplay of games…

  By Luke Plunkett Published October 31, 2011