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The Battlefield 3 Cheaters Are Coming Here? We Shall Double Our Efforts!
Battlefield 3 is the first multiplayer shooter I’ve played regularly for years, but I’ve been on the cusp of tapping out lately because of all the cheats. Like guys in helicopters who hover at the edge of the map and deal out instant death. “What, you can’t get out of that flying tin can and…
By Luke Plunkett Published January 13, 2012 - Uncategorized
You Cannot Unsee Yoshi. I Promise.
Right now, you may think you are looking at a new zero calorie lychee apple tea drink. You are. But you are also looking at Nintendo’s character, Yoshi. Yes. Don’t believe me? Check the second pic in the above gallery. The photo was originally uploaded to Japanese food blog Darksky::Weblog. 2ch forum users first noticed…
By Brian Ashcraft Published January 13, 2012 - Culture
Daarken’s Fantasy Art Has Shades of Mass Effect
The mildly-bizarre partnership between Mass Effect 3 and…Kingdoms of Amalur was announced with a wonderful piece of art. That piece was the work of Mike “Daarken” Lim, a freelance games artist whose stuff we’ll be looking at today. Beginning his career in 2004 creating monsters for Wizards of the Coast (creators of Magic: the Gathering),…
By Luke Plunkett Published January 13, 2012 - Uncategorized
Would You Catch These Realistic PokéBalls? Could You?
The Poké Ball, the device which catches and holds Pocket Monsters, comes in various types. There are twenty-six variations, all different. Sadly, they’re not real (neither are Pocket Monsters!). But what if they were? Australian artist Barry Wazzy took the PokéBall out of the game and anime world and rendered them in ours. The result…
By Brian Ashcraft Published January 13, 2012 - Uncategorized
PC Game Cancels E3 Appearance as SOPA Protest, Shutting Down Beta for 24 Hours
You may have noticed a few websites around the place pledge to “shut down” on January 18 in protest against the awful Stop Online Piracy Act. That’s all well and good, but now Red 5 Studios, the developers behind the upcoming Firefall, are doing it as well. Thing is, they’re shutting down their video game.…
By Luke Plunkett Published January 13, 2012 - Uncategorized
Gran Turismo 5 Gets More Cars, New Track
On January 17, Gran Turismo 5 owners will get two news pieces of DLC to purchase, one of them a pack with six new cars, the other a new test track. The car pack, which costs $6, includes the Lamborghini Aventador, Jaguar XJR-9 LM, Aston Martin V12 Vantage, 1966 Volkswagen 1200, the Mini Cooper S…
By Luke Plunkett Published January 13, 2012 -
UncategorizedMinecraft Updated to v1.1 (Real Sheep! Better Bows!)
Those of you who still play Minecraft, the game’s been updated to v1.1. What’s new? All kinds of stuff, which may or may not be really important depending on what language you speak and how you feel about sheep. The biggest improvements are probably the extra language support for Europeans, enhanced bows, reduced brewing times…
By Luke Plunkett Published January 13, 2012 - Uncategorized
The Smooth, Sexy Fan Art of Will Murai
Brazilian artist Will Murai has worked extensively in the video games, comics and advertising industries. But that’s not why we’re here today. We’re talking about Will because of his amazing fan art. Using a style that’s halfway between ‘classic pin-up” and “newspaper caricature”, Murai has paid the ultimate, illustrative homage to some of his favourite…
By Luke Plunkett Published January 12, 2012 - Uncategorized
EA Mentions Second Medal of Honor Game. Again.
Electronic Arts has yet to officially take the wraps off a second game in its rebooted Medal of Honor series, but that hasn’t stopped the publisher from continually referencing it. Last year, copies of Battlefield 3 included an insert all-but advertising the game. And those who finished Medal of Honor’s singleplayer campaign will know it…
By Luke Plunkett Published January 12, 2012 - Uncategorized
“I’m So Glad I Ate Six Chalupas”
Welcome, Kotaku clan, to our relaxing Thursday night open thread. We have had a dearth of late-night open threads of late, and I can only blame the holidays for that. Fortunately, we’re back and running. How were your holidays? How has the new year been treating you? Have you finally beaten all of the games…
By Kirk Hamilton Published January 12, 2012 - Uncategorized
These Might be the Most Sexist Gamers on the Planet
Get some popcorn and/or a cup of tea. This is some good late night reading. So there’s this online community called the Men Going Their Own Way Forums. Calling themselves “the Internet’s biggest and best Men’s forum”, it’s actually a place where disgruntled, repressed men can go and bitch about women. While their rants on…
By Luke Plunkett Published January 12, 2012 - Uncategorized
This Man Has No Eyes, Yet Can Play World of Warcraft
Ben Shaw has had one hell of a last few years. Serving overseas, the former British Army soldier was wounded by a roadside explosive in Iraq, and as a result had to have both of his eyes removed. Yet does that stop him playing World of Warcraft? No, it does not. Before the incident, Ben…
By Luke Plunkett Published January 12, 2012 -
UncategorizedSega Responds to SOPA Question Like a Heartless Robot, Apologises Like Funny Human
A reader of site HotBloodedGaming decided to email Sega and ask what the company’s stance on the Stop Online Piracy Act was. Sega was nice enough to reply. Well, as nice as an automatic mailing system that’s completely useless is capable of being, anyway. As we’ve shown you, user DanGlozier66’s email was a relatively simple…
By Luke Plunkett Published January 12, 2012 - Uncategorized
Meet Midas: A Clever, Free Game With a Golden Touch
I was happy to stumble upon the free Kongregate game Midas today. Created by Melbourne-based Kongregate user wanderlands, it’s a simple 2D platform/puzzler based around the story of King Midas. King Midas, as you may remember from Greek myth, was granted the magical ability to turn everything he touched into gold. Of course, he soon…
By Kirk Hamilton Published January 12, 2012 - Uncategorized
Mass Effect 3 Won’t Be All Shooting Giant Robots in the Face
That quote, dropped by Mass Effect 3 lead writer Mac Walters in the most recent BioWare Pulse developer diary, shows that he is at least very serious about talking about making Commander Shepard show some real emotion this time around. As I fretted in my “5 Reasons I’m Nervous about Mass Effect 3,” every time…
By Kirk Hamilton Published January 12, 2012 - Uncategorized
Charting the Cultural Ascent of the Word ‘Gamer’
Most folks don’t really much like the term “Gamer.” It has a lot of cultural baggage, and is even a little bit like “Hipster” in some ways. We all like games these days, don’t we? So what is a “Gamer” anymore, anyway? Over at his blog The Ludologist, video game researcher (and author of A…
By Kirk Hamilton Published January 12, 2012 - Uncategorized
The Crew of the Normandy Gets Cuter
My what small legs you have, Samara | A detail from a charming collection of drawings of the Normandy crew by inker/illustrator/horror-expert Stacie Ponder Why Most Of Star Wars: The Old Republic‘s Hi-Res Graphics Disappeared at Launch During the beta test for BioWare’s Star Wars: The Old Republic players with high-end PCs enjoyed stunning high…
By Kirk Hamilton Published January 12, 2012 -
UncategorizedThis 8-Bit Atari Homage Takes the ‘Cake’
If you can steel yourself for a post-modern jumble of space exploration and robotic sing-song, Upside Down Cake’s “Star Strike” offers a neat walk through Atari antiquity. Some of these games certainly deserve the homage. Fun facts about a few of these games: Space Invaders caused an actual coin shortage in Japan, Berzerk was the…
By Pierre Bienaimé Published January 12, 2012