• Uncategorized

  Comparing Video Game Screenshots to Real Photographs

  Valve’s Source Engine may be getting long in the tooth, but the fact it’s constantly updated means it can still produce some surprisingly realistic results. Like this gallery, comparing images taken inside the game engine to photos taken in real life. Reddit user NullPoint84 has assembled a gallery of pictures in which he’s recreated scenes…

  By Luke Plunkett Published October 21, 2011
• Uncategorized

  Lady, That Isn’t an iPhone. It’s an iPod.

  Like elsewhere, the iPhone is hugely popular and hard to get in Japan. Earlier this week, actress Yumiko Shaku did a post in which talked about getting her first smartphone—the “new iPhone model”. Thing is, it wasn’t the new iPhone. It wasn’t even the old one. It was an iPod Touch. Almost every Japanese celebrity…

  By Brian Ashcraft Published October 21, 2011
• Uncategorized

  Portal 2’s Chell has Never Looked Better

  Comics artist Alex Garner whipped this Portal 2 tribute up in his spare time. It feels strange calling it fan art. There should be a better name than that for pieces like this. As the original image wasn’t in wallpaper dimensions, and it’s so damn pretty people are going to ask, I’ve taken the liberty…

  By Luke Plunkett Published October 21, 2011
• 

  Uncategorized

  This is the Greatest Button-Press In all of Video Gaming

  QTEs, or Quick Time Events, are a way for video games to let the player feel like they’re interacting during a mostly cinematic sequence. They’re slightly controversial, because many argue they’re barely “gaming” at all; you’re just pressing some buttons while the real action takes place solely on the screen. There’s no controversy about this…

  By Luke Plunkett Published October 21, 2011
• 

  Uncategorized

  Yup, Ezio is in Soulcalibur V

  That’ll teach me to doubt! It’s been confirmed tonight that Ezio, star of the last three Assassin’s Creed games, will be making a guest appearance in upcoming fighter Soulcalibur V As far as these wacky guest appearances go, he’s…surprisingly tasteful. Appropriate, even, given the series’ loose affiliation with world history and things with sharp edges.…

  By Luke Plunkett Published October 21, 2011
• Uncategorized

  PlayStation 4 Game Development Is Underway

  While Sony hasn’t yet officially announced the PS4, no doubt it’s coming. The PlayStation 3 will get a successor. According to a “trusted source”, work has started on PlayStation 4 games. Website Develop reported that “various game projects are at very early stages”. Apparently, Sony’s in-house studios are starting development first, which makes obvious sense.…

  By Brian Ashcraft Published October 21, 2011
• Uncategorized

  Has the PlayStation 3 Been Cracked Again?

  The last time somebody got past the PS3’s copy-protection defences, it ended in lawsuits and, albeit indirectly, a massive security breach that brought down the entire PlayStation Network. Here’s hoping the next time somebody manages, things are a little more peaceful. That next time may already be upon us, with videos and reports surfacing showing…

  By Luke Plunkett Published October 21, 2011
• Uncategorized

  UPDATE: Doom 4 “Indefinitely Postponed” Following Rage’s Disappointing Launch

  A source claiming to be close to the publishers of the recently-launched Rage has told Kotaku that, at a recent “company wide” meeting held in Dallas, Bethesda and parent company Zenimax made the decision to “indefinitely postpone” development of Doom 4 Pete Hines, responding to our request for comment this morning, says no game in…

  By Luke Plunkett Published October 21, 2011
• CultureTotal Recall

  Where Are They Now? Diseases That Killed You in Oregon Trail

  You have died of dysentery. These are five words familiar to anyone who has attempted to caulk a wagon and ford rivers en route to the Willamette Valley. Oregon Trail not only taught generations of kids about Western migration in 19th-century America, it also familiarized them with various strange-sounding diseases. Let’s catch up with some…

  Laura Turner Garrison Published October 21, 2011
• Uncategorized

  What Animal Crossing Can Teach Us About the Anger of Occupy Wall Street

  Don’t get what’s motivating Occupy Wall Street, or any of the Occupy demonstrations worldwide? Look to a video game, writes one blogger. He believes Animal Crossing supplies an allegory for the protesters’ anger, and it involves being pressed into servitude by a debt you had little choice but to acquire. “Animal Crossing was probably the…

  By Owen Good Published October 20, 2011
• Uncategorized

  Zelda Concert’s “Contract Rider” Calls for All Sorts of Awesome

  We’ve all heard the ridiculous demands in rock star’s contract riders, things like the color of M&Ms, the temperature of the dressing room, the types of condiments for the party sub. Well, tomorrow night is The Legend of Zelda 25th Anniversary Symphony Concert in Los Angeles, and you should see Link’s list of demands. The…

  By Owen Good Published October 20, 2011
• Uncategorized

  Mini Tyrael Lords Over the BlizzCon 2011 Goodie Bag

  Half the joy of attending Blizzard’s yearly celebration of all things Blizzard is opening up the sack of goodies they give you at registration and splaying them over your hotel room desk like a kid at Christmas. This year we might have to keep the jubilation to a dull roar; the mini Archangel of Justice…

  By Mike Fahey Published October 20, 2011
• 

  Uncategorized

  Watch the First Ten Minutes of Battlefield 3’s Singleplayer Campaign

  Battlefield 3 is, in many places, now sitting in shipping boxes, meaning people with access to those boxes can take copies out, put them in consoles, pick up a camera and play the game. Like this guy. This video shows around the first ten minutes of the PS3 version’s singleplayer campaign, from boot-up screens through…

  By Luke Plunkett Published October 20, 2011
• Uncategorized

  I Wonder if the Mouse In My Ceiling Likes Horror Flicks

  Greetings, open threaders. As we roll into the evening (or night on the East coast, or morning across the ocean), here is our daily open thread, in which we can talk, type, rant and rave about anything at all, or nothing in particular. For a conversation-starter today, I’m going to write a poem. It’s about…

  By Kirk Hamilton Published October 20, 2011
• Uncategorized

  In This Cool (and Gross) New iOS Game, Your Face is the Battleground

  The last augmented reality game I played was Face Raiders on the 3DS, a game which turned the face of those playing the game into flying enemies which players could then shoot out of the sky. The new iOS AR game SkinVaders turns that idea on its head (geddit?) by using facial recognition software and…

  By Kirk Hamilton Published October 20, 2011
• Uncategorized

  Right Now You Can Play a Console-Quality Video Game from … YouTube?

  To very little fanfare, the PC demo of FIFA 12 is now playable without a download. All you have to do is go to the game’s YouTube page. Provided you have a decent Internet connection and up-to-date Java, simply clicking a banner puts you on the pitch. The development was Tweeted out about three hours…

  By Owen Good Published October 20, 2011
• 

  Uncategorized

  Let Japanese Women Compliment Your Urination. “You Peed So Much!”

  Sega Toys made a urine powered game called Toirettsu. It’s being location-tested. Now, even as I write that, you’re probably thinking, what the hell does a urine powered game look like? Well, I’ll show you—minus the real dicks and the real pee. (Sorry!) The games are largely self-explanatory, such as blowing up a weather lady’s…

  By Brian Ashcraft Published October 20, 2011
• 

  Uncategorized

  Mass Effect 3‘s Multiplayer [Update: and Singleplayer] Demo Will Be in January

  At 3:00 of this unboxing video for Battlefield 3 we’re shown the card for Mass Effect 3‘s multiplayer beta, which says it will take place in January. Anyone who buys Battlefield 3 gets into the beta. The January date was confirmed about 30 minutes ago on the Mass Effect Facebook page. Also, on its forums,…

  By Owen Good Published October 20, 2011
• Uncategorized

  The Voice Actors of Batman: Arkham City, Unmasked

  Good gravy does Batman: Arkham City have some fine voice-acting. Almost every character in the game, from the biggest crime bosses to the littlest thugs, is played by an actor who delivers his or her lines with gusto and energy. It goes such a long way towards making Arkham City feel vital and believable, and…

  By Kirk Hamilton Published October 20, 2011
• Uncategorized

  Harmonix Should Make a Shooter, Says Expert

  Fast Company, the business magazine read by movers and/or shakers, uncorked some outside-the-box advice for companies stuck in a rut. Harmonix Music Systems is on the list, it seems, because of stagnation in the music gaming genre, not necessarily because it’s spinning its wheels, but whatever. They are being advised to make, wait for it,…

  By Owen Good Published October 20, 2011