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UncategorizedThe Melvins: Honey Bucket
You want to talk about institutions in the world of rock, you talk about The Melvins. Originally hailing from Washington State, formed in 1983 and instrumental in the formation of some guys called Nirvana, the band isn’t just still around in 2012, they’re as relevant and revered as ever. This is Honey Bucket. It’s from…
By Luke Plunkett Published January 3, 2012 - Culture
The Kickass Mechs, Guns and Soldiers of a…Gameloft artist?
Gameloft has a pretty poor reputation around these parts, much of it very richly-deserved, but that doesn’t mean the mobile gaming specialists are entirely without merit. In 2009 Gameloft founded Redsteam, a studio that specialises in pre-production art. Its purpose is two-fold: while it creates art for Gameloft titles, it also aims to “grow in…
By Luke Plunkett Published January 3, 2012 - Uncategorized
Don’t Expect Any More Zelda Games Looking Like Skyward Sword
When Ocarina of Time was released, the next game in the series re-used its art design. When Wind Waker was released, it spawned a number of handheld and multiplayer games borrowing its cel-shaded look. Even Twilight Princess’ art style turned up more than once, even if the second outing was for a crossbow game. Skyward…
By Luke Plunkett Published January 3, 2012 - Uncategorized
Half-Life 2 Movie Posters Make You Wish for a Half-Life 2 Movie
If you’ve ever wanted to see a live-action Half-Life 2 movie, these mock posters are only going to make you want to see one a lot more. They’re the work of British graphic designer Sean Keenan, and are, for the most part, wonderfully tasteful and subdued. He’s based them on the posters for Chris Nolan’s…
By Luke Plunkett Published January 3, 2012 -
UncategorizedTurn Your Minecraft Creations Into Actual Sculptures
There’s a new program available called Mineways, which uses open-source (read: free) software to let people turn their Minecraft creations into real-world objects. We’ve seen services like this provided before, mostly for avatar recreation, but this looks way cooler, both because the software is free and because it lets you build anything from the game.…
By Luke Plunkett Published January 3, 2012 - CultureTotal Recall
Forcing Old Atari Game Boxes to Tell the Truth
Rarely was there ever a greater discrepancy between actual graphics and box art design than during the Atari era. You’d get these amazingly evocative, painted box arts for a game about…blocks. Not cool. Mighty God King seeks to rectify this by taking the box art and changing the game’s name to better reflect what’s being…
By Luke Plunkett Published January 3, 2012 - Uncategorized
The Great Fallout Legal Battle is Over
The legal stoush between Bethesda and Interplay over the rights to certain aspects of the Fallout universe, which has been dragging on for years, has finally been settled, according to a report on Fallout fansite Duck & Cover While the actual details of the settlement are yet to be released – they’re expected to be…
By Luke Plunkett Published January 2, 2012 - Uncategorized
All of the Best Video Game Music of 2011
It’s been a lot of fun cataloguing and recognizing the best video game music of the year. We’ve gone from AAA blockbusters to indie games, sweeping melodies to ambient synths, heroic themes to dread-soaked atmospherics. Some of the games built music into their gameworlds, while others brought in full orchestras and still others used the…
By Kirk Hamilton Published January 2, 2012 - Uncategorized
The 2011 Video Game Year in Review
We love video games here at Kotaku. We love them so much. We think they had a good year in 2011, although it was a pretty weird year. We had the PlayStation Network going down. We got a 3DS and, at least in Japan, a Vita. We got Minecraft and Duke Nukem Forever and even…
Kotaku Staff Published January 2, 2012 - Uncategorized
Portal 2 Takes Kotaku’s 2011 Game of the Year Award for Science, You Monster
After several weeks of debate, discussion, and deliberation, Kotaku‘s 2011 Game of the Year Award came down to a simple vote, and the majority voted for science. We voted for Wheatley, the delightfully ditzy but well-meaning artificial intelligence that unwittingly guided us to our potential doom. We voted for GLaDOS, the power-hungry robot with a…
By Mike Fahey Published January 2, 2012 - Uncategorized
Is the PS Vita A Device Ahead of Its Time or Behind It?
With its big, bright screen, ability to sense touch and motion, and controls that mimic a home game console’s, Sony’s Playstation Vita delivers the sort of gaming that approaches what you might expect to experience in your den. But is that what gamers still want? I’ve spent the past week with a PS Vita, enjoying…
By Brian Crecente Published January 2, 2012 - Uncategorized
Meet the Team Fortress 2 Kids
Wee Little TF2 | Dutch artist SLiD3 breaks hearts with these cute little Team Fortress 2 soldiers. Why People Say the World Will End In 2012 You’re going to hear a lot this year about how, at some point in 2012, the world is going to end. That we will all, in some way or…
By Luke Plunkett Published January 2, 2012 - Uncategorized
New Halo: Reach Figures Capture Tiny Little Flags
Next month, McFarlane will release what feels like the 117th series of Halo toys, this time based on the characters and bad guys from Halo: Reach There are Spartans with multiplayer colour schemes, actual character Spartans from the game with no helmets on, giant aliens, human pilots and, my favourite, a pack containing multiplayer accessories…
By Luke Plunkett Published January 2, 2012 - Uncategorized
Portal Boots Look Great in the Real World
Once again, Volpin Props knocks it out of the park. Though in this case, they’ve knocked themselves out of the park. And fallen a great height, only to land safely, thanks to these Portal Long Fall Boots. Master prop builder Harrison Krix’s efforts continue to amaze, these boots looking like they jumped straight out of…
By Luke Plunkett Published January 2, 2012 -
UncategorizedJon Hopkins: Circle
One day, I’m going to make a science-fiction movie. It won’t be about action, or killing. It’ll just be about some guys cruising the galaxy, exploring all the cool shit that’s out there to see. And when they see it, they lean back in their space chairs and just…soak it all up. When I make…
By Luke Plunkett Published January 2, 2012 - Uncategorized
Mass Effect Monopoly is my Favourite…You Get the Idea
If you liked the idea of BioShock Monopoly but prefer the depths of space to the depths of the deep blue sea, Mass Effect Monopoly might be more your thing. Tommy LeRoy is the man to thank for this awesome custom game, which changes everything about the original to bring it into line with BioWare’s…
By Luke Plunkett Published January 2, 2012 - Uncategorized
Bison, Ling Xiaoyu Are In Street Fighter x Tekken
This screenshot, posted on Street Fighter x Tekken’s Xbox Marketplace website, accidentally (?) reveals two new characters for the crossover title. You won’t see them punching; you’ll find them in the character section up the top of the screen. They’re Tekken’s Ling Xiaoyu and Street Fighter’s M. Bison. For Tekken, the day Bison graced this…
By Luke Plunkett Published January 2, 2012 - Uncategorized
Zelda’s Great Fairy Takes On Star Wars
Just because you’re (probably) on holidays doesn’t mean the cosplayers of the world take a break. In this week’s Fancy Pants, we have an amazing Great Fairy from Zelda, a double serving of perfect Star Wars cosplay, Final Fantasy, Mortal Kombat and, believe it or not, some Muramasa Fancy Pants is a look at the…
By Luke Plunkett Published January 2, 2012 - Uncategorized
Call of Duty Ads “Hideous Marketing”, Says Actual Soldier
Activision’s big-budget Sam Worthington x Jonah Hill commercials for Modern Warfare 3 won a lot of fans, but novelist, essayist and former paratrooper D.B. Grady is not one of them. Writing on The Atlantic, Grant – “a former paratrooper with U.S. Army Special Operations Command and a veteran of Afghanistan” – says the commercial series…
By Luke Plunkett Published January 2, 2012 -
UncategorizedPeople are Already Playing Genesis Games on the PlayStation Vita
Oh look. It’s Genesis game Sonic & Knuckles running on the PlayStation Vita, a handheld that’s been out for less than a month. How is this possible? Don’t get too alarmed; rather than cracking open the Vita itself, this homebrew Genesis emulator (originally built for the PSP) is running via the Vita’s own PSP emulation.…
By Luke Plunkett Published January 2, 2012