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This Man is Keeping the Spirit of WipeOut’s Original Look Alive
Xander Davis is a game industry artist and graphic design fan, who after seeing the recent feature we ran on WipeOut and The Designers Republic dropped us a line. In addition to his industry stuff (he’s working on Darksiders II at the moment), Davis is setting up his own site called Alternareal, which he calls…
By Luke Plunkett Published December 29, 2011 - Uncategorized
These Might Have Been the 50 Most Torrented Things On the Internet In 2011
Torrent site Kat.ph has opened its databases to the download specialists at TorrentFreak, sharing with them the 50 most commonly searched terms for torrent downloads in 2011. While it’s not perfect, and doesn’t include other major Torrent indexes like Pirate Bay, it’s as good as we’re going to get, and with Kat.ph one of the…
By Luke Plunkett Published December 29, 2011 -
UncategorizedThe Best Video Game Trailers Of 2011
With an onus on spectacle and selling you on a mood, instead of a stage or actual footage, video game trailers have become an artform unto themselves. That being the case, we thought we would, as usual, look back on some of the year’s best. These aren’t necessarily the trailers for the best games (though…
By Luke Plunkett Published December 29, 2011 - Uncategorized
Ocean Marketting Jackass Earns $10 Discount for All Pre-Orders
In a statement just released, N-Control, maker of the “Avenger” accessory linked to the infamous marketer Paul Christoforo, has promised a $10 discount coupon for all who pre-ordered the device, as an apology for Christoforo’s conduct toward a customer, which drew the wrath of the global video gaming community earlier this week. N-Control’s lengthy statement…
By Owen Good Published December 28, 2011 - Uncategorized
Instead Of Pepper-Spray, They Should Call it Gingerbread-Spray
Greetings, Kotaku cadets, and welcome to a mid-week open thread. It’s a down week for us, and there hasn’t been too much new news. Did you get any good games over the holidays? Did you get anyone else any good games? Are you looking forward to 2012, or dreading it? Can you believe that we…
By Kirk Hamilton Published December 28, 2011 - Uncategorized
An MVP Graces MLB 2K12‘s Cover
Adam Larson, the artist behind the three custom covers for NBA 2K12, has also supplied the base art of the Detroit Tigers pitcher Justin Verlander for the cover of MLB 2K12 2K Sports released the game’s official pack shot yesterday. Verlander, whose 24 victories, 250 strikeouts and 2.40 earned run average led the American League…
By Owen Good Published December 28, 2011 - Uncategorized
Area Man Selects Skyrim as The Onion‘s Game of the Year
The people who brought you such fantastic headlines as “Burrito Eaten As If Someone In The Room Wasn’t Crying” and “Brief Reprieve From Mariah Carey’s Christmas Song Comes To Resounding End” have selected their Game of The Year, and it’s not ironic at all: Bethesda’s Skyrim has edged out the competition to take top honors.…
By Kirk Hamilton Published December 28, 2011 - Uncategorized
Valve on Half-Life 3 Rumors: ‘This is the Community Trolling the Community’
Every popular video game has its following of wishful thinkers, wannabe designers, and straight-up trolls. None has more hard at work on the next title than Half Life 3. And they’ve been very busy lately. There is, of course, this total fakey-fake-mcfakerson website, a goldmine of cognitive dissonance that’s not even registered to Valve. Then…
By Owen Good Published December 28, 2011 -
UncategorizedThe Best Game Music of 2011: Bastion
Bastion snuck up on me—I had heard a lot of friends and fellow critics hyping it after seeing it at PAX East and GDC, but I didn’t actually play it until it was released. For the first hour or so, I wasn’t sold, but as the story snowballed and the levels stretched out, I fell…
By Kirk Hamilton Published December 28, 2011 - Uncategorized
Unwinnable
Holiday Bonus Stage | An Unwinnable Christmas Card, as seen in the envelope I opened in my house this afternoon. Nintendo To Host New Year’s Eve Video Telethon on Your 3DS Nintendo plans to kick off a two day video New Year’s telethon starting the last day of the year and running until the morning…
By Brian Crecente Published December 28, 2011 -
UncategorizedThere’s a Special Gift Inside Every Launch Copy of Twisted Metal, and It’s Not Green Stamps
Twisted Metal co-director David Jaffe manages to make fans of the series extremely happy and me feel incredibly old in one fell swoop. Thanks for the free copy of PlayStation 2 classic Twisted Metal Black, Dave. If anyone needs me I’ll be down at Hardees with the rest of the elderly, stuffing horrible food into…
By Mike Fahey Published December 28, 2011 - Uncategorized
Police Say Christmas Gaming Drove Woman to Attack Children with Butcher Knife
Allegedly enraged over her five-year-old son’s playing of a video game he received as a Christmas gift, Jutrina Tillman of Phoenix, Arizona, dragged the young boy into his bedroom and began to strangle him before threatening to kill him and his 13-year-old sister with a butcher knife. Around 10PM on Christmas night Phoenix police received…
By Mike Fahey Published December 28, 2011 - Uncategorized
Star Wars: The Old Republic MMO Log Part Two: Some Sort of Jedi Mind Trick
What happens when a crazy Smuggler is joined by, a Jedi Consular, a Trooper, and a Sith Warrior in week two of Kotaku‘s Star Wars: The Old Republic MMO Log? Opinions change, ideas form, and they all learn a little something about friendship (and possibly crafting). I spent my second week in The Old Republic…
By Mike Fahey Published December 28, 2011 -
UncategorizedPaper-Rock-Scissors Tactics Spring to Life in Fire Emblem 3DS
This spring in Japan the swords, axes, and spears of Fire Emblem spring forth from the 3DS screen to pierce your eyeballs with varying degrees of severity depending on which sort of weapon you’re holding at the time. Check out the live stream of the game from the Nintendo Direct presser. One of the first…
By Mike Fahey Published December 28, 2011 - Uncategorized
The Best Game Music of 2011: Make Your Readers’ Choice Nominations!
We’re coming to the conclusion of our Best Game Music of 2011 series—there are only two games left! I’ve been having a lot of fun writing these, and thanks to Luke and Evan for their entries as well. As I’ve been doing the posts, I’ve been getting lots of notes from readers about game soundtracks…
By Kirk Hamilton Published December 28, 2011 -
Uncategorized
Your First Look at Kid Icarus: Uprising’s Online Multiplayer
News that Kid Icarus: Uprising will feature both local and online multiplayer was followed up with this video showing the game’s online play in action. The gameplay looks like free-roaming third-person shooter with wings and some fancy weapons. Players seem to team up, light versus dark, in this video. Though there’s also a free-for-all Battle…
By Brian Crecente Published December 28, 2011