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Looking Back on Sports’ Movers, Makers, and Video Gamers in 2011
A walk-on running back; a dad who couldn’t tell his kids what he did; a fat kid who started going to the gym and never stopped. A guy who came to know his sport’s greatest venue in ways some champions never will. The top man at sports video gaming’s dominant publisher, and a college student…
By Owen Good Published December 24, 2011 - Uncategorized
Call of Duty Says Happy Holidays with Double XP and a Prestige Token for Elite Members
Premium Call of Duty Elite Subscribers got a couple stocking stuffers on Christmas Eve for use in Modern Warfare 3. They’ll get an extra two hours of double XP play, and a Prestige Token that can be redeemed for more XP time or other perks in the game’s Prestige Shop. Beachhead Studio and the Call…
By Owen Good Published December 24, 2011 - Uncategorized
The Politics of Just Dance
Our latest subject didn’t take a scientist to develop. As soon as President Obama popped into a Best Buy to pick up some games for his family for Christmas, we knew it would be this week’s front-running candidate for the Kotaku ‘Shop Contest. That’s the commander-in-chief at an Alexandria, Va., Best Buy, picking up Ubisoft’s…
By Owen Good Published December 24, 2011 - Uncategorized
Make It Through Another Day, and Xbox Live’s Homeless will Share Its Story
When I was a journalism student at Columbia, there was a guy on 112th Street and Broadway, the most unobtrusive homeless person I’ve ever encountered in New York. He had no sign and I don’t ever recall him verbally soliciting passersby. He just sat there, obviously homeless, with a strangely placid expression. One day I…
By Owen Good Published December 24, 2011 - Uncategorized
Tats of the Old Republic Winners
BioWare bossman Greg Zeschuk inked himself with Star Wars: The Old Republic during release week, showing his bodily commitment to the MMO. His original tat was a little wishy washy, so we decided to give him a few suggestions, other than laser removal. Twenty winners inside, including MustangSaggy! Leading off, lots of folks explored the…
By Owen Good Published December 24, 2011 - Uncategorized
Xbox Live Pries the Guns from Your Cold, Avatar Hands
This announcement oughta go over like a turd in a punchbowl. Seems that on Jan. 1, Xbox Live is taking guns away from all avatars. That is according to Epic Games’ community manager, who in a reminder to Gears of War fans said that if they don’t have the Lancer or Hammerburst avatar props, they…
By Owen Good Published December 24, 2011 -
UncategorizedYule Love These Holiday Fireplace Apps for Gaming Consoles and Mobile Devices
In 1966, TV station WPIX filmed a a fireplace at New York’s Gracie Mansion, canceled $4,000 worth of advertising, and broadcast it for two hours on Christmas Day as a gift to viewers who had no fireplaces in their apartments. Its spirit lives on screens large and small to this day. You can give your…
By Owen Good Published December 24, 2011 - Uncategorized
‘Tis the Eve Before Christmas
Whether you’re making last minute shopping plans for a gamer on your list or eyeballing what you might be doing with gift certificates or Christmas money, The Moneysaver marches on with more than 60 deals on hardware, software, and digital downloads. GameStop has a buy two, get one free deal on used games through Wednesday;…
By Owen Good Published December 24, 2011 - Uncategorized
The Week in Unbelievably Gorgeous Screenshots
A couple weeks back I ran an enjoyable feature on Duncan Harris, the video game photographer behind the website DeadEndThrills. Harris takes some of the most evocative, beautiful video game screenshots I’ve ever seen, and we’ve been sharing some of his work each week here. This week has some good stuff. Let’s get into it,…
By Kirk Hamilton Published December 23, 2011 - Uncategorized
What Are You Playing This Holiday Weekend?
This is the weekend I finally get around to playing The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim. Funny thing about picking it up today. I go to GameStop in Springfield, Ore.’s Gateway Mall. I know everyone bags on GameStop and I’ve done my share of that, but I really do like the guys who work there. They…
By Owen Good Published December 23, 2011 - Uncategorized
VVVVVV on the 3DS! Get Your Codes for VVVVVV on the 3DS Here! Who’s Ready?
Alright gang, here we go with another wild download code giveaway over Twitter, and this one is extra super special because the codes are for a game that is not even available yet But if you’re lucky enough to snag one of six codes I’m giving out over Kotaku’s official Twitter in the next two…
By Owen Good Published December 23, 2011 -
UncategorizedA Live-Action Battlefield 4, Through the Eyes of YouTube’s FreddieW
After teaming up with EA to produce a Battlefield 3 commercial, Internet sensation Freddie Wong—best known for geeky, homemade film shorts that riff on Splinter Cell, Halo and Portal—stayed on set to create the video seen above. This one imagines what asynchronous co-op play might look like for that game’s inevitable sequel. “Battlefield 4” does…
By Evan Narcisse Published December 23, 2011 - Uncategorized
Make Your Own Black Ops Christmas Ornament
Treyarch’s 2011 Christmas card is also a neat little Call of Duty: Black Ops ornament, all ready to be hung in a tree. If you’re a big fan, feel free to print these out, trim the excess, tape them together and hang it in your own tree. Hey, where’s my Call of Duty: Modern Warfare…
By Brian Crecente Published December 23, 2011 - Uncategorized
Resistance‘s Official Site is Back Online After Seven-Week Outage
The official site for the Resistance series of games is back online, ending a seven-week outage and one of the strangest security breaches in a year that has seen quite enough of them. Insomniac Games, the game’s maker, tweeted that Sony Computer Entertainment “has restored all web service to MyResistance.net and the site is now…
By Owen Good Published December 23, 2011 - Uncategorized
BioWare’s Co-Founders Say The Old Republic Is “A Crash Course in Everything Star Wars“
Massively multiplayer games come into the world as wriggly things full of writhing paths of possibility. Things start changing as soon as those servers go live and players start interacting with each other and the content. Running beta tests can predict some exploits and behaviors, but the game’s also still being built while those betas…
By Evan Narcisse Published December 23, 2011 - Uncategorized
What Starts With Ducks and Ends With Cheese? It’s the Week in Gaming Apps
Merry Duckcheesemas, everybody! It’s that special time of year in which the Week in Gaming Apps celebrates all things rubber duck and cheese related, along with three other games that have absolutely nothing to do with this theme. The week began with iDuck and ended with Cheeseman, a pair of games that make up the…
By Mike Fahey Published December 23, 2011 -
UncategorizedA Slim Chance for a Free Copy of Mighty Switch Force, an Excellent Chance at the Soundtrack
Yesterday Wayforward Technologies unleashed the majesty of Mighty Switch Force upon the Nintendo 3DS eShop, and while I only have a grand total of three codes to give away for the game, the wonderfully funky soundtrack is now available as a free download. Game composer and sound designer Jake Kaufman dropped us a line earlier…
By Mike Fahey Published December 23, 2011 -
UncategorizedThe Best Game Music of 2011: The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword
The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword is perhaps the most compelling argument yet for “Video Game as Concert Piece.” As a game, it is a smartly designed interlocking series of puzzles, an ever-more-complex world filled with hidden secrets and challenging combat that unfolds with a uniquely Zelda-y sense of joyous excavation. But as a concert…
By Kirk Hamilton Published December 23, 2011 - Uncategorized
Portal 2 Teleports into Gamasutra‘s Hearts, Snags Their Game of the Year
The industry- and design-focused publication Gamasutra has released their list of the top ten games of the year, with Valve’s Portal 2 coming in at the top. “All that extra ‘stuff’ isn’t just superfluous,” writes editor-in-chief Kris Graft, “every new addition has a purpose, and has a meaning. They made Portal 2 better than the…
By Kirk Hamilton Published December 23, 2011