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Final Fantasy XIV‘s Subscription Period Gets a Start Date, Cheaper Rates
Beleaguered Final Fantasy XIV is being reborn as Final Fantasy XIV: Version 2.0. Part of that rebirth means that the PC game’s free-to-play period is coming to a close. The billing period commences next month. Staring Jan. 6, Final Fantasy XIV‘s subscription will begin. According to Square Enix, those who have not selected a subscription…
By Brian Ashcraft Published December 6, 2011 - Uncategorized
The Powers, Weapons and Cursed Heroes of The Darkness II’s Vendettas
The Darkness II’s four new characters, each cursed with Darkness-imbued weapons, were all created by renowned comic book writer Paul Jenkins. Jenkins had no direction, just to go and create four people cursed to carry weapons powered by the Darkness, I was told. Here’s what he came up with. Make sure to click on the…
By Brian Crecente Published December 6, 2011 -
UncategorizedThe Darkness II’s Multiplayer Is Co-op Only. Introduces Four New Characters
The Darkness II doesn’t have traditional multiplayer. There are no multiples of Jackie Estacado using their powers over The Darkness to fight it out in endless battles. The core mythology of The Darkness prevents it. So when Digital Extremes decided to expand their game to allow more than one player, they needed to get creative…
By Brian Crecente Published December 6, 2011 - Uncategorized
Prototype 2‘s Protagonist Started Life as a White Dude
Sgt. James Heller from Prototype 2 is not a white guy. He’s a black guy. But he didn’t begin his life that way. “We started off with an amalgamation of Hugh Jackman and Clint Eastwood, and the resulting render looked remarkably similar to James Marsden—so we were like ‘Okay, scratch that one out,'” Ken Rosman,…
By Brian Ashcraft Published December 6, 2011 - Uncategorized
Um, Link Doesn’t Just Absorb Those Fairies…
So Link walks into a Fairy cave, stashes some in a bottle, then just kinda…absorbs another to refill his health. Wait, absorb? That’s a little vague. Wouldn’t he need to…yeah. It’s horrible. The next time you crack open a bottle and top yourself up in a Zelda game, just think about what you’re actually doing,…
By Luke Plunkett Published December 6, 2011 -
UncategorizedAn Accidental Gay Romance
Some might call this a fluke, a twist of fate—a coincidence. Striker Andy Carroll makes his way down the pitch, tries to score a goal and ends up (accidentally?) scoring with Arsenal’s keeper. The keeper of kisses. Video games are short on men kisses. Some games, such as Bully from Rockstar, have valiantly added them.…
By Brian Ashcraft Published December 6, 2011 -
UncategorizedSkyrim Now Works With Kinect (On PC)
Look at this guy. He’s rigged up a copy of Skyrim to work with Kinect. And it doesn’t just work. It works well Stuff like menu juggling looks like a bit of a pain, as it’s slower owing to the necessity for voice control. But movement and combat? It looks way less horrible than it…
By Luke Plunkett Published December 6, 2011 -
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Scott Hates Pokémon More Than You
If the world was overrun with Pokémon, how would you handle it? Probably better than Scott here. It goes for a bit too long, but then, if poor Scott has to put up with Pokémon, we have to put up with a good joke that overstays its welcome. It’s only fair.
By Luke Plunkett Published December 6, 2011 - Culture
The Fanciest Video Game Art You’ve Ever Seen
Today’s Fine Art is something different. Rather than look at one game, or one studio, we’re looking at a loose collaboration of artists from all over the industry brought together by one thing: a very fancy art dealership. Cook & Becker, based in Utrecht, The Netherlands, has opened a gallery for “unique and limited edition…
By Luke Plunkett Published December 6, 2011 - Uncategorized
Old Republic Already Has More Players Than Most Finished Games
Upcoming Star Wars MMO Old Republic isn’t even out yet. It’s still in a beta. Yet over the Thanksgiving weekend in the US over 725,000 people logged on and played the thing. What’s more, they didn’t just log on, play for three minutes and log off. The average user played for 12 hours over those…
By Luke Plunkett Published December 6, 2011 - Uncategorized
Space Looks Too…Damn…Cute…
Want some new desktop or phone wallpaper? You’re covered. So covered. Here’s some rad new artwork from Capybara’s upcoming Super TIME Force. A 1920×1080 version is above, while iPhone 4, iPad, 1600×1200 and 1280×1024 resolutions are available here HERE, TAKE THESE PIXEL ART WALLPAPERS [CAPY]
By Luke Plunkett Published December 6, 2011 - Uncategorized
The Time a Green Fairy Called Newt Gingrich a “Fascist”
Newt Gingrich, who may very well become the next President of the United States, has a second life. No, I don’t mean his second life as a lobbyist, I mean literally, a second life. A few years ago, the leading GOP candidate for President created a Second Life avatar and gave a long lecture on…
Wagner James Au | New World Notes Published December 6, 2011 - Uncategorized
What’s Ubisoft’s New MMO? A Wii U Game?
Yesterday, Ubisoft’s Emile Gauthier posted a seemingly innocent Twitter message, asking for people to come work on Ubisoft Quebec’s “NEW AAA MMORPG Game”. Turns out the actual advertisements are a little more descriptive. While some simply say MMO, or AAA MMO, others say it’s a “WII U AAA Game”, which suggests the game may well…
By Luke Plunkett Published December 6, 2011 - Uncategorized
This Gamer Has Balls. Wants To Beat You.
Remember R.B.I. Baseball? The classic sports title for the Nintendo Entertainment System? This gamer is so confident that he can defeat anyone at it, he or she took out an ad in a local Oklahoma newspaper. “I Cannot Be Beaten at RBI BASEBALL,” the advertisement reads, with a phone number for “Contenders”. Developed by Namco,…
By Brian Ashcraft Published December 6, 2011 - Uncategorized
Theme Park is Back, and it’s Ready to Fuck You Over
Bullfrog’s Theme Park is one of the greatest management games ever made. It’s return, courtesy of rights-holders EA, should be a cause for celebration. It’s not. The game is on iPhone. Which is…OK. I mean, SimCity is on iPhone and works pretty well, there’s no reason Theme Park can’t do the same. Only, it looks…
By Luke Plunkett Published December 6, 2011 -
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A Musical Collaboration Between Two of Japan’s Finest
Hello, Kotaku. The night is dark, and full of terrors. Oh, and video game news. So let’s take a five-minute break with some music, OK? Welcome to Soundtrack. A new bonus segment here on Kotaku. This isn’t a trap. We’re just relaxing with some tunes. Stuff we think you might like to stick on while…
By Luke Plunkett Published December 6, 2011 - Uncategorized
Japan’s Biggest Website, Awash in Illegal Drugs
Drugs, and drug culture, are common and prevalent in much of the West. Ditto for Japan, even if superficially the country seems immune to such devices. It’s not. Sometimes buying drugs in Japan is as easy as walking up to someone standing on a corner in Tokyo’s Roppongi. Sometimes, it’s far more complex, say, if…
By Brian Ashcraft Published December 6, 2011 -
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How a Diablo III Cosplay Scares the Neighbors
Unless it’s Halloween, cosplay is restricted to indoors and nerd events. Crafty-type Joshua Smith seems to have forgotten this when he took his truly amazing Diablo III out and about. Previously, Kotaku profiled Joshua’s impressive costume, as well as his creepy room. In the above video, you can see the full body costume in motion—and…
By Brian Ashcraft Published December 6, 2011 -
UncategorizedCounter-Strike, You’ve Changed (For the Better!)
This mighty helpful YouTube video shows just how far Valve’s shooter Counter-Strike has come over the past eight years, between the release of the landmark version 1.6 and subsequent revisions like Condition Zero, Source and the upcoming Global Offensive All shots are from the game’s trademark level, de_dust2, and show that the biggest addition to…
By Luke Plunkett Published December 6, 2011 - Uncategorized
Burglar Tries To Steal Xbox 360, Pulls Knife, Gets Stabbed a Shitload
An overnight worker in Chicago came home to discover a 20-something year old burglar attempting to make off with his flat-screen TV and Xbox 360 in a suitcase. That’s when all hell broke loose. According to the Chicago Tribune, the resident confronted the burglar in the apartment foyer, and the crook pulled a knife. Then,…
By Brian Ashcraft Published December 6, 2011