Dead Island Stands Out By Being Both Splattery and Solemn

Dead Island had been sending mixed signals—I wasn’t able to tell whether this title was meant to be a goofy splatterfest or emotionally devastating. Having now had the chance to experience the game first hand, I think it’s trying to be a little of both. Surprisingly, the combination works. When the announcement trailer for the…

Let’s Get to Know Catherine‘s Hero

By night Catherine‘s Vincent Brooks climbs the teetering towers of his nightmares. By day he’s an average guy in a long-term relationship with a woman that wants him to commit. While Catherine is a horror / suspense game, at its core is a story that’s been told countless times across many forms of media. Girl…

The Sights and People of E3 2011’s South Hall

I’ll give E3 this: It’s colorful. We did a few laps to see the big dogs: Square Enix, Activision, Ubisoft, Konami, Sony Ericsson, Microsoft…Robot Entertainment. (I can’t help it. Orcs Must Die looks really fun!) Photos by our fearless photog, Isaac Viel

These Batman: Arkham City Controllers Won’t Decapitate Anybody

Here’s a first look at Power A’s Batarang controllers in the flesh. They’re more mediocre “Xbox peripheral” than deadly weapon, but if you like lights, they’ve got those!

The Lighter, More Elegant Soulcalibur V May be Taking New Cues from Street Fighter, Mortal Kombat

There’s a new entry in the long-running Soulcalibur series, Namco’s weapons-based fighter, a game that its creators say is a “lighter, faster, more elegant” battle of swords and souls. It’s also a game with “more dynamic” battles, one drawing some influence from Street Fighter IV and Mortal Kombat Soulcalibur V, says producer Hisaharu Toga, will…

Kinect Fun Labs Does Dark and Terrible Things to My Cat

I should never have used my cat, Rande, as a test subject in Kinect Fun Labs‘ Build-A-Buddy. I had a buddy already. Now all I have is the horror. Oh god the horror. It seemed like the next logical step in testing Build-A-Buddy after bringing life to a purple sex toy. It worked well enough…

Three Amazing Things You’ll Do With Aliens: Colonial Marines on the Wii U

Earlier this week we learned that Gearbox Software’s Aliens: Colonial Marines is coming to the Wii U. Today the developer explained some of the really cool ways you’ll be playing the game with Nintendo’s tablet-like controller for their new console. The most important thing Randy Pitchford told us during our discussion about the Wii U…

Here’s Mad Catz’s Official Xbox 360 Wireless Headphones

Mad Catz’s official Xbox 360 headsets has one thing nobody else has: They’re totally wireless. There are three models, but the two you care about are the Warhead and Devastator. The former’s Dolby 7.1, the latter’s stereo. I didn’t get to wear them, much less listen to them, so I can’t tell you the two…

Razer’s 4G Dual Sensor Technology Makes for a Ridiculously Precise Gaming Mouse

What’s better, a laser mouse or a standard optical mouse? That’s a question answered by Razer’s new 4G Dual Sensor Technology, combining laser and optical sensors to create a mouse capable of tracking at 6400dpi. Dots per inch (or more accurately CPi – counts per inch) is the measure of the number of steps a…

Can Kinect Fun Labs Grant Life to a Plastic Purple Penis?

This morning Owen Good told me someone from Microsoft assured him that Kinect Fun Lab‘s Build-A-Buddy application had “advanced penis recognition heuristics that will reject the shape”. I decided to test that claim using a purple grape-scented vibrator we just happened to have on hand. What, don’t tell me you people don’t have emergency vibrators…

Dance Central 2 Will Take Two to Get Down

Though the game only recognized one player’s moves, whenever someone broke out Dance Central at a party, invariably someone else joined the fun. Multiplayer, therefore, was priority No. 1 for Dance Central 2, and is the most notable feature of a game that still gets the best of the Kinect. A second player may drop…

Power A’s Tiny Controllers for Tiny Hands

Mike got to use Power A’s slightly shrinkified controllers back in January—the PS3 and Xbox models are fine, but it’s the 20 percent smaller, totally rubberized Wii remote that’s a surprise dynamo. And it lasts longer than before, with AA batteries replacing last year’s AAA.

Mass Effect 3 Voice Control Makes You a Devil, Enables Pause-Free Combat

The Kinect integration in next year’s Mass Effect 3 just might be a great idea. Pardon the skepticism, but after two Mass Effect games that did just fine without any connection to Microsoft’s hands-free sensor, it is a surprise. We found out on Monday, officially, that Mass Effect 3 includes optional Kinect support. (That had…

Rise of Nightmare Recreates a Drunk’s Bloody Wander Through a Zombie Cavalcade

There is something wonderful about air chainsawing zombies. And air cleavering them. And air sheering them. I stand in a darkened room facing a big screen, feet apart, my hands are held in front of me as if I’m holding a chainsaw. On the TV I am. More specifically, two disembodied virtual arms and hands…

Graffiti Artist Takes A Stab At The Gears of War 3 Logo

LA-based graffiti artist OG Slick worked with Epic Games and Microsoft to create a cool alternative version the “Crimson Omen” logo from Gears of War as a limited edition tee for Hot Topic. The design got its debut last night in coaster form at Epic’s GoW3 Party last night. If you’re interested in the shirt,…

Nintendo is Such a Close-Knit Company Its Employees are Adopting Each Other

When some people think Nintendo, the first word that comes to mind is family. That’s likely the case for Nintendo employees Ross and Sandra Titus, who recently adopted their first child, 29-year-old Nintendo executive Jillian. The woman now known as Jillian Titus didn’t feel as if she had much of a family when she first…

New Soulcalibur V Screen Shots

Experience New Levels of Multiplayer Manhunting in Assassin’s Creed Revelations

How does a master assassin find deeper meaning in life? By becoming even more calculating, wise, and lethal then he was before-and that’s just what Ezio Auditore intends to do on his hazardous journey through the Ottoman Empire in Assassin’s Creed Revelations, out this fall from Ubisoft. In the latest update to the award-winning series,…

Tekken Hybrid is Sexy PlayStation 3 Exclusive Combo

Take the gorgeous computer animated Tekken: Blood Vengeance movie and bundle it together with the HD remake of Tekken Tag Tournament and you get Tekken Hybrid, a Blu-ray movie you’ll want to watch with a game you might want to poke at. Tekken Tag Tournament HD is nice enough, I suppose, but the real meat…

Watch a Human Play Prey 2

No cinematic trailers or target footage here. Just a guy playing Prey 2 so you know what it actually looks like.