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Sony Exec Calls PSN Hack ‘A Great Experience,’ Quickly Clarifies Himself
Losing the entire PlayStation Network service for 23 days and its online marketplace for more than a month is not many people’s idea of a good time. Nor is it Tim Schaff’s, though the Sony Network Entertainment boss called it “a great experience,” at a forum before, as the politicians say, he revised and extended…
By Owen Good Published July 14, 2011 - Uncategorized
The Thing (2011)
Greetings, Kotaku readers. Got time to join us in another off-topic thread? Good. Maybe we can talk about movies, since this post happens to be movie-centric. So, that first trailer for The Thing (linked below) is out and it looks… alright. A few too many moments of people being yanked into the darkness by some…
By Michael McWhertor Published July 14, 2011 - Uncategorized
Miyamoto’s, Where You Know Everybody’s Name
For its cover of this week’s edition (on newsstands today) the Portland Mercury commissioned this painting, an homage to Edward Hopper’s Nighthawks with Donkey Kong creator Shigeru Miyamoto and three characters he introduced to America 30 years ago this week. The cover highlights a story about GameOn 2.0, a playable history of video games showing…
By Owen Good Published July 14, 2011 -
UncategorizedCall of Duty Elite Trailer is Like a Simile Wrapped in a Metaphor
Call of Duty Elite beta began a “staged launch” today and to kick it off, Activision unloaded this two minute trailer that spends one minute cracking jokes and another minute answering questions except for the biggie: How much is this damn thing going to cost? For now, it’s free; for now, it’s in beta. You…
By Owen Good Published July 14, 2011 - Culture
The Concept Art of Matt Codd, the Artist in Charge at Respawn Entertainment
Respawn Entertainment, the studio birthed by the fired founders of Infinity Ward, have a new art director with a very impressive resume. Matt Codd, Respawn’s new art director, has contributed to films Saving Private Ryan, Serenity, Chronicles of Riddick, Transformers 3, and many, many… many more. The official Respawn web site has a new interview…
By Michael McWhertor Published July 14, 2011 - Uncategorized
Survey Says You’ll Spend About Two Years Playing Video Games
A promotional survey taken by a video game price comparison site turns up an interesting stat: The average gamer will spend just under two years of his or her life, in combined time, playing video games. That’s based on a couple of assumptions, largely that the survey population of 1,452 begins gaming around age 9…
By Owen Good Published July 14, 2011 -
UncategorizedIn Bomberman: The Movie, Only a Cop on the Edge Can Save a City in Danger
The Country Club and The Game Station, filmmakers with a flair for dressing up video-game classics in action-film tropes, have struck again with this Bomberman trailer, and it is outstanding. [h/t OMGWTFOTL]
By Owen Good Published July 14, 2011 - Uncategorized
UbiQ
A Little Tenderness – Kotaku editorial director Joel Johnson whispers sweet nothings into the ear of deputy editor Stephen Totilo after a Ubisoft event in New York City where alcohol was clearly served. (Photo by Brian Crecente) Magnetic Baby, An iOS Platformer With Gravitational Pull and A Portal or Two If an iPhone game can…
By Brian Crecente Published July 14, 2011 - Uncategorized
Chrono Trigger Meets Futurama In A Moment of Spacy Serendipity
Artist Nina “spacecoyote” Matsumoto, an occasional Simpsons Comics contributor, has good news, everyone! She’s finally managed to mash-up beloved RPG Chrono Trigger with Futurama in a surprisingly good fit. Matsumoto explains her Chrono Futurama fan art is “Inspired by the names of my current Chrono Trigger team. No, I haven’t gotten to Magus yet.” She…
By Michael McWhertor Published July 14, 2011 -
UncategorizedSee the Single-Player Side of Reflections’ Driver: San Francisco
Ubisoft’s Driver: San Francisco is a strange thing, what with its comatose protagonist and the supernatural ability of our driver to leap from car to car to car via the game’s “Shift” system. Weirder is the game’s single-player trailer narration. Sure, it gets the job done, explaining the intricacies of Driver: San Francisco‘s lonelier mode.…
By Michael McWhertor Published July 14, 2011 - Uncategorized
In the Future, Your Phone Could Control Your Robot Butler With A Next-Gen Kinect
Last year, Microsoft bought a company called Canesta. Canesta, a gesture-recognition company, is the way to the future. The company is responsible for the software that might power the next generation of Kinect, the Xbox 360’s motion control accessory. Because they’re creating hardware that’s smaller and faster than Kinect’s current tech, PrimeSense’s PrimeSensor, this makes…
By Jen Schiller Published July 14, 2011 - Uncategorized
World of Warcraft Daily Quests Are Guilt-Free Gaming for a Massively Multiplayer New Dad
Finding time to play normal video games as the father of newborn baby boys is tough enough as it is. I was certain my thirst for massively multiplayer online role-playing games would go unquenched in the face of fatherhood. Then I discovered the joy of dailies. Daily quests have been a feature of World of…
By Mike Fahey Published July 14, 2011 -
UncategorizedThere’s More than One Sexy Cosplay Costume, Ladies
Following Nathan Fillion’s important PSA last week, The Big Bang Theory‘s Kaley Cuoco addresses an important problem facing the ladies of cosplay—the impulse to dress like Slave Leia without thinking. Just in time for you to reconsider before packing for San Diego Comic-Con.
By Jen Schiller Published July 14, 2011 - Uncategorized
Christian Game Developers Want to Leave Bad Games Behind
Heading north on Interstate 5 toward Newberg, Ore. last week, I wasn’t sure what exactly I’d encounter at Christian Game Developers Conference 2011. Would it have a show floor? Would they be showcasing new games? Would there be a Kinect-enabled Bible study game with 1:1 praying-hands control? Is a third sequel to the Left Behind…
By Owen Good Published July 14, 2011 - Uncategorized
Rumor: Ubisoft Joins the Online Pass Party with Driver: San Francisco
French publisher Ubisoft may be the latest company to lock out online multiplayer modes to anyone who buys their games used. A report from Gamerzines says that Ubi will soon introduce the “Uplay Passport,” the latest one time use code scheme required to get your game online. The site says that Ubisoft will kick off…
By Michael McWhertor Published July 14, 2011 -
UncategorizedThe Killing Tools of Rage Are Many and Varied
id Software’s Rage might feature a massive scope, a twisting and turning plot, and a focus on exploration, but these haven’t taken away from what id does best: Killing people, places, and things with a wide variety of deadly weapons.
By Mike Fahey Published July 14, 2011 - Uncategorized
Spoiler Alert: Let’s Talk About the Ending of Shadows of the Damned
It’s finally time. Welcome to the last Kotaku Game Club discussion of Shadows of the Damned. Today we’re talking about Act 5, the game’s ending and our final thoughts. It should go without saying, but since we’re talking about the ending here, we’ll be extra careful: Do not read this post or the comments below…
By Mike Epstein Published July 14, 2011 - Uncategorized
First Pics of Battlefield 3‘s Battlelog, the FPS Facebook, Sneak Out
Battlefield 3 players will their own social network and stat-tracking site—just like Activision’s Call of Duty: Elite—when the DICE developed shooter hits later this year. First shots of the “Battlelog” interface have sneaked out, offering us our first glimpse at how we’ll connect with other Battlefield fans. Battlefield 3‘s Battlelog got an early showing thanks…
By Michael McWhertor Published July 14, 2011 - Uncategorized
World of Warcraft Gets Its Cross-Server Real ID Party Started
Blizzard’s Real ID system allows World of Warcraft buddies to chat no matter what game server they reside on, but talk is cheap, and we came to party. With the Real ID Party system, star-crossed pals can now team up to take on dungeons no matter what realm they roam. I’ve met plenty of World…
By Mike Fahey Published July 14, 2011 -
UncategorizedWhat Is Japan’s Fetish This Week? Catgirls
Damn, they’re cute. Not the girl—her ears. She is a catgirl—a female with cat ears. To underscore their feline traits, some have cat teeth,and even cat eyes. In Japan, the cat ears are called “nekomimi”, and they’re more than a simple personification of cats. Bikini models don cat ears when they want to be cute.…
By Brian Ashcraft Published July 14, 2011