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Pandora’s Tower Opens Strong in Japan With One Piece of Good News for 3DS
It was a better week for games for Nintendo hardware in Japan, as two new releases, One Piece Unlimited Cruise SP for Nintendo 3DS and Pandora’s Tower for Wii, charted high in the land where those platforms are now doing so-so sales. The new One Piece game opened strongly, moving more than 80,000 3DS carts…
By Michael McWhertor Published June 3, 2011 -
UncategorizedPapo & Yo is a Bittersweet Allegory of Growing Up With an Drug User
Imaginary childhood friends can be adorable in any form, even as a giant pink rhino. It’s the rhino’s craving for poisonous frogs that makes him a monstrous threat, and the center of a poignant tale that deals with one developer’s troubled childhood. This is Papo & Yo by the Montreal studio Minority, touted today on…
By Owen Good Published June 3, 2011 - Uncategorized
What’s Battlefield 3 Bringing to E3? Multiplayer, But No Subscription Fees
We’ve seen a good chunk of Battlefield 3‘s single-player campaign—at least 12 minutes’ worth of it—but what about multiplayer? Isn’t that why people play Battlefield games? Well, good thing E3 2011’s right around the corner. That’s where developer DICE says we’ll see at least one multiplayer map, “Operation Métro,” which they say combines “intense close-quarter…
By Michael McWhertor Published June 3, 2011 - Uncategorized
Activision on Call of Duty Elite: ‘Even Haters Can Play for Free’
That is a direct quote from the FAQ Activision just released [.doc] for Call of Duty Elite, a final plea for you to not hate the shooter’s paid subscription service, and an argument that needs, oh, just six pages to summarize. That’s not to say they beat around the bush. The first set of bullet…
By Owen Good Published June 3, 2011 - Uncategorized
“This is essentially Night Trap, this game.”
Is L.A. Noire—despite its running, gunning and vehicular cruising—essentially an elaboration on the point-and-click adventure game? Some critics and commenators have suggested that the title has more in common with Monkey Island than Grand Theft Auto IV, with the crucial difference being that L.A. Noire (unlike the adventure games of yesteryear) allows you to advance…
By Drew Cohen Published June 3, 2011 -
UncategorizedEA Sports Celebrates NCAA Football 12 with the Sexy Sax Man
College football is all about tradition. The tradition of the NCAA Football 12 development team is the godawful annoying “Alpha song,” played every night while the game is in its alpha build. This year’s song was Wham!’s “Careless Whisper,” the signature tune of the Sexy Sax Man. You may have heard of him. (This video,…
By Owen Good Published June 3, 2011 - Uncategorized
Locked and Loaded
LOS ANGELES, CA | A woman picks up a mock grenade launcher at the EA exhibit at the annual Electronic Entertainment Expo (E3) at the Los Angeles Convention Center on June 16, 2010. (Photo by David McNew/Getty Images) The Unsung Secret of Great Games-and How Some Games Get It So Wrong Any great video game…
By Brian Crecente Published June 3, 2011 - Uncategorized
The Week in Gaming Apps
With E3 right around the corner, let’s take a moment to talk about the games that are on everyone’s mind: Our Gaming Apps of the Day! What good is a game you can’t play on your phone? Why is everyone excited to learn more about the next Nintendo console, when right now we’ve got devices…
By Mike Fahey Published June 3, 2011 - Uncategorized
Madden NFL Dynamic Player Performance
Tampa Bay’s Josh Freeman. The pause menu will show how players progress and change in effectiveness during the game. Each player will have a set of new traits that govern his tendencies and behaviors Atlanta’s Matt Ryan. The pause menu will show how players progress and change in effectiveness during the game. Each player will…
By Owen Good Published June 3, 2011 - Uncategorized
Madden‘s Dynamic Performance Serves Sundays with More Flavor
Beat on a quarterback for 45 minutes of an NFL game and you’ll see a different guy in the fourth quarter. Some start forcing every throw. Some will run like hell. Some go catatonic. But in Madden NFL, you’d see the same guy after four sacks that you saw in warmups. Players, especially CPU-controlled players,…
By Owen Good Published June 3, 2011 - Culture
This Week in the Business: “These attacks will continue to happen.”
What’s happened in the business of video games this past week… QUOTE | “These attacks will continue to happen.” – Security expert and former hacker Gregory Evans makes his case for why PlayStation Network (as well as all of Sony and other companies) is still not secure QUOTE | “Sometimes it’s emotional.” – THQ CEO…
James Brightman | IndustryGamers.com Published June 3, 2011 - Uncategorized
Kotaku and Spike/GameTrailers Team Up At E3
I’m excited to announce that starting Noon ET, 9AM PT Monday, Kotaku editors will appear during Spike and GameTrailers‘s 20-plus hours of live coverage of E3 2011. Stephen Totilo, Brian Crecente, Michael McWhertor, and Joel Johnson will all be appearing live on Spike and GameTrailers.com to provide expert analysis and share breaking news with Geoff…
By Joel Johnson Published June 3, 2011 - Uncategorized
Call of Duty: Black Ops Escalates on the PlayStation 3 June 10
Now that the PlayStation Network is up, Activision is ready to make with the map pack. Escalation‘s four new maps and the star-studded Call of the Dead hit PSN on June 10, the first day of a double XP weekend.
By Mike Fahey Published June 3, 2011 - Uncategorized
These are the Other Big Games of E3 2011, We Think
Sick of military shooters, third-person action adventure and grinding for experience points? There’s still something for you at E3 2011 in this, the best of the rest of the games we’re expecting to see grab our attention next week. These are the less crowded genres of E3: racing games, music games, fighting games, action games…
By Michael McWhertor Published June 3, 2011 - Uncategorized
Why I Am Not Going to E3 2011
Last weekend I spent nearly $100 on new clothing for E3 2011. Now my flight is cancelled, I’m not going, and the only question I have is how are two unborn babies going to come up with the cash to pay me back? Money doesn’t grow on trees, and it certainly doesn’t grow inside a…
By Mike Fahey Published June 3, 2011 - Uncategorized
Payday: The Heist Will Bring Team-Based Bank Robbery to the PSN
Gamers work well in teams. We’ve slaughtered zombies, repelled rebels, routed RED (or BLU)—all with the help of our friends. Now we get to rob banks. In a bit of pre-E3 flirtation, Sony Online Entertainment has announced Payday: The Heist for the PS3 and PC, a squad-based cooperative shooter that casts players in the role…
By Drew Cohen Published June 3, 2011 - Uncategorized
Payday: The Heist Screenshots
These are the first screenshots of Payday: The Heist
By Drew Cohen Published June 3, 2011 -
UncategorizedThe Unexpected, Excellent Descent Homage on My Xbox 360
If I told you which very modern game includes a surprise Descent homage, that’d be a spoiler But if you really want to see what a Descent game would look like on the Xbox 360 (or the PlayStation 3 or PC), then I suggest you watch this short clip. It’s like 1995 came back, but…
By Stephen Totilo Published June 3, 2011 - Uncategorized
What Are You Playing This Weekend?
Well, one copy of Red Faction: Armageddon showed up at Kotaku’s LA offices this week, so why not give it a spin this weekend, I say. I’ll be playing Volition’s latest while also burning my way through more of L.A. Noire But my primary concern is front-loading on sleep and getting some pre-E3 2011 stories…
By Michael McWhertor Published June 3, 2011 -
UncategorizedOf Course Mac is Back in the New SSX
Having appeared in every other SSX game released to-date, the franchises’ generic male character, Mac, is definitely making a reappearance in the 2012 reboot. I suppose not every character in SSX needs to either be a hot female or a guy with an over-the-top personality. Mac here represents the baggy-pantsed everyman, or at least every…
By Mike Fahey Published June 3, 2011