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How Long Is Starhawk, the PS3’s Latest Shooter?
Starhawk designer Dylan Jobe tells Eurogamer: “Shooters these days range between five and eight hours, depending on a play through. We’re going to be in that range.” This is for singleplayer. Multiplayer, of course, is much longer. [Eurogamer]
By Brian Ashcraft Published May 17, 2011 - Uncategorized
Street Fighter x Tekken Gets a New Challenger
No, not Bob Saget (unfortunately). Sagat! According to this image, Street Fighter‘s Sagat is apparently coming to Street Fighter x Tekken The fighting game is a cross-over title between the Street Fighter and the Tekken series. Capcom is developing Street Fighter x Tekken free of Namco’s input, and Namco is developing the rival title, Tekken…
By Brian Ashcraft Published May 17, 2011 -
UncategorizedBuilding Better Portal 2 Personality Spheres
We’ve already seen our fair share of Portal 2-inspired art around these parts, but this series of miniature personality spheres by Chris Myles certainly takes the, ahem, cake. Using a 3D printer, he’s built four excruciatingly-detailed models, which aren’t just perfect in their representation, but also swivel realistically, and even have LED lighting should they…
By Luke Plunkett Published May 17, 2011 - Uncategorized
Avatar Kinect Out “Later This Spring”
Originally pegged for a May 27 release, Microsoft’s official statement on the release of Avatar Kinect simply states that the new technology/social program (for up to eight people at a time) will be out “later this Spring”. [Microsoft Press Release]
By Luke Plunkett Published May 17, 2011 -
UncategorizedInMomentum is All About the Joys of Movement
If you’ve been yearning for more games in the vein of Mirror’s Edge—or, as you’ll soon appreciate, its surreal DLC—then you should probably check out inMomentum. Like, now It’s a first-person platformer (also described by its developers as a “racing” game), which consists of nothing more than basic geometric shapes which you have to navigate,…
By Luke Plunkett Published May 17, 2011 - Uncategorized
Life-Sized Gundam Vehicles You Could Drive
Spotted at the Shizuoka Hobby Show by Hobby Blog, these are life-sized vehicles that appear in the Gundam series. Mechs don’t ride in these, people do! They’re actually reproductions of Gundam models (UC Hard Graph series). The vehicles are made from real cars (Mitsubishi Pajero and Mitsubishi Ai) and are fan-made projects. GUNDAM UC Hard…
By Brian Ashcraft Published May 17, 2011 - Uncategorized
NBA Jam’s Creator Really Did Set Stuff On Fire
You hopefully already know this, but a lot of the truly interesting stuff about games development (and game developers) comes not from the PR-managed machine of an upcoming title, but by scouring the medium’s past. Example: the following story about NBA Jam creator Mark Turmell. In a great piece over on Kill Screen, Turmell gets…
By Luke Plunkett Published May 17, 2011 - Uncategorized
China Has Its Own America’s Army
Sadly, it’s not called Capitalist Running Lackey Pig Dog Army. Nor is it called China’s Army. It’s called Mission of Honor, which for fans of Chinese rip-off naming conventions is still pretty great. It’s been in development for two years, and it has been created in conjunction with the People’s Liberation Army, who see the…
By Luke Plunkett Published May 17, 2011 -
UncategorizedThese Guys Will Freak You Out, Then Amaze You
At the Taipei Game Show earlier this year, event areas had girls on stage dancing to pop tunes. But that’s not where the real action was. Taiwanese otage (dancing idol otaku) turned out a blistering performance of “Megu Megu Fire Endless Night”. Watch what they do 2 minutes in. Something tells me these guys practiced.…
By Brian Ashcraft Published May 17, 2011 - Uncategorized
The Official LEGO Inspired By Gradius
A new, official LEGO set called “Earth Defense HQ” may look at first glance to be just another space-based LEGO set. Upon closer examination, though, it not only pays tribute to classic shooter Gradius, but something more important. Last year, custom LEGO builder and community member Nate “nnenn” Nielson tragically passed away in an automobile…
By Luke Plunkett Published May 17, 2011 - Uncategorized
These Video Games Aren’t Just Art, They’re Masterpieces
Guillaume Colomb has taken ten classic works of art and made them a little more current, dropping the likes of Mario, Pac-Man and Princess Peach into the paintings. Some may be a little inappropriate, but that Goya-meets-Shadow of the Colossus piece looks like it’s always been that way. Video Games Get Arty [Guillaume Colomb via…
By Luke Plunkett Published May 17, 2011 - Uncategorized
Why Kotaku Didn’t Save a Japanese Fishing Village
In the years that Kotaku’s been on the internet, the site’s done a wide array of things. One thing it’s never done is save an entire Japanese fishing village. Late last week, an Associated Press wire story regaled readers with the story of a small village, called Fudai, in northeastern Japan that survived the tsunami.…
By Brian Ashcraft Published May 17, 2011 - Uncategorized
Why, Exactly, Do People Enjoy Watching StarCraft Games?
Most people just aren’t interested in watching video games. They’d rather be playing them. So why is strategy juggernaut StarCraft such an exception to the rule? Information Science phd students Gifford Cheung and Jeff Huang sought to answer this in their paper Starcraft from the Stands: Understanding the Game Spectator, which looks at what makes…
By Luke Plunkett Published May 17, 2011 -
UncategorizedHere’s What Civilization On Facebook Looks Like
We gave you a brief rundown on how Civilization World, the upcoming Facebook version of the classic PC strategy series, worked the other day. Now you can see for yourself in this trailer. Those expecting the same game, only running in a browser with a Facebook logo on the top, will be sorely disappointed. Those…
By Luke Plunkett Published May 17, 2011 - CultureTotal Recall
The Atari Games That Became Comic Book Heroes
While we normally associate multimedia cash-ins as a recent phenomenon, the practice of spinning games off into other mediums dates back decades. One of the earliest examples of this is the Atari Force line of comic books. While most adaptations of games are expected to be based on the events or characters in the actual…
By Luke Plunkett Published May 17, 2011 - Uncategorized
This Space Intentionally Left Blank
Folks, if you’d like to talk amongst yourselves about a variety of topics, video game related or not, this is your shot. Tonight’s open thread is all yours, so let’s make the best of it. Should be a crazy week, with Mr. Brian D. Crecente here in Los Angeles prepping for the big E3 2011…
By Michael McWhertor Published May 16, 2011 - Uncategorized
Playing One Hour of Dead Island, The Zombie Apocalypse of My Dreams
Techland’s Dead Island reminds me of a recurring nightmare, an unsettling dream of helplessness in which my body feels too fatigued and feeble to fight off nameless, faceless attackers. And beyond a cinematically inventive trailer, that’s my favorite thing about Dead Island so far. Playing Dead Island, an exotic, violent, zombie-infested role-playing game, from the…
By Michael McWhertor Published May 16, 2011
