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Ubisoft Queues Up Assassin’s Creed, Ghost Recon, and Splinter Cell Movies
Launched earlier this year, Ubisoft’s motion picture arm is wasting no time at all getting the game developer’s biggest franchises onto the silver screen, with 3D features based on Assassin’s Creed, Ghost Recon, and Splinter Cell in the works. Ubisoft is finally putting into motion its long-standing plan to transform itself from video game developer…
By Mike Fahey Published May 16, 2011 - Uncategorized
Can You Figure Out What Makes This Watch “Video Game-Inspired”?
Joel: I honestly cannot see what makes this Converse watch “Video game-inspired” Fahey: Well it’s got….um. There’s the… I got nothing. Totilo: Dr. Mario! Joel: That’s about it maybe. Totilo: also, the red and white on the right is clearly an abstract version of fireball Mario from Super Mario Bros Totilo: the navy blue is…
By Joel Johnson Published May 16, 2011 -
Uncategorized14 Minutes of L.A. Noire‘s Unexpected Thrills
I need 14 minutes of your time. I’d like just 14 minutes to show you how L.A. Noire, an extraordinary and unconventional interactive detective thriller, plays. Give me that time and you’ll see more than just a trailer’s worth of this week’s big, new Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 release. You’ll see what it’s like…
By Stephen Totilo Published May 16, 2011 - Uncategorized
How One Fistfight Influenced a Lifetime of Video Games
“I was all bloody,” Keiji Inafune said recently. The game developer, best known for titles like Dead Rising and Mega-Man, was recalling a time before he made video games, the time he was in junior high school, growing up in one of Japan’s toughest areas and getting punched. Sitting in his brand new office with…
By Brian Ashcraft Published May 16, 2011 - Uncategorized
The Day That Xbox Live Customer Service Cared
We only ever hear negative things about customer service, because a satisfied customer rarely spends time gushing over their experience on the internet. Commenter KillerIri5h is an exception, raving about his Xbox Live customer service experience in today’s Speak Up on Kotaku. So like many people, I’ve fallen on hard times financially. I’m an artist…
By Mike Fahey Published May 16, 2011 - Uncategorized
Chrono Trigger Warps Your Wii Back to 1995
The Wii Virtual Console travels back in time this week to a time when a much softer Square made games that were consistently excellent. It’s not that Square Enix doesn’t put out good games. There are plenty of excellent modern games out there bearing the company’s brand. It’s just that back in the days when…
By Mike Fahey Published May 16, 2011 - Uncategorized
Plants Vs. Zombies Coming to Android for Free (for a Day)
Buried in a businessy press release from PopCap are two gems: That Plant Vs. Zombies and Chuzzle are coming to Android via the Amazon market-and that they’ll be free apps of the day. PvZ for free is quite good. Chuzzle is tomorrow; PvZ “later this month”. [PRNewsWire]
By Joel Johnson Published May 16, 2011 - Uncategorized
The Talk Amongst Yourselves Files
It’s time to talk about video games, right here. But we know what you’ll already going to write, because it was all leaked to us. With screenshots. Be that as it may, carry on. Thanks to ShinLord for today’s image. Submit your image to #TAYpics (Read this thread for directions on how to do a…
By Stephen Totilo Published May 16, 2011 - Uncategorized
The Rich-Person’s Edition of Gears of War 3 Includes a Statue and a Will
On September 10 20, 2011, you will be able to buy Gears of War 3 for $60. But maybe that’s not enough for you. Maybe you’ll want more Gears in your life than a boring game disc. Maybe you’ll want some Gears paraphernalia. And an artbook written by a smart man. And a statue. And…
By Stephen Totilo Published May 16, 2011 - Uncategorized
Siege Hero Returns Fire Against Birds
Once upon a time, Armor Games published a flash game called Crush the Castle, and it was quite good. Then another studio came along, replaced the trebuchet with a slingshot, the ordnance with birds, and made off with all the gold in the land. Armor Games strikes back, sort of, with Siege Hero, an iPhone/iPad…
By Owen Good Published May 16, 2011 - Uncategorized
No Problem. Everything’s Fine.
大丈夫だ、問題ない | JAPANESE ARCADES: Enoch from El Shaddai is coming to Virtua Fighter 5: Final Showdown. (Photo: SEGA) When Monsters Hunt Kids In Costume, Pokemon Simply Sit & Watch Well, if it isn’t Kirin from Monster Hunter. Who says the series isn’t popular in the West. It’s popular enough for somebody to dress up as…
By Brian Ashcraft Published May 16, 2011 - Uncategorized
Don’t Lend Strangers Your Game Handhelds, Kids!
On May 12, a 10 year-old grade-schooler in Kochi City and her friend waere playing with her Nintendo game portable along the city’s waterway. A 23 year-old man named Akira Nakamura appeared and said, “Let me see your game machine.” According to Yomiuri Online, the girl lent her handheld and two games to the unemployed…
By Brian Ashcraft Published May 16, 2011 - Uncategorized
It’s Like Dragon Quest, But in TV Drama Form
This June, actor Takayuki Yamada, known for the Densha Otoko movie, stars in his latest television drama, Yuusha Yoshihiko to Maou no Shiro (Hero Yoshihiko and the Devil King’s Castle). Writer-director Yuuichi Fukuda penned the original script—it doesn’t look original, though. If you’ve played a Japanese role-playing game in the past twenty years, the drama…
By Brian Ashcraft Published May 16, 2011 - Uncategorized
Duke Nukem’s Gay Sidekick Was Nixed
In Duke Nuke: Forever, a wide variety of heterosexual tropes get probed. “Sexuality is part of Duke’s personality,” game designer Randy Pitchford recently said at the BAFTAs in London. It’s part of the games, too. Pitchford and his studio Gearbox Software considered adding a “gay robot” sidekick (not pictured) to the upcoming shooter. The reason…
By Brian Ashcraft Published May 16, 2011 - Uncategorized
When Monsters Hunt Kids In Costume, Pokemon Simply Sit & Watch
Well, if it isn’t Kirin from Monster Hunter. Who says the series isn’t popular in the West. It’s popular enough for somebody to dress up as a Monster Hunter character! Other notable mentions from this week’s cosplay roundup include a convincing Ezio from Assassin’s Creed, double the Devil May Cry and a dark, very furry…
By Luke Plunkett Published May 16, 2011 -
UncategorizedOne of the Oldest Video Games Makes a Comeback
Lunar Lander is about as old as video games get. You’d nearly all have played a variation of the game at one point or another, but soon you’ll be able to play one that’s a little fresher Indie developer Sean Edwards is working on a PC game called Lunar Flight, which is a modern take…
By Luke Plunkett Published May 16, 2011 -
UncategorizedHuge Angry Birds Game Created in Spain
To promote Angry Birds, Deutsche Telekom and game developer Rovio joined forces for a video in the Spanish city of Terrassa, reports Spanish site Hasta los Juegos. There was a giant Angry Birds set-up, with explosive pigs and destructible structures. A jazz group was on hand to blast the game’s theme. According to Hasta los…
By Brian Ashcraft Published May 16, 2011 -
UncategorizedWhere Studio Ghibli Meets Minecraft
The modders at Oz Workshop have achieved something remarkable: recreated something in Minecraft that is not mildly amusing, but genuinely awe-inspiring. They’ve produced in block form the most famous locations (and in some cases characters) from Hayao Miyazaki’s Studio Ghibli films, like Castle in the Sky, Totoro and Howl’s Moving Castle While it helps if…
By Luke Plunkett Published May 16, 2011