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Fukushima Nuclear Plant Recreated In Fallout 3
Over on a Fallout 3 mod and community site are images of the Fukushima nuclear plant, recreated by a 25-year-old via a Fallout 3 mod for PCs. The reaction online in Japan is varied: from impressed to disgusted and everywhere in between. Some even thought these images were from upcoming downloadable content, unaware that they…
By Brian Ashcraft Published April 1, 2011 -
UncategorizedAn Old Game About Fighting Robots Makes A Comeback
In 1996, brilliant British developers The Bitmap Brothers released “Z”, a real-time strategy game that featured drunken, belligerent robots shooting the crap out of each other. It was, I remember, tough to control, but it was also funny as hell. At least, I remember my 16 year-old self thinking it was funny as hell. How…
By Luke Plunkett Published April 1, 2011 - Uncategorized
3 Year-Old Killed By Mother For Throwing Away Game Console
On the night of March 30, little Shizuku Tanaka was murdered in Osaka. Her feet and hands were bound by tape, and she was stuffed in a garbage bag. The bag was tied shut, and the three year-old is now dead. Her mother, 26-year-old Yui Tanaka, later told investigators, “Shizuku was being fussy and noisy…
By Brian Ashcraft Published April 1, 2011 - Uncategorized
Sometimes, Kinect Just Wants To Make Things Look Pretty
Microsoft’s Kinect is normally spoken of in terms of its practical applications. Let’s take a break from that, and use its “thousand points of light” as the basis for a beautiful photographic exhibit. Photographer Audrey Penven has put together a collection called “Dancing with Invisible Light”, which drops a number of her subjects in the…
By Luke Plunkett Published April 1, 2011 -
UncategorizedIt’s Mirror’s Edge Meets Mario
If you’ve ever wanted to practice jumping off walls and swinging from poles, there’s the place for you: the street. But if you’d like to do it in a relatively controlled (and safe?) environment, try Tempest Freerunning Academy. It purports to be California’s first indoor facility dedicated to freerunning and parkour. And it’s got blocks…
By Brian Ashcraft Published April 1, 2011 - Uncategorized
The Crazy World Of NSFW In-Store Displays
Forget commercials. Forget print ads. What might make a sale in Japan is more than hype. It’s the presentation, namely of the in-store variety. In-store displays play an important part in sales – not just in Japan, but pretty much everywhere. Take JB Hi-Fi, Australia’s largest home entertainment retailer, which has a policy of using…
By Brian Ashcraft Published April 1, 2011 - Uncategorized
WARNING: It’s April 1
Good morning, Kotaku. It’s April 1. April Fools Day. A day when the internet becomes a wasteland of bad jokes and annoying fake news. So wherever you tread today, be cautious. And if it’s any consolation, we won’t be trying to trick you. Seriously.
By Luke Plunkett Published April 1, 2011 -
UncategorizedCould You Play Street Fighter IV With Your Face? And Win?
Mike “Broly” Begum is a Street Fighter IV player from Texas. And he’s pretty damn good. What makes Mike’s success notable, though, is the fact he’s so good despite having to play the game with his face Begum was born with arthrogryposis, which has left him with only partial use of one arm. While this…
By Luke Plunkett Published April 1, 2011 -
CultureTotal RecallThis Nintendo Was Inside A Television Set
I don’t know what it is about old Nintendo hardware that makes it so interesting. Maybe it’s because, outside of Nintendo’s home run successes, there are a lot of straight-up strange devices in the company’s history as well. Not weird in a bad way, mind you. Just in a “well, it’s awesome somebody thought this…
By Luke Plunkett Published April 1, 2011 - Uncategorized
Pixel The Earth
Ladies and gents, we’re on the cusp of knocking out one more workweek. Congratulations. Let’s make it go by even faster with some off topic conversation. You got an open thread here, so let’s use it. Did anyone partake in Major League Baseball’s opening day? The only game I watched was me farming some stones…
By Michael McWhertor Published March 31, 2011 - Uncategorized
Million-Dollar Perfect Game Contest Kicks Off Tomorrow
2K Sports has laid another seven-figure bounty on a perfect game thrown in its Major League Baseball game. Players have had about a month to practice with MLB 2K11’s pitching and fielding; the chase for 27 straight outs officially begins at noon EDT tomorrow. It’s a simple proposition: Pitch a perfect game using a single…
By Owen Good Published March 31, 2011 - Uncategorized
8-bit Pocket Camera Turns Your iPhone Into A Game Boy Camera
Resolution of your iPhone camera got you down? Are HDR photographs just too dynamic for you? With the lo-fi magic of the 8-bit Pocket Camera app, you can make your iPhone’s photographic capabilities look a good 13-years-old, emulating the qualities of Nintendo’s Game Boy Camera. The 99 cent 8-bit Pocket Camera app brings that 8-bit…
By Michael McWhertor Published March 31, 2011 -
UncategorizedBurgertime’s Flamebroiled Fun Arrives This Summer
We saw glimpses of it at GDC; this gameplay trailer gives a bigger sense of what’s behind Burgertime’s HD reboot, which is due this summer. Peter Pepper will still be assembling monstrous hamburger sandwiches, but he evidently will do so to defeat (or appease?) a boss character trapped inside the circular level. Burgertime, by MonkeyPaw…
By Owen Good Published March 31, 2011 - Uncategorized
Metacritic Ditches Developers’ Career Ratings
Shortly after introducing ratings of individual video game developers, based on the aggregated ratings of games in which they are credited, Metacritic has scrapped the idea altogether, saying the information is incomplete and can’t be trusted. Marc Doyle, Metacritic’s co-founder, told GamesIndustry.biz that the process of rating developers, as presently constituted, really isn’t fair to…
By Owen Good Published March 31, 2011 - Uncategorized
The LP To Sword & Sworcery‘s EP Comes To Vinyl Next Week
The recently released iPad sensation Superbrothers Sword & Sworcery EP is more than just a pretty face. If you’ve played the stylish adventure game, you know it’s got a soothing soundtrack to boot. Next week, you can get your hands on it. Superbrothers will release Jim Guthrie’s companion album, Sword & Sworcery LP – The…
By Michael McWhertor Published March 31, 2011 - Uncategorized
Madden Concussions a Teachable Moment, Says EA Sports
EA Sports confirmed it will present concussions as a potential injury in Madden NFL 12, with special in-game commentary and gameplay circumstances that call attention to the seriousness of head injuries in a contact sport and the need to seek appropriate treatment. The depiction of concussion injuries is being done partly to reflect realism, a…
By Owen Good Published March 31, 2011 - Uncategorized
Let’s Play One Hundred and Sixty-Two
Hope Springs Eternal | It only felt like a holiday. Baseball fans celebrated Opening Day today. Major League Baseball moved up Opening Day to prevent the postseason from creeping into November. The last time MLB opened the season this early with a full slate of games was 1998. (Photo: Getty Images) Sony’s MMO Studio Confirms…
By Owen Good Published March 31, 2011 -
UncategorizedPlaying 3DS Augmented-Reality Games with a Whiteboard
Everyone’s testing the limits of the Nintendo 3DS augmented reality games, but it does seem that if you can replicate one of the cards it uses – preferably the question-mark box – you can start the game from anywhere, whether it’s on the screen of an iPhone or, now, a white board. Some guys at…
By Owen Good Published March 31, 2011 - Uncategorized
GameStop Buys Slightly Used Impulse, Spawn Labs
Game retailer GameStop is buying Impulse, the video game digital distribution subsidiary of Stardock and rival to Valve’s Steam. GameStop also bought game streaming outfit Spawn Labs, which will bring “immediate access to a wide selection of high-definition video games on demand on any Internet-enabled device.” Sure sounds like they’re taking on OnLive. More details…
By Michael McWhertor Published March 31, 2011