• 

  Reviews

  Review: Call of Duty: Black Ops Redefines Modern Warfare

  Black Ops slips players into the counter-espionage and abiding fear of the Cold War, while serving as a powerful link between the World War II games that came before it and the likely countless modern shooters that will come in its wake. Developer Treyarch’s first Call of Duty set outside World War II is a…

  By Brian Crecente Published November 9, 2010
• Uncategorized

  Tarting Up Minecraft Has Never Been Easier

  Users have long been able to edit the appearance of indie hit Minecraft, but it’s taken some tinkering to do so. No longer, as the game now contains official support for “skin packs”. Starting later today, users will be able to login to their Minecraft accounts and, upon selecting their world, will be able to…

  By Luke Plunkett Published November 9, 2010
• Uncategorized

  No Two Cartoon Rabbits Are The Same (Except These Ones)

  Just as massively multiplayer game Hello Kitty Online celebrates the character’s 36th birthday, a Dutch court ruled that a Hello Kitty friend is too similar to one of the country’s beloved characters, yanking the Kitty pal from store shelves. The Hello Kitty friend in question is “Cathy”, a bunny character. According to The Straits Times,…

  By Brian Ashcraft Published November 9, 2010
• Uncategorized

  Which Mario Game Is His Creator’s Favourite?

  Legendary Nintendo designer Shigeru Miyamoto created Mario, having some part in most of the plumber’s games to date. But after nearly thirty years of Mario, then, do you ever wonder which game is Miyamoto’s favourite? It’s not Mario 64. Not Mario Galaxy, either, and it’s certainly not the original Super Mario Bros. Instead, it’s 1990’s…

  By Luke Plunkett Published November 9, 2010
• Uncategorized

  Send Us Your Black Ops Launch Pics!

  Heading out to a Call of Duty: Black Ops midnight launch? Why not send us your pics

  By Luke Plunkett Published November 9, 2010
• Uncategorized

  This Guy’s Car Is Now In Gran Turismo

  Earlier this week, the Gran Turismo Awards were held as part of the Specialty Equipment Market Association show in Las Vegas. The prize? Some regular guy would get his custom car made available as a vehicle in the game. And this year, that award went to Mark Stielow (pictured, right), whose lovely ’69 Camaro will…

  By Luke Plunkett Published November 9, 2010
• Uncategorized

  GameStop Bets On Kinect Over Move

  This won’t be much of a surprise to anyone who’s been keeping tabs on the mainstream media and the general public’s reaction to both devices, but a GameStop executive reckons Kinect will outsell Move this Christmas. Especially at his house. Providing a rare, partisan appraisal of both motion-sensing peripheral’s chances in the all-important holiday season,…

  By Luke Plunkett Published November 9, 2010
• Uncategorized

  You’re No Polly The NBC Peacock

  Hello, Kotaku readership. If you can pull yourself away from the midnight launch copy of Call of Duty: Black Ops or tonight’s episode of Conan, will you join us for a little off-topic conversation? Sadly, I’ll have to catch up on Conan O’Brien’s return to television due to my lack of desire to pay a…

  By Michael McWhertor Published November 8, 2010
• Uncategorized

  Darksiders 2 Won’t Tell A War Story

  Fans of the apocalyptic action-adventure Darksiders better get ready for a new hero to take the reins in the game’s sequel, because it appears War will be taking a back seat next time. According to a report from IGN, THQ core games guy Danny Bilson says that Darksiders 2, which is due sometime in 2012,…

  By Michael McWhertor Published November 8, 2010
• Uncategorized

  Hellboy Director’s ‘Lovecraftian’ Horror Game Debuts On VGAs Next Month

  Mexican movie director Guillermo del Toro is making a game with publisher THQ—according to del Toro, anyway—a project that we’ll see next month when the “truly strange, geeky mix” of a horror game is revealed. THQ’s Danny Bilson reportedly let slip that Del Toro’s project will be one of those games that gets screen time…

  By Michael McWhertor Published November 8, 2010
• 

  Uncategorized

  Fallout: New Vegas ‘Mininuke Minigun’ Mod Defines Overkill

  What’s better than a gun that launches wee nuclear bombs? How about one that fires a few thousand per minute? One enterprising Fallout: New Vegas modder created the Mininuke Minigun to see just how fast a nuclear holocaust can happen. As you can see in the above video, via Reddit, firing a few hundred rounds…

  By Michael McWhertor Published November 8, 2010
• Uncategorized

  Rage For iPhone Is A Mutant Bash Game Show

  The creators of Doom and Quake are bringing their latest creation, Rage, to the Xbox 360, PC, Mac and PlayStation 3 next year. They’re also bringing it to the iPhone (and Android?) as Mutant Bash TV. Touch Arcade has in its hands the portable version of Rage id co-founder John Carmack first showed off at…

  By Michael McWhertor Published November 8, 2010
• 

  Uncategorized

  Ice T Unboxes, Huffs Fresh Call of Duty: Black Ops

  Body Count singer and star of Law & Order SVU, Ice-T, is one of the first to legitimately get his hands on a copy of Call of Duty: Black Ops. What does the rapper think of Black Ops’ smell? It sure sounds like he enjoys that new Call of Duty scent. Mr. T performs unboxing…

  By Michael McWhertor Published November 8, 2010
• Uncategorized

  Six Years, A Bazillion Stories

  To: Ash From: Crecente Six years ago today I wrote my first story for Kotaku. Way back then Kotaku was a bit more than a month old and I was the only writer, the only editor, the only anything. At the time I spent my nights as the Rocky Mountain News’ night cops reporter and…

  By Brian Crecente Published November 8, 2010
• 

  Uncategorized

  A Visual Guide to Call of Duty: Black Ops

  Black Ops is a surprisingly gory game at times. You can play Black Ops Zombie mode without having to beat the game this time around. Dead Ops is an arcade game hidden away in Call of Duty: Black Ops. Call of Duty: Black Ops is packed with modes, maps and weapons.

  By Brian Crecente Published November 8, 2010
• Uncategorized

  The iPhone Will Go 3D Next Year

  Your View-Master disks have just been rendered obsolete. Hasbro is planning to release an add-on device for the iPhone and iPod touch next year that will bring stereoscopic 3D visuals to Apple’s iOS devices. The Associated Press reports that Hasbro will unveil the My3D attachment this week, designed to bring stereoscopic 3D “gaming, virtual travel…

  By Michael McWhertor Published November 8, 2010
• Uncategorized

  Mario Gets Serious Street Cred In Spain

  Proud Italian plumber/princess savior Mario gets super excited at the christening of Avenida de Super Mario Bros, the first street to officially bear his name. The Spanish suburb of Zaragoza also has plans for streets named after Space Invaders, Sonic and Zelda. [CNN]

  By Michael McWhertor Published November 8, 2010
• 

  Uncategorized

  World Of Warcraft’s Greatest Fan Sings

  Witness a musical celebration of the life of Falstad Wildhammer, courtesy of Twenty First Records and the world’s greatest World of Warcraft fan. What began as the tale of an over-excited, nervous, and extremely observant World of Warcraft fan at BlizzCon 2010 becomes a legendary tale of good triumphing over evil in the inevitable auto-tune…

  By Mike Fahey Published November 8, 2010
• Uncategorized

  5 Things Microsoft Needs To Do To Improve Kinect

  The Kinect is pretty good, but who is satisfied with “pretty good”? Having spent many days with Kinect, I’ve got five requests for how Microsoft could improve this thing. 1. More Than 25% Kinect In My Dashboard, Please I’ve raved about the Kinect’s support for voice control. I love talking to my TV and actually…

  By Stephen Totilo Published November 8, 2010
• 

  Uncategorized

  See Tekken Tag Tournament 2 In 2-On-2 Action

  The finer points of the next Tekken were explained in-depth by producer Katsuhiro Harada this weekend, revealing a handful of returning characters and all-new ways to beat the crap out of people wearing exotic cat masks. Harada and translator Michael Murray explain new team-based throws, escapes, wall dizzies and the other two-versus-two features of Tekken…

  By Michael McWhertor Published November 8, 2010