- Reviews
This Week’s Kotaku Video Game Review Round-Up
One movie, one keyboard, one controller and four games. That’s the video game stuff we reviewed this weekend. And these are our bottom lines on all of that… Review: Tron: Evolution’s Glow Quickly Fades The Bottom Line: Tron: Evolution wants to be a sexy, high-gloss Prince of Persia, trading desert sands and Arabian castles for…
By Stephen Totilo Published December 11, 2010 - Uncategorized
The Highlander Game Doesn’t Want To Live Forever
The Highlander game in development at Widescreen Games – which, admittedly, we weren’t that excited about – has been cancelled. While no exact reason has been given for the game’s shutdown, it’s probably got something to do with the fact it was originally being published by Eidos, who were in 2009 picked up by Square…
By Luke Plunkett Published December 11, 2010 -
UncategorizedHoly Crap, Weta Built A Real Team Fortress 2 Sentry Gun
WETA, the special effects team behind the Lord of the Rings Trilogy and District 9, have given Team Fortress 2 developers Valve a very special gift: a sentry gun. That works OK, so it doesn’t shoot bullets, but it is life-size, does move, does track your motion and follows you, and does play authentic sound…
By Luke Plunkett Published December 11, 2010 - Uncategorized
MotorStorm: Apocalypse’s Iconic “Skyline”
The folks putting out the party-at-the-end-of-the-world racer MotorStorm: Apocalypse revealed another course with six new screenshots today. They vow that “Skyline” is winnable by all 16 vehicle classes. I’m sure I’ll go nuts figuring out how for six of them. Billed as “‘the one with a race where you get dropped from a helicopter onto…
By Owen Good Published December 10, 2010 - Uncategorized
It’s The Thought That Counts
Believe me, after this week, I’ve done so much thinking about gifts I could make the case I’m exempt from buying them. My father is, traditionally, impossible to shop for. He’s the most well-read man I know, so books are beyond cliché as a gift. Mom’s not much easier. She’s a horsewoman, which would seem…
By Owen Good Published December 10, 2010 - Uncategorized
Games Beat Books 2:1 On Kindle’s Sales Chart
Here’s a curiosity: Over the past 90 days, eight of the top 12 sellers in the Kindle Store – including all of the top six – are games, dusting President George W. Bush’s memoir and heavyweight writers like John Grisham. Now, they aren’t the games that necessarily fire up you or me – Mahjohng, Sudoku…
By Owen Good Published December 10, 2010 - Uncategorized
The Legend of Zelda: A Four Link Adventure
Link turns to the power of the Four Swords and restores peace to Hyrule. Ry Shiu created a amazing tribute illustration to go along with the great game. Related Rampages: Majora Must Die | City of Hyrule | Facing the Dark Self Zelda Four Swords Adventure by Ry Shiu (deviantART) (Facebook)
By Michael McWhertor Published December 10, 2010 - Uncategorized
UFC Sues Ubisoft Over Two Words On The Back Of A Bad Game
Two words on the back cover boilerplate of Fighters Uncaged have invited a lawsuit from Dana White and the UFC, which will probably supply a fresh dose of publicity for a game bound for the bargain bin after terrible reviews. “Become the ULTIMATE FIGHTING weapon,” says the back cover of the Ubisoft game, and the…
By Owen Good Published December 10, 2010 -
ReviewsReview: Tron: Evolution’s Glow Quickly Fades
Between Disney’s 1982 classic Tron and its flash 2010 sequel lies Tron: Evolution, the video game that seeks to bridge the gap between the two films. This is one shaky bridge. Tron: Evolution puts players in the digital shoes of Anon (short for Anonymous), a faceless system monitor that gets caught up in the struggle…
By Mike Fahey Published December 10, 2010 - Uncategorized
What’s It Take To Get A Boxer To Return Your Calls?
Arturo Gatti couldn’t make Fight Night Champion. It’s not because he’s dead – so’s Sugar Ray Robinson, and he’s in the game. It’s just that negotiating likeness agreements with boxers is head-bangingly more frustrating than in any other sports game. Answering whining customer complaints about the omission of some fighters – most of them known…
By Owen Good Published December 10, 2010 - Uncategorized
Kotaku’s 2010 Game of the Year
As the year wraps up and the last of the big games roll out it’s time to start our debate, the debate about what was the single greatest game of the year. As we did last year, this year we’ve decided to pick a few finalists among us and then debate their merits. These are…
By Brian Crecente Published December 10, 2010 -
UncategorizedAn Office Tour
Date: 12/10/2010 Time: 17:00 Location: New York City If you didn’t have the time to read Kotaku today, here’s your five-minute glimpse. Who Steals Video Game Consoles From Children With Cancer? [Update] A Two-Year-Old Teaches Us How To Play Angry Birds Sharp Shooter Offers Killzone 3 a $40 Crutch How One Developer Cheated His Way…
By Brian Crecente Published December 10, 2010 -
UncategorizedVideo Game Empowers Players To Talk Smack with Gay Stereotypes
Players losing in Heroes of Newerth 2.0 may find that they’ve had their “cherry popped” or taken part in a “three way” if the person they’re playing against purchased the PC game’s “flamboyant” audio pack. [Updated with comment.] The pack replaces the regular announcer’s voice with a lisping effete man’s voice. The phrases used in…
By Brian Crecente Published December 10, 2010 -
UncategorizedMadden The Man On Madden The Game
John Madden does not fly. So when EA Sports convened with the namesake of their NFL title, they went to him, in Pleasanton, Calif. The studio invited USA Today for a look at what was discussed and next year’s priorities. There’s a lot of history and retrospective in this video, which we’ve covered before, but…
By Owen Good Published December 10, 2010 -
UncategorizedThe Ugly Fantasies Of Revenge
Beyond Holocaust museums, Holocaust documentaries, and Holocaust action movies we now have the Holocaust first-person shooter. This is our chance to virtually be an escaped Jewish prisoner of Auschwitz, heavily armed, with hundreds of Nazis in our sights. Catharsis? Sonderkommando Revolt, the grisly new Israeli video game that coarsely recreates a rebellion in World War…
By Stephen Totilo Published December 10, 2010 - Uncategorized
Monstrous Monster Hunter Sales Helps PSP Strike Black
PSP phenom Monster Hunter Portable 3rd made a huge splash in Japan during its first week on sale, moving close to two million copies in just a few days. What did that mean for the PlayStation Portable? Another 323,000 PSPs in the hands of Japanese gamers, that’s what. Sony’s handheld gaming machine and the latest…
By Michael McWhertor Published December 10, 2010 - Uncategorized
This is Where Minecraft Is Made
Minecraft creator Notch gives us a peek inside the offices of Mojang Specifications, where Jens Bergensten (left), Daniel Kaplan (middle), and visitor Martin Jonasson are hard at work watching the Starcraft 2 semifinal, as seen on The Word of Notch Gameface is a photographic celebration of the people who make, play and love video games.
By Mike Fahey Published December 10, 2010 -
UncategorizedThe Machiavellian Plot Hidden In A Blockbuster Video Game
Jeffrey Yohalem wanted the blockbuster video game he wrote this year to be different. He wanted Assassin’s Creed: Brotherhood to say something about the world today, if he could get away with it. Although few people expect blockbuster video games to carry political messages or weighty ideas, the 27-year-old Yohalem wanted the game to go…
By Stephen Totilo Published December 10, 2010
