This Is Not Just An Umbrella!

It’s an umbrella that looks like a sword. Or maybe it’s a sword that looks like an umbrella. The umbrella, which is over 3-feet long, is modeled after the sword carried by the heroine Saber of the “Fate/stay night” visual novel. Yours for ¥10,000, or US$114. The official release is this August. Saber’s Excalibur Umbrella…

The Midnight Ride For StarCraft II

Three hours sleep plus recording with my iPhone 4 while driving on a dark and rainy night equals one mildly dangerous StarCraft II midnight launch video. As I mention in the video, I already had a copy of StarCraft II waiting for me at home, but I promised my nephew I would take him to…

Starcraft 2’s Installation Tells A Story

Starcraft has a fairly well-known story, but it’s also a game that came out in 1998. People’s memories may have gotten a little fuzzy since then. If that’s you, Starcraft II’s installer is here to help. When you’re installing the game, it does something few other sequels bother with, but so barely need: it provides…

Not Everyone Is Going StarCraft II Crazy [Update]

StarCraft II is out. People are buying it. People are playing it. Not everybody, though. Japan, for example. Amazon rankings are sample set of Amazon customers, but they are also a good measure to see what has captured the imagination of the buying public. Here is Amazon.com: Amazon UK: Amazon Canada: Amazon Germany: Amazon France:…

The Game Without Polygons Or Sprites

OK, there’s a sprite or two in the mouse cursor. But that’s about all you’ll find in The Dream Machine, an adventure game made entirely out of “clay and cardboard”. Two Swedish developers, Erik Zaring and Anders Gustaffson, are behind the game, which is unique in not only its art style, but also its delivery;…

Gears Of War Movie “More Like District 9”

Third-person shooter Gears of War looked set to get the Hollywood treatment until the movie’s director Len Wiseman (Live Free or Die Hard) decided to focus his attention on another motion picture. Wiseman’s take on Gears of War was budgeted in the US$100 million neighborhood. As website Cinema Blend points out, the movie’s R-rating and…

Where To Find Animals In Red Dead Redemption (So You Can Shoot Them)

A key timewaster in Red Dead Redemption is hunting animals. Statistics prove that many of you have done quite a bit of it. But where to find those pesky beavers, bats and unicorns? There are no unicorns. Sorry. There should be, but there aren’t. The beavers and bats though, you’ll find them “west of the…

A Week In Comments

Going Out Of Style Comment by: SarahDot Nominated by: DeepFriar Oh sure, there are people who disagree with the serial comma—people who say it is optional or unnecessary. Well, those people are dirty Communists. Stalin never used the serial comma. Castro never uses the serial comma. The New York Times discourages the serial comma. Need…

All Systems Are Go

The West Coast was the last region to have to wait to unlock Starcraft II’s retail release. That 100%, from Mike’s computer, means the wait is over, and the game is now officially out

A Small Dose Of Cosplay Poison For Your Eyes

In some respects, an anatomically correct Poison from Final Fight cosplayer, seen lounging outside the Comic-Con halls. I’m sorry for showing you this picture.

Dragons & School Girl Outfits & Giant Demonic Samurai With Machine Guns Make Everything Better

Now that Comic-Con’s done, we can get back to what’s important: discussing things like comic books, movies, toys, fandom, sci-fi and the remains of the day. That’s what our nightly open thread is for. While at Comic-Con, I learned of Zack Snyder’s next effects-heavy movie, Sucker Punch. I didn’t know what the hell is was…

APB’s Human Avatar, The Final Stage

Realtime Worlds’ endeavor to create a human avatar modeled on APB has reached its fifth and final stage: the outfitting. And Josh didn’t do so bad. You can hear the relief in his voice when Josh finds out he only got the steampunk look. Which, honestly, is pretty tight. His fittings also complement the parkour…

Contra Made Kinder, Gentler, Deeper By Hard Corps: Uprising

I played the latest Contra game—the one without Contra in the name—at Comic-Con. It was too easy, but that was by design so that cream puffs like me could enjoy Hard Corps: Uprising without dying too quickly. Hard Corps: Uprising was essentially set to easy mode for its Comic-Con demo, with player health and life…

Hard Corps: Uprising Screens

Absolutely No Fire Flowers Within 10 Feet of Pump

Entrepreneur Mario diversifies his holdings. Seen by Kotaku commenter Jedi Monkey in Tampa, Fla.

You May Like, The Next PlayStation 3 Firmware Update

Someday soon, you’ll be asked to update your PlayStation 3’s software. When you do, you’ll be ready for the PlayStation Store’s new “recommendations” feature. Consider it a new way for you to be sold things via the console’s PlayStation Network. It’s not cross-game chat or software emulation for PlayStation 2 games or auto-syncing Trophies—currently the…

“Draft Combine” Included in NBA 2K11

Last year’s “NBA Draft Combine” for NBA 2K10 – a paid downloadable mode that went out before the game’s release – will be part of NBA 2K11’s main game this year, according to a 2K Sports community manager. Today over Twitter, 2K’s Ronnie Singh proffered that last year’s Draft Combine – a novel way to…

Valve Bans Modern Warfare Players By Mistake, Apologizes With Free Left 4 Dead 2

Were you wrongfully accused of cheating and summarily banned from the PC version of Modern Warfare 2 recently? You weren’t the only one. Valve’s anti-cheat software goofed and they’re offering free copies of Left 4 Dead 2 as an apology. Many players of Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 were surprised to find their Steam…

Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine Deployed To PC

The PC will still be alive and thriving in the year 40,000, it seems. THQ is adding Windows-based PCs to the list of platforms it will support for the upcoming Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine, due in “early 2011.”

President Obama Will Appear in Madden NFL 11

Click to view The Super Bowl celebrations and animations for Madden NFL 10 were, honestly, a bit underweight. This year the game goes all out – even bringing in the President of the United States for the big party. IGN first reported today, with that video, on Madden 11’s enhanced Super Bowl interstitials. NFL Commissioner…