- Uncategorized
Keep Your Yakuza-Style Tattoos To Yourself
Kazuma Kiryu, the hero of Sega’s Yakuza series, has a back full of yakuza-style ink. But it’s not only Japanese gangsters who tattoo themselves. Sometimes it’s voice actors. “Irezumi” (literally, “insert ink”) is the traditional Japanese form of tattooing by hand. Tattoos, traditional or Western, are still not mainstream in most of Japan. Among younger…
By Brian Ashcraft Published July 13, 2010 - Reviews
The Silver Lining: Episode 1 Micro-Review: Absence Makes The Heart Grow Colder
The Silver Lining is a fan-made sequel (in episodic form) in all but name to Sierra’s beloved old adventure series, Kings Quest. It’s a legacy this new title wears proudly on its billowing, medieval sleeves. Despite lacking the humour of Space Quest, the attention to detail of Police Quest or the innovation of Quest for…
By Luke Plunkett Published July 13, 2010 - Uncategorized
China, There Will Be No Kinect For You
Sorry, China! When Kinect is released later this year, you won’t be allowed to buy the motion control peripheral. At least, not officially. Why? Chinese readers will know this, but for everyone else, there are laws in place in the country that forbid the legal, official sale of just about every video game console currently…
By Luke Plunkett Published July 13, 2010 - Uncategorized
A Week In Comments
Nintendo Believes The 3DS Can Stop Piracy Comment by: MissMarlo Nominated by: nago Well, yeah. Pirates can’t use a 3DS. You need BOTH EYES to get the 3D effect. The Expendables Gets The 8-Bit Contra Clone It So Richly Deserves Comment by: ChrisPBacon Nominated by: Andrew Wyatt You have to like the game to play…
By Brian Ashcraft Published July 13, 2010 - Uncategorized
Dragon Age 2 Following In Mass Effect’s Footsteps
Dragon Age 2 isn’t pulling just one page from Mass Effect’s book. It’s pulling several, including the ones titled “conversation systems” and “save game continuity”. Information from the latest issue of Game Informer has begin appearing online, and mentions that Dragon Age 2 is doing away with the classic “tree” dialogue system, where you’re presented…
By Luke Plunkett Published July 13, 2010 -
UncategorizedDid Pikachu’s Voice Actress Really Die?
The news that 44-year-old voice actress Ikue Otani – best known for voicing Pokémon character Pikachu – had died this morning has been spreading like wildfireonline. But has she? The rumor on various social networking sites is that Otani died suddenly this morning for no explicable reason. There is no news of her death on…
By Brian Ashcraft Published July 13, 2010 - Uncategorized
Nintendo Won’t Change The 3DS’ Appearance Before Release
When Nintendo first unveiled the 3DS, we were told that the design shown wasn’t final. Turns out that, yeah, it’s now pretty final. Unlike the DS, which went through a fairly radical redesign between first being shown off and hitting retail shelves, according to Nintendo the appearance of the 3DS will remain largely unchanged between…
By Luke Plunkett Published July 13, 2010 - Uncategorized
People Complaining About Blizzard’s “Real ID” Have Their Email Addresses Exposed
Sometimes irony can be delicious. In this case, it’s a little bit tragic, with the ESRB publicly releasing the email addresses of people who had written to the board to protest…the revelation of private information. Blizzard’s decision (and ultimate reversal) this week to institute a “real names” policy on the company’s forums led to widespread…
By Luke Plunkett Published July 13, 2010 - Uncategorized
Hulk Out!
Open thread. Anything goes. Just don’t call it Kotaku Off Topic. Or do. You make the rules—well, some of them—in this post that’s not about video games, but might be briefly about game shows. Speaking of gaming, I was in Las Vegas this weekend for this year’s EVO fighting game tournament. Despite working some crazy…
By Michael McWhertor Published July 12, 2010 - Uncategorized
Your Only Chance to Pick Up This Achievement Comes Tomorrow
Like an eclipse or an obscure comet sighting, tomorrow is the only day on the calendar you may pick up this Silver PSN trophy or 40 Gamerscore Xbox Live achievement, in MLB 2K10. So be ready when it comes. The trophy/achievement is “Mid-Summer Classic,” and all you have to do to collect it is play…
By Owen Good Published July 12, 2010 - Uncategorized
From Final Fantasy V to Mother 3, A Brief History Of ROM Hacking
What to do when your Japanese role-playing games take months, years or forever to get an English translation? Rip the ROM and hack-translate it yourself. 1UP takes a look at the origins and current state of the brute-force, fan-made localization.
By Michael McWhertor Published July 12, 2010 - Uncategorized
ModNation Racers Gets More ‘Casual’ With Less Aggressive Update
United Front Games will make playing its DIY kart racer ModNation Racers a little easier with its next update. The PS3 game is getting a less-challenging career mode option, according to the PlayStation.blog
By Michael McWhertor Published July 12, 2010 - Uncategorized
Hero of King of Kong to be Enshrined in Hall of Fame
Steve Wiebe, the protagonist of the documentary The King of Kong, famous for his pursuit of Donkey Kong’s all-time record, will be enshrined alongside the game’s creator with the first class inducted by the International Video Games Hall of Fame. Wiebe, an algebra teacher in Kirkland, Wash., is currently the holder of the No. 3…
By Owen Good Published July 12, 2010 - Uncategorized
Street Fighter IV Creator Teases Comic-Con Timed Game Reveal
At this weekend’s EVO tournament in Las Vegas, where the world’s best Tekken 6, Super Street Fighter IV and Melty Blood players battled it out, the man who made Street Fighter IV teased the unveiling of his next game. Yoshinori Ono, the producer of Street Fighter IV and its Super sequel, has been teasing that…
By Michael McWhertor Published July 12, 2010 - Uncategorized
Just Don’t Get Kicked Out of the Circle in NHL 11
There’s plenty you can do on a faceoff other than spam the controls and look like a fool. NHL 11 wants to give you more options this year, as shown in new screenshots released today. As we saw in a video yesterday, you’ll be able to tie up your opponent and kick it back, tie…
By Owen Good Published July 12, 2010 - Uncategorized
Dragon Age II’s New Look, Now In Screen Shots
BioWare’s next big role-playing game, Dragon Age II, will be a very different thing. For starters, the sequel sports a “new visual style,” readily apparent from concept art and newly released first screen shots of Dragon Age II. Game Informer magazine subscribers are already basking in printed versions of Dragon Age II’s new artistic direction,…
By Michael McWhertor Published July 12, 2010 - Uncategorized
PlayStation’s New ‘Terms of Service’ Urges Not ODing On 3D
What are we agreeing to now when we play our PlayStation 3s? For one, to take heed of Sony’s advice while enjoying 3D games or movies, which the legalese-laden, newly-updated Terms of Service agreement says may cause “discomfort.” Sony’s latest addition to the list of things it expects us to follow is about the latest…
By Michael McWhertor Published July 12, 2010 - Uncategorized
Big Patch Accompanies NCAA 11‘s Arrival Tomorrow
Not many people game completely offline, but you’ll want to be connected if you’re bringing home NCAA Football 11 tomorrow. It gets a a day-of-release patch that fixes and tunes a ton of features. I can confirm this is already present; EA Sports put it on the server last Wednesday. The patch not only corrects…
By Owen Good Published July 12, 2010