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Who Makes Big Money In Japan?
People who run big companies, that’s who. As previously mentioned, a new regulation now requires Japanese companies to disclose the previously well-guarded salaries of employees over ¥100 million (US$1.1 million). Executive salaries in Japan are lower than the astronomical compensation execs receive in the West. “Companies owe their existence to society,” says Shizuka Kamei, the…
By Brian Ashcraft Published June 29, 2010 - Uncategorized
Multiplayer Tetris Is Ten Years In The Making (And Counting)
Alexey Pajitnov, creator of Tetris, may be semi-retired these days, but he still likes to dabble in a bit of game design from time to time. At the moment, for example, he’s working on multiplayer Tetris. “We are working on multiplayer versions for more than 10 years — I’ve been trying to design it. I…
By Luke Plunkett Published June 29, 2010 - Uncategorized
Nintendo, Please Pay Mario’s Creator More Money [Update]
The long-held belief is that Nintendo game designer Shigeru Miyamoto rides his bicycle to work and doesn’t make more money than other Nintendo designers. Part of Miyamoto’s image is that he’s just a regular guy! And that he doesn’t take a larger salary than other employees, as Giant Bomb put it, “in order to prove…
By Brian Ashcraft Published June 29, 2010 - Uncategorized
How To Make Millions Playing World Of Warcraft (The Hard Way)
Stephen Gillett was at one time the youngest chief information officer on the Fortune 500. How’d he get there? Playing a ton of World of Warcraft, of course. It’s not the grinding that got him there, nor the neglect of a personal life outside of the game. No, Gillett says it’s the leadership skills developed…
By Luke Plunkett Published June 29, 2010 - Uncategorized
First Look At PlayStation Plus
The latest firmware update for the PlayStation 3 isn’t just some regular old update. Oh, no. This update is a big deal! Firmware 3.40 brings players PlayStation Plus, Sony’s new subscription-based service, as well as a new video editor/uploader to the PlayStation 3’s XMB, enabling users to edit and upload movies directly to YouTube and…
By Brian Ashcraft Published June 29, 2010 - Uncategorized
If Only All These Team Fortress 2 Weapons Were Real
Polycount, an online resource for video game artists, has been running a Team Fortress 2 competition, asking users to submit their ideas for new weapons and items for the game. The winners end up actually in the game. While some of them are a little odd, look stupid or would wreck the balance of the…
By Luke Plunkett Published June 29, 2010 - Uncategorized
Microsoft: Project Milo “Not A Game We’re Planning To Bring To The Market”
We’d always thought Project Milo, Lionhead’s Kinect tech demo from E3 2009, was an actual game. Or at least an actual something. Turns out it’s not, and will probably never be released to market. While Microsoft told us that “Project Milo is something that is in ongoing development at Lionhead Studios” following its no-show at…
By Luke Plunkett Published June 29, 2010 - Reviews
Sin & Punishment: Star Successor Review: #1 With A Bullet
Nintendo fires a shot at the hardcore Wii owner with Sin & Punishment: Star Successor, a new shooter from the shooting game masters at Treasure. It’s brutally difficult and a sequel to a relatively obscure Nintendo 64 game, a Wii library anomaly. Nintendo is rarely in the business of publishing serious action games like Sin…
By Michael McWhertor Published June 28, 2010 - Uncategorized
Club Nintendo Members, Time Is Almost Up
Nintendo fans of North America, this a public service announcement! You have two more days to achieve annual Gold or Platinum membership status at Club Nintendo. Register your Nintendo games now before you miss out on members-only swag!
By Michael McWhertor Published June 28, 2010 - Uncategorized
Kotaku Off Topic: LEGO Facebook
Who doesn’t like a good literal visual gag? I know I do and I’ll bet a few Kotaku Off Topic regulars do too. This is where we chat about those kinds of things and video games too. Isn’t it nice having images back on Kotaku? Yes. The answer is yes. It lets more people enjoy…
By Michael McWhertor Published June 28, 2010 - Uncategorized
No Eye Witnessing for Tebow on NCAA 11 Cover
It is hardly a surprise that the cover of NCAA Football 11, out July 13, does not feature Tim Tebow with the Scriptures written on his eyeblack tape. That’s not to say EA Sports has never allowed similar things before. Reggie Bush, on the cover of NCAA 07 (click that picture to enlarge), gives a…
By Owen Good Published June 28, 2010 -
UncategorizedWatch Seth Green Sell Dragon Quest IX To Teenagers
How does one sell a game like Dragon Quest IX, a traditionally core role-playing game, to the general Nintendo DS-owning populace? Right. Seth Green and pop rock band The Lost Boys. This is Nintendo’s attempt at shilling Square Enix’s Dragon Quest IX: Sentinels of the Starry Skies and… gotta say, I think it works. Sure,…
By Michael McWhertor Published June 28, 2010 - Uncategorized
Homefront‘s Future Plans Include London
At E3, Homefront was offhandedly mentioned to me as inspired by Resistance, just without the aliens, naturally. As if to drive that point home, the man in charge of THQ’s core games portfolio already has designs on London. Homefront, written by John Milius (“Apocalypse Now,” and “Red Dawn,”) is set in Colorado, 2027, with the…
By Owen Good Published June 28, 2010 - Uncategorized
Madden‘s Newest Stat, “Swagger,” is Sponsored
In the rollout of Madden player ratings, few noticed the attribute “SWG” – for swagger. But a leaked screenshot in the EA Sports forums put it on everyone’s map today – because it’s sponsored by Old Spice. See for yourself: As for what “swagger” does for you, word has it that it’s a kind of…
By Owen Good Published June 28, 2010 - Uncategorized
The New Kid Icarus Is Trying To Fix Shooters’ ‘Creativity Problem’
After two decades, Nintendo is finally creating a new Kid Icarus, this time for the new Nintendo 3DS. Kid Icarus Uprising‘s designer has even loftier goals for the sequel, targeting “an overriding problem with a lot of game design.” Masahiro Sakurai, the brains behind Super Smash Bros. Brawl and the new Kid Icarus, says that…
By Michael McWhertor Published June 28, 2010 - Uncategorized
Xbox Live Arcade Deals of the Week Are Critical Darlings
A handful of Xbox Live Arcade‘s critical successes are now vying for commercial accessibility. Defense Grid, P.B. Winterbottom, Rocket Riot and Poker Smash are just 400 Microsoft Points. Darwinia+ is now 800 Points, Chime a mere 240 Points. [Major Nelson]
By Michael McWhertor Published June 28, 2010 - Uncategorized
Don’t Think Of Kinect As ‘Casual,’ Think Of It As Super Mario Bros.
Worried that Microsoft’s E3 showcase of its Kinect controller for the Xbox 360 was a little too “casual,” a little too Wii Sports rewarmed? Kinect’s creative director sees it otherwise, that Microsoft’s taking a Super Mario Bros. approach instead. So says Kudo Tsunoda, the oft-sunglassed man behind games like Kinect Adventures, the river rafting and…
By Michael McWhertor Published June 28, 2010 - Uncategorized
Madden 11 Demo Offers 5-Minute Quarters to All
Last year’s Madden NFL 10 demo let you play four quarters just one minute long each, though a GameStop preorder did give special access to a longer game. This year, EA Sports is giving everyone five-minute quarters to try out. The reason: Madden‘s new GameFlow – in which the CPU calls plays for you like…
By Owen Good Published June 28, 2010 - Uncategorized
A Summer Of Limited Screens
To: Ash From: Crecente Re: THE IMAGES HAVE RETURNED…SORTA We’ve instituted another set of rules for Tristan starting in July. We already has a bunch of rules about screen time (tv, video games, computer) and about what he can and can’t do on the consoles. As I wrote about Friday, Tristan snuck some Modern Warfare…
By Brian Crecente Published June 28, 2010