Kotaku Off-Topic: Meat, The Final Frontier

Remember that one episode where Captain Kirk had to fight the man-bratwurst, and made his own horseradish sauce out of naturally occurring materials on an alien planet? Man, that was awesome. Does it get any better than a replica of the starship Enterprise made of meat? What about a shoe made out of meat? Or…

Cultivated Play: Farmville

[This essay was given as a talk at SUNY Buffalo, 28 January 2010, the day after Howard Zinn’s death. I have left the text unaltered, to better reflect the spirit of the talk.] “I’m worried that students will take their obedient place in society and look to become successful cogs in the wheel – let…

Remember to Register Your Ratings for Next Year’s Madden Rookies

The first round of the NFL Draft is by now winding down, but remember that EA Sports’ ratings guru Donny Moore is considering community feedback when he sets attributes for this year’s rookie class in Madden NFL 11. Donny Moore, the studio’s ratings guru, posts his projected ratings in the position’s relevant as each pick…

A Little Background On Marvel Vs. Capcom 3’s Backgrounds And Settings

During our weekly Kotaku Talk Radio podcast, Marvel’s Chris Baker talked about the settings, stages, and fan service we can expect from next year’s Marvel Vs. Capcom 3. No more generic backdrops? Can it be true? It’s definitely true. While the previous two entries in the Marvel Vs. Capcom series gave us more characters than…

Rise and Fire! New Madden Vid Teases … Gus Johnson?

Gus Johnson’s unpredictable intensity has made him an ironic favorite of many. The CBS broadcaster has done some voice over work for a Madden video, raising hopes we’ll hear him losing his shit as the game’s new play-by-play man. The video in question is on this Facebook page teasing Drew Brees’ selection as the Madden…

Critiquing Neighborhood 3: Requisition of Doom

Reader Geist002 took the time to check out a school play about video game addiction in East Brunswick, New Jersey. Here’s his take on Neighborhood 3: Requisition of Doom: Okay, I went and saw this play earlier tonight. My general critique: For a high-school play, it was fairly well done, all things considering. And note:…

Best Wishes Bridge Tecmo-Itagaki Rift

In February, Tecmo Koei and renowned designer Tomonobu Itagaki settled a lawsuit arising from their nasty split in 2008. The two are back on social terms, with Tecmo’s boss sending congratulations to Itagaki’s new studio, and the studio posting it. “Congratulations on establishing a new company,” Kakihara Yasuharu, the new chairman of Koei Tecmo holdings,…

Ghost Trick Brings Ace Attorney Aesthetic to the Afterlife

The man behind Capcom’s oddly addictive Ace Attorney games has a new DS title up his sleeve that has you possessing objects to manipulate and trick your way through plot-heavy puzzles. Ghost Trick Phantom Detective kicks off with the main character dying. Moments later, fortunately for him and the player, he returns as a ghost…

Supreme Court Decision On Whether To Hear Violent Video Game Case Expected Soon

The United States Supreme Court may decide whether to hear a landmark case affecting the sale of violent video games as early as next week, the California Attorney General’s office told Kotaku today. Before the highest court in the country is the decision whether to hear arguments regarding California’s legal battle against the video game…

Free-to-Play Football Sim Signs Another Big Name

Today’s football news isn’t entirely about Madden or the NFL Draft. Quick Hit Football, a free-to-play, browser-based football simulator, picked up Patriots wide receiver Randy Moss to appear in-game for Quick Hit’s second season. Quick Hit, whom I’ve written about a few times before, can’t use the entire roster of active NFL players or any…

Walks and Swordplay

To: Ash From: Crecente Re: How I Lost 8 Kilograms Yeah, walks are fantastic, especially in the wild. We did daily walks in the bush when we were visiting Trish’s parents in Australia’s Blue Mountains last winter. I love it. But, it didn’t help me lose an ounce. You know what did? Vomitting… violently… for…

Brees — and New Orleans — Grace the Madden NFL 11 Cover

New Orleans quarterback Drew Brees was, as anticipated, named the Madden NFL 11 cover athlete today, appearing over a montage that honors the team and home city as well as the player. The Saints’ triumph in Super Bowl XLIV was, like it or not, a national feel-good story considering the city’s history in the aftermath…

The Best (Kotaku) WarioWare Games You’ll Ever Play

Last week we asked you to impress us and you have succeeded. On April 12 we kicked off our WarioWare D.I.Y contest with a call to wannabe game developers to create the best Kotaku-themed game. The rules were simple, you had to be the right age and live in the right place and you had…

ghostwire screens

Mega Man Creator To Assure Capcom’s Future

The man behind some of Capcom’s biggest video game creations is now in charge of personally assuring that all of the developer’s titles are hits. “It’s a common comment I hear that games created in Europe aren’t really Capcom games,” said Keiji Inafune, the man behind Mega Man, Dead Rising and Onimusha. “That games created…

Seventy-Three Sega Employees Restructured Out Of Their Jobs

Staff cuts have struck Sega London and San Francisco today, as an email from Corporate Operations Officer Masanao Maeda informs employees of the termination of a combined 73 positions between the two locations. In the email, forwarded to Kotaku from several different sources today, Maeda cites a reorganization of Sega’s business in the American and…

Legal Battle Over Fallout MMO Continues

The legal battle between Fallout IP holder Bethesda and original creator Interplay rages on, despite a dropped appeal granting false hopes to fans eager for a massively-multiplayer online Fallout title. Last September, Bethesda, the current owner of the Fallout intellectual property, filed a lawsuit against Interplay, the studio that created Fallout, claiming trademark infringement due…

Jill Valentine

His Traveling Companion is 3-Inches Tall

Street Fighter producer Yoshinori Ono tells Kotaku he takes mini-Blanka with him whenever he travels, snapping pics of the plastic pugilist everywhere he goes.

Dead Rising, Gears of War, Resident Evil Represent in Lost Planet 2

Lost Planet 2 isn’t just a third-person shooter with a robust storyline and oodles of online gameplay options, it’s also a game with a quirky sense of humor. Take for instance the inclusion of these odd choices in character customization. Gears of War’s Marcus Felix, Resident Evil’s Wesker and Dead Rising’s Frank West all make…