Video Blog Hints at Player Ratings, New Features in Madden 11

EA Sports published a behind-the-scenes video blog at halftime of Sunday’s Super Bowl and, while it didn’t discuss specific details or features of Madden NFL 11, some screengrabs show what the team could be pondering. A forum post at ncaaStrategies has several frames, with annotations, showing whiteboards with the Madden gang’s brainstorming. Fight songs such…

Star Trek MMO Log, Stardate 2010.09

Join us for the second installment of my weekly Star Trek MMO log, in which we explore the depths of unknown space and gain a taste for blood as the fiery Orion battle maiden, Verdania. In last week’s Star Trek MMO log, I started my Federation character Qix, raising him to the rank of Lieutenant…

Uncharted 2 Score Now Available On Something Called A “CD”

Kotaku’s game of the year, Uncharted 2: Among Thieves, has spawned an official soundtrack which you can now purchase in physical form at your local record store on a “compact disc.” Fascinating! Greg Edmonson’s score for the PlayStation 3 action-adventure has been—as Naughty Dog points out on the PlayStation.blog—available on iTunes for some time. The…

Ron (can I call you Ron? You can call me Dan. Nice to meet you!) as a gamer and a parent myself, I have to agree with you that violence in video games is glorified, but it also glorified in movies, comic books, and animation. Then again, sex is also glorified in these businesses. It…

PAX East Gets Wil Wheatonized

Following up on his memorable keynote speech at PAX 2007, actor, writer, and starship sidekick turned planar traveller Wil Wheaton will deliver the keynote at the inaugural PAX East in March. Star Trek references aside, Wil Wheaton ‘s unique position as both a top-notch geek and actor in one of the geekiest science fiction properties…

Analyst: 15-20 Console Games In 2010 To Be In 3D

Is Avatar-style Sterescoppic 3D going to be big in video games? A report in Consumer Electronics Daily finds few video game publishers ready to sound excited about 3D gaming, except Disney, but that doesn’t mean there aren’t 3D games coming. From the report: Insight Media predicted 15-25 console games will be released in 2010 supporting…

A Heads Up On Gran Turismo 5’s Online Race Interface

While Gran Turismo 5’s release date seems to be a little slippery, it’s online race management interface appears to be headed in the right direction, with a snazzy, simple but deep HUD for all your multiplayer race needs. The Gran Turismo obsessed folks of GT Planet snagged some screens of the PlayStation 3’s real driving…

Naughty Bear Doesn’t Appreciate Peanut Butter Jelly Time

My opinion of Naughty Bear just went up several notches. On one hand, 505 Games just made me, even for just a moment, listen to Peanut Butter Jelly Time again. On the other hand, baseball bat. Baseball bat wins.

Dante’s Inferno Review: Big Ideas, Small Problems

Dante Alighieri, real world 14th-century poet and cavalryman, is re-imagined as a love-struck crusader in this retelling of the poet’s greatest work. Dante’s Inferno, one third of Alighieri’s Divine Comedy, serves as the backdrop for this video game’s story of the poet’s search for real-world love Beatrice in hell. Players arm themselves with Death’s scythe…

Holy Invasion Of Privacy, Badman! Forced To Change Its Name, Sequel Delayed

The PSP strategy game series that kicked off with the brilliantly titled Holy Invasion Of Privacy, Badman! What Did I Do To Deserve This? will get a new, less legally conflicting name, according to its publisher. NIS America said in a statement today that the Holy Invasion of Privacy, Badman series “had a conflict of…

City Of Heroes Gets A Visual Makeover

This April brings another free update to NCsoft’s City of Heroes, Issue 17: Dark Mirror, bringing with it graphical updates that hold a dark mirror up to the game’s regular level of detail. Dubbed “Ultra Mode”, the free graphical update coming to City of Heroes in the Issue 17 update greatly enhances the way the…

Kotaku Programming Reminder: Talk Live With Bioshock 2’s Jordan Thomas On Wednesday

As noted yesterday, Jordan Thomas, creative director of Bioshock 2, will be our guest on tomorrow’s live Kotaku call-in podcast. Show time’s 11am MT, 1pm ET. Call-in and listening details will be live on the site at show time.

Frankenreview: BioShock 2

The only challenge large and powerful enough to take on BioShock 2’s Big Daddy is our large and lumbering BioShock 2 Frankenreview. Return with us to the drowned art deco city of Rapture, a sunken “Utopia” that still soldiers on ten years after the events of the original game. In BioShock 2, you take on…

Ron Jeremy: Sex, Not Violence, Is Beautiful and Natural

At the CES show in Las Vegas in January, I was debating Craig Gross, a pastor at the XXX Church, about the merits of porn. One point I made was that violent video games are much worse for kids than porn. And then here at Kotaku you guys put up a similar article about the…

Imagine Town Spearheads Ubisoft’s Online Game Initiative

Imagine Babies? Imagine Doctor? Try Imagine Town, the virtual world based on the successful game series, spearheading Ubisoft’s online gaming lineup for fiscal year 2010-11, with Might & Magic Heroes Kingdoms, Trackmania 2, and two unannounced titles in the works. During today’s sales report for the third quarter 2009-10, Ubisoft talked up its focus on…

Ghost Recon: Future Soldiers Coming to the Wii

A version of Ghost Recon: Future Soldiers, confirmed earlier today by Ubisoft, will be coming to Wii, the company announced today. Ubisoft CEO Yves Guillemot confirmed that the upcoming shooter will be coming to all platforms when it hits, including the Wii. The game will be different though, he pointed out. It will be developed…

Ubisoft Remains Unsure of iPhone Gaming

While Ubisoft has three relatively big-name games on or making their way to the iPhone by March, the company still remains on the fence about the potential of the iPhone market. During their quarterly conference call, Ubisoft said that while they plan to launch a “few games” on the iPhone, they will continue to split…

Ezio Goes To Rome In The Next Assassin’s Creed

During its third quarter financial conference call, Ubisoft revealed that the next Assassin’s Creed adventure would see Ezio revisiting Rome, taking the fight to the Templar, when he’s not busy taking out his friends online. While we’re still not sure how the online multiplayer will work in the next Assassin’s Creed, but we do have…

Ubisoft Sales Dip Slightly In The Third Quarter

Ubisoft reported sales for the third fiscal quarter of 2009-10 today, indicating a 2.7% drop in year-over-year sales, a marked improvement over the first half drop of 52%. Ubisoft came on strong during the holiday season, nearly matching 2008-2009’s third quarter sales of €508 million, with €495 million in sales representing a rather modest 2.7%…

Silent Hunter 5, Anno Headed to iPhone

iPhone versions of Silent Hunter 5: Battle for the Atlantic and Anno Dawn of Discovery: The Harbor will be hitting by March, Ubisoft announced today. The two iPhone games, along with the multiplayer addition to the iPhone’s Assassin’s Creed II: Discovery, are all listed as arriving in the fourth quarter of Ubisoft’s 2009 calendar, which…