Modern Warfare 2 Map Pack Also Features Ridiculous Price

Capping off a fairly terrible fortnight of news surrounding Call of Duty developers Infinity Ward comes word this morning that Modern Warfare 2’s map pack is one of the most over-priced pieces of downloadable content we’ve ever seen. Popping onto Xbox Live spokesman Larry Hryb’s podcast to promote Modern Warfare 2’s upcoming “Stimulus Package” map…

Back stage with the winners of the 2010 Game Developers Choice Awards

Flower Creators: No New Games This Year, Intrigued By PlayStation Move

That Game Company’s Jenova Chen and Kellee Santiago, saw their team’s game Flower nominated for several Game Developer’s Choice Awards, winning for Best Downloadable. We talked about their future, Pokemon, and, since they made motion-games for the PS3, PlayStation Move. This is one of a series of Kotaku video interviews with many of the award-winners…

Stupid Sim

To: Luke From: Owen Anyone who’s played NCAA Basketball knows what a pain in the ass it is setting up a full 64-team custom bracket. I’ve spent the past 90 minutes inputting this year’s field into the game for a full bracket simulation – literally beginning after Greg Gumbel called Notre Dame as the final…

Uncharted 2 Creators Tip Hats To Killzone 2, Celebrate Lots Of Wins

Two of Naughty Dog’s top people collected five Game Developers Choice Awards lat week for Uncharted 2. Short on material for my backstage interviews, I asked them which awards they deserved most and least. They answered and offered Pokemon tips. This is one of a series of Kotaku video interviews with many of the award-winners…

Brilliant Five-Word Reviews of 94 Video Games

Haiku is so overdone, and would be verbose compared to these spot-on assessments of nearly 100 video games, done in just five words by Games Radar. Some rate a spoiler alert. “Max Payne: Dead family means bullet time.” “Bomberman: Trapped in a corner. F**k.” “Assassin’s Creed: Eavesdropping on conversations gets boring.” And, right after that,…

John Carmack Has Three Lifetime Achievement Awards, No Early iPad

Doom co-creator John Carmack earned a Lifetime Achievement Award at the 2010 Game Developer’s Choice Awards, but he’s not done. Oddly, he wasn’t sent an early iPad despite being a big iPhone games booster. We discussed that, plus, naturally, Pokemon. Note that the iPad is set for release early next month. Carmack’s id Software has…

Week in Games: A Wrathful God

Tuesday is named for Tiw, the Norse god of war. Fittingly it’s also the day Sony’s God of War III releases. Other highlights: Pokemon HeartGold and SoulSilver are out today for the DS, the Dragon Age: Origins – Awakening DLC is available Tuesday for all three platforms, and Perfect Dark comes to Xbox Live Marketplace…

Proud Batman: Arkham Asylum Art Director Working Hard On Next Game

Batman: Arkham Asylum art director David Hego did better than I could, talking in a language other than his native one, about Batman winning Best Game Design at the Game Developer’s Choice Awards. Plus, he tolerated my Pokemon tips request. This is one of a series of Kotaku video interviews with many of the award-winners…

Kotaku’s Top Five List of Top 10 Lists

Each week throws off several new video game lists ranging from the humorous to the trivial. What’s better? A list of those. Here’s a roundup of the rundowns out there. •Ten Moments Where You Have Felt Like Shouting “MORTAL KOMBAT!” [Gaming Bolt] Though “not based on any kind of ranking,” I think we can all…

Embrace Bracket Madness

Play the SoBe Lifewater™ Zero Inhibitions Bracket Challenge and you could win up to $10,000,000. And there’s more —you could also meet Brooklyn Decker, Jerry Rice, Kenny Smith or Kendra (yes, that one). It’s simple. Click here, sign up (it’s free), and fill out a college basketball bracket (or three) before the first round games…

Valve’s Gabe Newell Predicts Gaming’s Future, Not Talking About “Episode Three”

After Valve’s Gabe Newell was honored as a Pioneer at the GDC Awards, I asked him to predict gaming’s future and to offer more Portal 2 teases, a Half-Life 2: Episode 3 update and Pokemon tips. My success rate: 50%. Notes: The “John” who Newell refers to is John Carmack. The Portal 2 thing he…

Lemmings in Real Life

Lemmings marching across a rail underpass in Copenhagen, Denmark, as seen by reader Staffan O. Note the exit over the second light.

Honored Penny Arcade Creators Offer Me Some Advice

The creators of fan-favorite Penny Arcade (comic, expo, cultural force) earned the Ambassador Award at the 2010 Game Developer’s Choice Awards. I asked these fine gentlemen for advice so that I too could win … and I got Pokemon tips. (Mild profanity in this one.) This is one of a series of Kotaku video interviews…

If Cut God of War III Ending Returns as DLC, It ‘Would be Free’

We’ve heard that God of War III had a pretty involved postscript that had to be trimmed from the game. The game’s director explained why to Kotaku Talk Radio, but said if it does come back, it’ll be free. Speaking somewhat generically to avoid spoilers, Stig Asmussen said the game originally called for so many…

Scribblenauts Inventor Needs A Name For The Sequel

Beating Zelda and Grand Theft Auto, Jeremiah Slaczka’s 5th Cell won top handheld and innovation honors at the Game Developer’s Choice Awards for Scribblenauts. After winning, he explained why the sequel isn’t “Scribblenauts 2” … and I got Pokemon tips. This is one of a series of Kotaku video interviews with many of the award-winners…

The Difference Between Scary and Horror

I have a fear of horror films, and by extension horror games. I’m just too attenuated to suspense and having the hell scared out of me. But what I’m really experiencing, argues one writer, is just that: scary, not horror. Craig Lager, at Gaming Daily, points out the real differences in the two themes in…

Exultant Farmville Developer Is Only Joking About A Farmville Movie, Right?

Zynga’s Bill Mooney obtained the 2010 Game Developer’s Choice Award for Farmville in the Best Social/Online Game category. To celebrate, he allowed Kotaku to brainstorm with him about world domination, Farmville: The Movie and … I got Pokemon tips. This is one of a series of Kotaku video interviews with many of the award-winners and…

Three Sony Devs Switch Over to Valve — Three Years Ago [Corrected]

A story out there that three former top employees at Naughty Dog have joined Valve is true. It’s also three years old. The site PlayStation Lifestyle put up the item yesterday. Kotaku linked over to it earlier this morning. A quick check of their LinkedIn CVs notes these guys all joined Valve between 2006 and…

Microsoft Seeks to Patent the DLC Upsell

A recent patent application describes a process in which an Xbox Live gamer, invited to a multiplayer session, but missing a critical piece to play (a map, a track, whatever), is offered and may buy it without dropping the invitation. There probably is something patentable in the technology that manages such an online state, which…