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Civilization V To Eradicate Road Spaghetti?
Civilization games teach us to respect culture and science, to honor learning and the sharpness of swords. But roads? This series would make you think that progress equals covering one’s kingdom with ugly tangles of roads. Civ V changes that. During a theater demonstration here in San Francisco of this fall’s Civilization V that I…
By Stephen Totilo Published March 10, 2010 - Uncategorized
Talk Amongst Yourselves
Don’t be that guy who loses his driver’s license at the airport and his power cord at Game Developer’s Conference. (sigh) Be the person who comments here about video games. Confused about commenting on Kotaku? Read our FAQ
By Stephen Totilo Published March 10, 2010 - Uncategorized
Street Fighter IV: The iPhone Case!
This has got to be my favorite iPhone case to date. Unfortunately, they don’t plan to ever sell this bit of kick-ass swag which handed out to a few fortunates at Capcom’s Game Developer Conference on Tuesday.
By Brian Crecente Published March 10, 2010 -
UncategorizedI Really Dig This Lady, She’s Cool
To: Crecente From: Bash Cleaned out a bunch of CDs this morning. (CDs, I know!) Found a bunch of old UA discs. Back when we were dating, Mrs. Bashcraft gave me a couple of UA’s CDs. I always feel tremendous gratitude when someone introduces me to music I end up loving and cherishing. UA is…
By Brian Ashcraft Published March 10, 2010 - Uncategorized
Maybe The Best Akira Bike Model…Ever
With the Hollywood feature film version of cyberpunk yarn Akira languishing in development hell, it’s good to know something connected to the landmark manga and anime is progressing well. This model of the “Akira bike”, or Kaneda’s powerbike, is still in the production stage blog Otaku2.com points out, so the final version might be slightly…
By Brian Ashcraft Published March 10, 2010 -
UncategorizedWii Remote Controlled Laser Pew-Pew!
Inventor-by-day, DJ-by-night Henry Strange’s latest creation is a laser beam that is controlled by a Nintendo Wii Remote mounted in a white, plastic gun casing. This is Henry’s walk through. It does have a laser pointer, which probably could put someone’s eye out or blind them or something horrible like that. But do not worry,…
By Brian Ashcraft Published March 10, 2010 - Uncategorized
Prince Of Persia LEGO Playsets: Chesty Jake Wears A Shirt
We’ve seen the figures for LEGO’s Prince of Persia range before, but not the actual playsets. So let’s look at those playsets. And yes, there are ostriches. There are also camels, men in turbans and palm trees. So far, so good. In fact, the only thing we can see wrong so far is that Chesty…
By Luke Plunkett Published March 10, 2010 - Uncategorized
Why Don’t More Game Songs Have Video Clips?
Shatter, already available on the PSN, is one of the more prominent titles from this year’s Independent Games Festival awards. It’s also got an amazing soundtrack, and now, video clips to boot. This is Amethyst Caverns, one of the tracks from the game, which was released last year by Kiwi development house Sidhe (who also…
By Luke Plunkett Published March 10, 2010 - Uncategorized
What Does Japan Really Think About Game Consoles?
Ask Google. The Japanese language version of the search engine catalogues the most popular searches. Those automatically pop up when searching. So what displays for the Nintendo Wii, the PS3 and the Xbox 360? The thinking here is that by listing what Japan searches for, this will provide a window into what the country is…
By Brian Ashcraft Published March 10, 2010 - Uncategorized
Guess How Many Copies Of Final Fantasy XIII Are Out There
Go on. Guess. Or, if you don’t feel like guessing, read on to see the shipment figures for Final Fantasy XIII Square Enix released overnight. With two million units shipped in Japan since the game’s release there in December and three million sent to stores in the West for its release here this week, that…
By Luke Plunkett Published March 10, 2010 - Uncategorized
Pretty Girls, Telling Time For Yakuza 4
From Yakuza 4 branded noodles to Yakuza 4 branded booze, PlayStation 3 Japanese gangster game Yakuza 4, like the prequels before it, has gone a little crazy with the promotional push. And it’s not stopping there. Yakuza 4 is partnering with iPhone app Bijin-Tokei (“Beautiful Woman Clock”), which features a new beauty every minute holding…
By Brian Ashcraft Published March 10, 2010 - Uncategorized
When Mario Meets Ikea
Should you ever wish to graduate from baking cakes or wearing t-shirts of Nintendo’s mascot of mascots, you could always do what this guy and his girlfriend did: fill a room with custom Mario furniture. It’s the work of Dennis and his lady friend Judith, who as a mechanical engineering student probably did most of…
By Luke Plunkett Published March 10, 2010 - Uncategorized
God of War III Demo Looks Different From Final Game
The God of War III game demo was first revealed at the E3 2009 gaming expo in Los Angeles. The game will be released this March. And my, how the game has changed. For the better, too. The DigitalFoundry blog has side-by-side comparisons of the demo and the final retail game. Things to notice? The…
By Brian Ashcraft Published March 10, 2010 - Uncategorized
Proposed Virtual Child Porn Law Trucking Along
Won’t someone think of the children? The imaginary children? Don’t worry, Japanese politicians are. The Tokyo Metropolitan government is moving forward on legislation that sets out to ban provocative “visual depictions” of characters who appear to be 18 years-old and younger. According to website Anime News Network, the proposal, submitted on February 24, would amend…
By Brian Ashcraft Published March 10, 2010 - Uncategorized
The Kotaku RSS Feed Two-Step
You may have noticed, if you’re reading this through an RSS reader, that we’re not all quite there anymore. Have no fears, there is a solution. As of earlier today, Kotaku’s default RSS feed is an excerpt-only feed. Unless you’re a VIP. Fortunately, you’re all VIPs to us. So here’s how to get back to…
By Brian Crecente Published March 10, 2010 - Uncategorized
Civilization V Preview: Small Changes, Big Differences
Civilization was never the most realistic game, and those who enjoyed battling against a nuclear-armed Gandhi have not minded. The next one, Civilization V, though may be the most natural one thanks to some crafty tweaks. Kotaku was shown an early version of development studio Firaxis’ Civ V running on a PC on the first…
By Stephen Totilo Published March 10, 2010 - Uncategorized
Yakuza 3 Has More Cuts Than You First Thought
So you thought the hostess bars were the only thing cut from Yakuza 3, a very Japanese game that’s being brought to the West by Sega? Nunh unh. There are way more changes than that. As you’ll see below, the edits are everywhere. And before you complain, remember: Sega did so because if it had…
By Luke Plunkett Published March 10, 2010 - Uncategorized
Oscar-Winning Duo Working On Ghost Recon Movie
The creators of Logorama – an Oscar-winning short film that featured its fair share of video game companies – will be sticking with a gaming theme for their next work, creating a live-action short for Ubisoft’s Ghost Recon series. Francois Alaux and Herve de Crecy will be working with writer Tim Sexton (Children of Men)…
By Luke Plunkett Published March 10, 2010 - Uncategorized
A Week In Comments
I Was An Xbox Live Celebrity, For One Night Only Comment by: The Forgetful Brain Nominated by: puresewas1de I think one of the keys is anonymity. And the fact that every Xbox comes with a microphone (even though a lot of the harassment you got, came by way of message). There’s a massive portion of…
By Brian Ashcraft Published March 10, 2010 - Uncategorized
God Of War Tears Head Off Copycat Claims
In 2008, Jonathan Bissoon-Dath and Jennifer Barrette-Herzog sued Sony and God of War creator David Jaffe for copyright infringement over the original PS2 game. That case has now been dismissed. While official notice of the motion has yet to be published on public court records, one of the accused – game designer David Jaffe –…
By Luke Plunkett Published March 10, 2010