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Can Hurt Locker Inspire A New Generation Of “War” Games?
Hurt Locker won some Oscars last night, and is a movie about a war. But there’s not much shooting in it. Video games could learn from that. I think a real part of the movie’s appeal is that, while set in a war – which is always exotic and exciting – it’s not really a…
By Luke Plunkett Published March 8, 2010 - Uncategorized
Another Busty Valkyria Chronicles Figure? Sure, Why Not
There’s a war going on at the moment in the land of Valkyia Chronicles. Not between the Imperials and the Gallians, though. It’s between Japanese toy companies, over who can come up with the best Selvaria figure. We’ve seen Enterbrain’s entry, and it’s a good one. This is figure company Alter’s. While the prototype figure…
By Luke Plunkett Published March 8, 2010 - Uncategorized
What Does A “Misanthropic” Film Director Think of Heavy Rain?
For films like In the Company of Men (NSFW) and Your Friends and Neighbors (ditto), director Neil LaBute has been labeled everything from a “misogynist” to a “misanthrope”. Guess that makes him equal opportunity. Even if film critics are cynical about LaBute, he isn’t necessarily cynical about everything. Just listen to him talk about Heavy…
By Brian Ashcraft Published March 8, 2010 - Uncategorized
The World’s Greatest Dungeons & Dragons Room
Devon Burntwire has, for the last two years, been working on a little project: a custom room, designed solely for games of Dungeons & Dragons. It’s now finished, and it’s amazing. In addition to the obvious things, like the table and “library” storage for game and rule books, the room is full of other neat…
By Luke Plunkett Published March 8, 2010 - Uncategorized
Ubisoft Taking On FIFA & Pro Evo (Sort Of)
This May, Ubisoft will be dipping its toes into the lucrative (and highly competitive) football game market, with the release of Pure Football on the PC, Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3. Rather than trying to take on EA’s FIFA and Konami’s Pro Evo series, Pure Football goes the “Madden Arcade” or “FIFA Street” route, focusing…
By Luke Plunkett Published March 8, 2010 - Uncategorized
Hotel Dusk Developer Goes Bankrupt
Founded in 1999 and best known for mystery game Hotel Dusk, Cing filed for bankruptcy on March 1. The company is over 200 million yen in debt. Besides Hotel Dusk: Room 215, Fukuoka-based Cing also developed Wii title Another Code: R – A Journey into Lost Memories and partnered with Town Factory for Little King’s…
By Brian Ashcraft Published March 8, 2010 - Uncategorized
Portal 2 Coming To A Mac Near You
The issue of Game Informer blowing the lid off Valve’s Portal 2 is now in people’s hands, and those people are scouring it for details. Most important of which is confirmation the game is going to be available on Mac. Not the world’s greatest surprise, what with Valve’s not-so-subtle teasing last week, but the thing…
By Luke Plunkett Published March 8, 2010 - Uncategorized
Meet Bodycount, From The Creator Of Black
No, not that Body Count. The cover of the upcoming Official Xbox Magazine reveals Bodycount, the new shooter from the creators of first-person stylized shooter Black. Apparently, the game is being developed by a team at Codemasters Guildford that is lead by Stuart Black, who worked on Black, the shooter that shares his name. OXM…
By Brian Ashcraft Published March 8, 2010 -
UncategorizedWatch A Man Start A Game On a PC, Continue On Windows 7 Phone, Finish on Xbox 360
Microsoft’s “Live Anywhere” concept, whereby Xbox Live can be shared across multiple platforms, isn’t quite yet with us. But when it is, it may look something like this. Speaking at TechEd Middle East, Microsoft’s Eric Rudder has shown off this demo of a platformer than is able to be played across a Windows 7 phone,…
By Luke Plunkett Published March 8, 2010 - Uncategorized
Activision, Explained
It’s March. For half of the globe the weather is getting warmer. It will be spring before you know it! And before then, there’s a week of tweets. The designer of Gears of War cheers on The Hurt Locker on Oscar night. Coincidence? Taito used to get people drunk. Hideo Kojima is now tweeting in…
By Brian Ashcraft Published March 8, 2010 - Uncategorized
Ubisoft’s New DRM System Falls Down, Locks Out Paying Customers
Hey, Ubisoft: when you force users to maintain an internet connection even when playing a singleplayer game offline, you’d damn well better make sure you hold up your end of the bargain. Having recently implemented a wildly unpopular new form of digital rights management for its PC titles, over the last few days Ubisoft released…
By Luke Plunkett Published March 8, 2010 - Uncategorized
Oscar Winning Film Features Xbox 360 Time Travel
Hurt Locker trounced the competition at the 82nd Academy Awards Sunday night, winning six Oscars. The movie has been called “near perfect” by critics. “Near perfect” as in not perfect? While there have already been discussions (more here) about the film’s technical inaccuracies, those pale in comparison to two far more erroneous mistakes. The film…
By Brian Ashcraft Published March 8, 2010 - Uncategorized
Look Ma, Sudoku
To: Luke From: Owen Out for a jog on the Willamette today I was passed by a kid, riding no-hands on a BMX bike – and doing Sudoku. If that’s not multitasking, I don’t know what is. I’m off in about 10 days. I’ll be in here next weekend though. Here’s some highlights of this…
By Owen Good Published March 7, 2010 - Uncategorized
Well, You Always Need an Extra Button
Billboard for Southern Polytechnic State University of Marietta, Ga., as seen by reader Ant just outside that city. The school, however, is not one of the top 50 game design programs recently ranked by the Princeton Review.
By Owen Good Published March 7, 2010 - Uncategorized
A-Ha! ESRB Outs Lips: I (Heart) the ’80s
Yes, yes, simmer down, I know you were all dying for another installment of konsole karaoke. Happily, the ESRB issued another of its fabulous spoiler alerts, letting us know we’ll be wailing along with one-hit wonders sometime soon. It’s rated T for “Lyrics, Mild Violence, Sexual Themes, Use of Alcohol and Tobacco,” but any objectionable…
By Owen Good Published March 7, 2010 - Uncategorized
Week in Games: Finally
This is Final Fantasy XIII’s week, as the game arrives in North America on PS3 and Xbox 360. Other releases of note: Assassin’s Creed II, DRM and all, on the PC, BlazBlue on PSP, and the BioShock 2 DLC. Let’s not forget Mega Man 10 on the PS3, Yakuza 3 getting its North American and…
By Owen Good Published March 7, 2010 - Uncategorized
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. •Top Commercials with Video Game References [The Kartel] I don’t know how you top the Pontiac Spy Hunter ad. Not only was it a great…
By Owen Good Published March 7, 2010 - Reviews
MLB 10 The Show Review: The Game for All America
The game of baseball was brought to video game consoles long ago. The total experience – the Pastime – represents the next frontier of simulation, for a public delighted by every stat and detail, no matter how small. This is the direction in which MLB The Show now strives most noticeably. Having nailed the essential…
By Owen Good Published March 7, 2010 - Reviews
Major League Baseball 2K10 Review: Pitching With Two Strikes
If MLB 2K9 had been an actual ballplayer, last year’s performance would have sent it to the minors, if not the waiver wire. After a soul-searching offseason, 2K Sports decided to focus on the fundamentals for MLB 2K10. This year’s game fixates on the batter-pitcher matchups that infuse every at-bat with suspense and dramatic potential.…
By Owen Good Published March 7, 2010