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Test Drive Sonic & Sega All-Stars Racing
Xbox 360 owners can begin to explore the mystery behind the world’s fastest video game character’s need for a car today, as a demo and premium theme for Sonic & Sega All-Star Racing show up on Xbox Live. 1GB of free space and an Xbox Live Gold subscription are all you need to feel the…
By Mike Fahey Published February 8, 2010 - Uncategorized
The Nintendo Download: Blaster Master, Fieldrunners, And A New Format
Blaster Master Overdrive, Fieldrunners DS, and Princess Tomato shine their love on The Nintendo Download this week, with a new format making it much easier to see what you might be spending your Nintendo points on. I’ve been doing The Nintendo Download since Nintendo started putting things up for download, and lately it’s gotten a…
By Mike Fahey Published February 8, 2010 - Uncategorized
iPhone Chart Toppers: Rock Band Still Untoppled
I guess dropping a few new songs in the Rock Band store and releasing a free version really boosts sales. Rock Band continues its position as king of the hill for iPhone games, this week. What do you think should topple it? Here’s the full list: Which do you think should be the top game?…
By Brian Crecente Published February 8, 2010 - Uncategorized
Free Realms Celebrates 8 Million Players
It’s been awhile since we checked in with the player population of the free-to-play, family-friendly MMO Free Realms, and Sony Online Entertainment snuck in more than five million additional users while we weren’t looking. When last we checked, way back in June of last year, Free Realms had just surpassed the three million player mark.…
By Mike Fahey Published February 8, 2010 - Uncategorized
The Saga Continues With LEGO Clone Wars
LucasArts and TT Games continue to tear apart the Star Wars universe and rebuild it brick-by-brick with LEGO Star Wars III: The Clone Wars. I am continually amazed by the success of Star Wars: The Clone Wars, a stylized cartoon version of the events that take place between Attack of the Clones and Revenge of…
By Mike Fahey Published February 8, 2010 - Uncategorized
Digital Decapitations A Primal Release, Creator Says
“I’ve always been a non-violent person,” Tim Jones told me last week as we chatted in a subterranean nightclub in Manhattan. He’s a “peace and love” kind of guy and designer of a new video game featuring spine-dangling decapitations. Jones is the head of art and design at Rebellion, the U.K. studio behind Aliens Vs…
By Stephen Totilo Published February 8, 2010 - Uncategorized
The Once and Future Sim
One hundred million copies sold, 36 magazine covers and 100 game critic awards: The Sims franchise continues to thrive ten years after its launch, basking in the uncommon flattery of having no real competition. The Sims importance and impact on the video game industry as a whole could perhaps be measured by the games created…
By Brian Crecente Published February 8, 2010 - Uncategorized
This Night Note Is Late
To: Crecente From: Bashcraft Sorry, folks! Eight minutes late, actually. Didn’t mean to keep you waiting. What happens when a night note is late? What you missed last night The Emotion, And Humor, Of Mass Effect 2’s Romantic Interludes Prince Of Persia’s Super Bowl Trailer Is Big On Action, Short On Shirtless Jake Silhouette of…
By Brian Ashcraft Published February 8, 2010 - Uncategorized
Peter Molyneux: Natal Could Change Interaction Like The Mouse
Peter Molyneux, the guy who designs those Fable games and runs Microsoft’s European studios, sees Project Natal as more than just another motion peripheral. For him, it’s the peripheral is akin to some like the computer mouse. “If you’re thinking that Natal is going to give you another version of an FPS, you’re just not…
By Brian Ashcraft Published February 8, 2010 - Uncategorized
The Best PC Mods For 2009 Were…
Mod DB, the central hub for all things mod-related on the PC, released over the weekend their editors’ and readers’ picks for the best mods of 2009. You may have seen some of these – like Galactic Warfare and NeoTokyo – featured previously on Kotaku. Others may be entirely new to you (and us!). Regardless,…
By Luke Plunkett Published February 8, 2010 - Uncategorized
Nippon Ichi Software, This Can’t Be Good (Part II)
Last Friday, Nippon Ichi Software, the developer behind the Disgaea series, announced its financial earnings. They were not good. As Kotaku previously reported, the operating profit for the Gifu Prefecture-based company is down 97.5 percent during the first nine months of this financial year. The company’s closing price on the JASDAQ (Japanese NASDAQ) was ¥36,200…
By Brian Ashcraft Published February 8, 2010 -
UncategorizedThis “Sonic 4” Is Actually 14 Years Old
Sega may have you thinking Sonic 4 is on the way, but really, it’s already here. It was released in 1996. For the Super Nintendo. This is a game called “Sonic 4”, a hack which took the existing Speedy Gonzales: Los Gatos Bandidos (by Sunsoft) and added some extras to it. Like Sonic, Sonic’s rings,…
By Luke Plunkett Published February 8, 2010 - Uncategorized
What Does A Hamster Have To Do With Super Mario Galaxy?
Screw focus groups. Or corporate brainstorming. Shigeru Miyamoto gets many of his game ideas from real life. Take The Legend of Zelda, which was inspired by Miyamoto’s childhood spent playing outside, or Pikmin, which was inspired by gardening, or Nintendogs, which was inspired by his experience owning a pet. Super Mario Galaxy? A hamster. Miyamoto…
By Brian Ashcraft Published February 8, 2010 - Uncategorized
British Sales Charts: Dante’s Disco Inferno
Just Dance ahead of Mass Effect 2? Sort it out, Britain. I don’t care if you have to hit the streets shouting, placards in hand, you sort this out. Chart regulars aside, you’ll see a healthy debut from Dante’s Inferno there at numbers five & six, suggesting EA’s brawler may have a little more clout…
By Luke Plunkett Published February 8, 2010 - Uncategorized
Relax, Square Enix Is Doing Just Fine
The past nine months have been rough for many Japanese game companies. But those companies didn’t release Dragon Quest IX and Final Fantasy XIII. Oh, and Square Enix arm Eidos released Batman: Arkham Asylum. Net sales for Square Enix are up 31 percent and net income is up 48 percent when compared to the same…
By Brian Ashcraft Published February 8, 2010 - Uncategorized
Crate Digging: Machinarium
Machinarium isn’t just a great game, it’s got one hell of a soundtrack, which although already available digitally and on CD, can soon be purchased on something a little more collectible. This limited release of the game’s soundtrack is a full vinyl LP, containing 14 songs (though not the ones on the game’s bonus EP),…
By Luke Plunkett Published February 8, 2010 - Uncategorized
How Much Is Persia?
Expensive, we bet. As seen on Xbox LIVE by Killer_Walrus.
By Brian Ashcraft Published February 8, 2010 - Uncategorized
Gran Turismo Series: 55 Million Sold, And Counting
Gran Turismo developers Polyphony Digital have released a tally of lifetime sales figures for the series, useful not only for armchair statisticians, but also those curious as to how well Gran Turismo PSP has performed. Turns out it’s done quite well for itself, selling 1.8 million copies since being released last year. Which is great…
By Luke Plunkett Published February 8, 2010 - Uncategorized
Comparing Gas Masks
Maybe you like Mass Effect 2. Maybe you like Swedish popstar Robyn. She likes Mass Effect 2, but that doesn’t mean she likes you. Yes, two weeks of Mass Effect 2 tweets. It’s that good! I feel like we have heard this before. Several times, even. So a guy (Ian Cummings) who works out a…
By Brian Ashcraft Published February 8, 2010