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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 -
UncategorizedThe Emotion, And Humor, Of Mass Effect 2’s Romantic Interludes
While chewing over people’s various endings for Mass Effect 2 the other day, one thing that struck me was how many different romantic options you guys had been pursued. And it got me all curious. **SPOILERS AHEAD** See, I played the game once, and that was it. The way the story unfolded was “My Story”,…
By Luke Plunkett Published February 8, 2010 - Uncategorized
Cosplay This Winter, So Amazing, So-So, And So Frightening
On February 7, the winter Wonder Festival 2010 was held at Chiba’s Makuhari Messe, home of the Tokyo Game Show. The event focuses primarily on figures and figurines. But where there is nerd heroine, there are cosplayers. Do you have any favorites? Any in particular you like? Gonna give you nightmares? ワンダーフェスティバル 2010[冬] コスプレ [Akiba…
By Brian Ashcraft Published February 8, 2010 - Uncategorized
Prince Of Persia’s Super Bowl Trailer Is Big On Action, Short On Shirtless Jake
If there’s one thing this trailer for the upcoming Prince of Persia movie shows, it’s that maybe video game adaptations haven’t sucked because they had the wrong people. Maybe they sucked because they never had this kind of money. The movie, which also stars Sir Ben Kingsley, will be released in May. Click to view
By Luke Plunkett Published February 8, 2010 - Uncategorized
Silhouette of New Pokemon Series
Over the weekend, Pokémon morning variety show Pokémon showed the outline of the upcoming Pokemon series — that is, the “entirely new” series. Already officially announced, the new Pokémon series will be out this year. It will be getting a reveal in the upcoming March issue of CoroCoro Comic, on sale in Japan on February…
By Brian Ashcraft Published February 8, 2010 - Uncategorized
Screw It, The Game is On
To: Luke From: Owen What the headline said. Though I will add that Jim McMahon’s appearance in the Super Bowl Shuffle spoof ad for Boost Mobile got the first big laugh out of me for this year’s ad slate. This weekend’s highlights: Kotaku ‘Shop Contest: Proto-Natal Edition Unsurprisingly, Dante’s Inferno Not Available in Middle East…
By Owen Good Published February 7, 2010 - Uncategorized
Care Packages On The Way for Xbox 360 Modern Warfare
Modern Warfare 2’s “Care Package” patch already has released for PS3 and PC; via Twitter, Infinity Ward community manager Robert Bowling says it was submitted on Friday to Microsoft for certification on the Xbox 360. The fixes and changes this patch will provide: • Care Package, Emergency Airdrop, and Sentry Gun marker grenades sprint speed…
By Owen Good Published February 7, 2010 - Uncategorized
Grading Madden’s Preseason Predictions
EA Sports is mighty proud that its Madden NFL simulation has correctly predicted the Super Bowl winner all but one time since it’s run the promotion. But how did its predictions for the season, made back in August, turn out? To recap: On Aug. 4, a full month before the first regular-season kickoff, EA announced…
By Owen Good Published February 7, 2010 - Uncategorized
Week in Games: Rapture and Hell
The wait is over for BioShock 2. The viral marketing is over for Dante’s Inferno. 2010 gets its first big head-to-head multiplatform release date. Which one (if any) are you picking up? Star Ocean The Last Hope: International, Sins of a Solar Empire: Trinity and Stargate Resistance are other titles highlighting the week. The count:…
By Owen Good Published February 7, 2010 - Uncategorized
Kotaku’s Top Five List of Top Ten 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. •The 50 Greatest Gaming World Records [Games Radar] When I was nine I decided I would set the world record on Atari 2600 Defender. (The…
By Owen Good Published February 7, 2010 - Uncategorized
Final Fantasy XIII Case Hints at “Game-Content Download”
GameStop posted an image of the rear cover for the Final Fantasy XIII case for Xbox 360, and “game content download” is one of the highlighted features. Is this a confirmation of DLC? Honestly, I’m not sure. (Get a closer, if pixelated, look here) I’ve emailed a Square Enix rep but it’s the weekend. I…
By Owen Good Published February 7, 2010