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Sony To Eliminate Half of WipEout Developer?
Sony Computer Entertainment Europe has confirmed to Kotaku that “a number of projects” at Sony’s Liverpool studio have halted. However, rumors are swirling that the restructuring goes further than that. Originally known as Psygnosis, the studio was founded in 1984 and is best known for the anti-gravity WipEout racing games. During the 1980s, the studio…
By Brian Ashcraft Published February 1, 2010 - Uncategorized
Age Of Empires Godfather Working On…Settlers 7
Living legend Bruce Shelley, with Civilization and Age of Empires as notches on his belt, has been out of the limelight since his studio, Ensemble, went bust last year. So, Bruce, been keeping busy? You bet he has. Ubisoft has begun marketing Settlers 7 in the West, and to help boost awareness of the series…
By Luke Plunkett Published February 1, 2010 - Uncategorized
FFXIII On PS2 Cost Square Enix A Year-and-a-Half
Not only was Final Fantasy XIII originally planned for the PlayStation 2, senior producer Yoshinori Kitase says that switching the title to the PS3 cost Square Enix “a year-and-a-half”. Late last week Kotaku posted pictures of the PS2 version of the game. The game, which was released on the PS3 last December in Japan, was…
By Brian Ashcraft Published February 1, 2010 - Uncategorized
Flotilla, For All The Homeworld Fans Out There
Tired of waiting for Relic to release another Homeworld game? Try waiting for the release of Flotilla instead. An upcoming strategy title by indie outfit Blendo Games, Flotilla will look familiar to anyone who’s played 1999 game Homeworld, as its action takes place using an interface that’s very similar to that used in Relic’s classic…
By Luke Plunkett Published February 1, 2010 - Uncategorized
Xbox 360 Controller/Game Bundle, 250GB Drive Hit Japan
A black Xbox 360 controller bundled with Geometry Wars: Retro Evolved 2, Lumines Live!, Bomberman Live and Ms. Pac-Man will go on sale in Japan on March 11. But that’s not all. The controller bundle is priced at ¥5,775 (US$64). It has been out in other regions for some time now. That same day, the…
By Brian Ashcraft Published February 1, 2010 - Uncategorized
Final Fantasy VII & Rap Deals 9999 Damage
The same guys behind the brilliant Ocarina of Rhyme, Team Teamwork, have just released another mix of hip-hop and game soundtrack in the form of “Vinyl Fantasy VII”. Just like Ocarina, it takes the original music from the game and overlays it with the tracks from rappers like Murs, Ghostface and MF Doom. Was never…
By Luke Plunkett Published February 1, 2010 - Uncategorized
No Asia, You Still Won’t Get FFXIII On Xbox 360
In summer 2008, Xbox Taiwan announced that Final Fantasy XIII would be getting an Xbox 360 “Asia” version. Microsoft clarified that “announcement”, and then further clarified that clarification. So in 2008, Final Fantasy XIII wasn’t getting an Asia version, and a new report confirms that it won’t be getting one in 2010, too. Localized Asia…
By Brian Ashcraft Published February 1, 2010 -
UncategorizedPikachu Shrieks Like The Sirens Of Hades
Japanese circuit bender Kaseo loves taking Pikachu toys and doing wonderful things with them. We’ve seen his stuff before, with the legion of singing Pokemon, but his latest work is well worth a look. Witness the Pikatron, a handheld distortion device that’s basically a guitar-looking synthesiser that uses Pikachu as a medium to channel the…
By Luke Plunkett Published February 1, 2010 - Uncategorized
Mass Effect 2 Came Out, People Got Excited
What. A. Week. Well, last week. Mass Effect 2 came out, and some of gaming’s Twitterati became very excited. What about you? Honest from Meteos developer Q Entertainment. Brutal honestly? Duncan Jones, director of sci-fi flick Moon, NEEDS Mass Effect 2. The Sims folks are jazzed about Mass Effect 2, too. Prince of Persia creator…
By Brian Ashcraft Published February 1, 2010 - Uncategorized
Coaching and Encouragement
To: Luke From: Owen My friends here invited me to their 6-year-old daughter’s basketball game on Saturday. Her team is in fact coached by Bev Smith, the former head coach of the University of Oregon’s women’s team, who carries one hell of a resume for anyone who’s ever coached in a middle school gym. Smith…
By Owen Good Published January 31, 2010 - Uncategorized
Woman Loses 112 lbs., Thanks Wii Fit
A 38-year-old British woman, once so large she was afraid to have sex with her husband, now parades about her home in sexy lingerie after losing 112 pounds, a dramatic change in physique she credits to a Wii Fit regimen. Lara Roberts specifically thanked the Wii for allowing her to work out in her home,…
By Owen Good Published January 31, 2010 - Uncategorized
Kojima Apologizes; Says ‘No Greater Crime’ than a Delay
Hideo Kojima is taking the delay (in Japan) of Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker very seriously, and has posted a personal mea culpa asking for fans’ forgiveness and their continued trust. “I always preach to the staff, ‘You must not have a delay after a release date has been announced. There is no greater crime…
By Owen Good Published January 31, 2010 - Uncategorized
Week in Games: Imagine: Regret
OMFG, they’ve made a game called Imagine: Reporter. Christ, I bought the $40,000 version of that 10 years ago at Columbia. I really have nothing to say after that. My career is officially a piece of DS shovelware. This week’s count: Seven for PC, two for Wii, one for DS, PS3, PSP and Xbox 360.…
By Owen Good Published January 31, 2010 - Uncategorized
Kotaku’s Top 5 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. •7 Games of the Past Decade That Have Aged Well [The Kartel] This seriously has me jonesing for some Knights of the Old Republic but…
By Owen Good Published January 31, 2010 - Uncategorized
Gears of War 2 Sends Us a Bloody Valentine
Epic took more than 20 suggestions for experience bonuses in a Valentine’s event and Cliff Bleszinski and Rod Fergusson chose three. Epic’s Valentine’s Day “date” with Gears of War 2 will run between Feb. 8 and Feb. 14. For at least three days in that span (and maybe the whole week; they haven’t decided yet),…
By Owen Good Published January 31, 2010 - Uncategorized
The Return of the Return to Ostagar
Is BioWare actually letting Charlie Brown kick the DLC football? Looks like Return to Ostagar, the DLC pack for Dragon Age: Origins, came back sometime yesterday to Xbox Live Marketplace and for PC download. The DLC originally went live on Jan. 14 but had to be removed because a title update created a bug within…
By Owen Good Published January 31, 2010 - Uncategorized
Tacit Dissent: Why Great Characters Must Speak
The issue of silence in Half-Life or Fallout 3 has a long discussion history, but one critic doesn’t consider it a virtue. Stripping the voice from a main character is “a pathway into madness and schlocky conceits,” he says. Sean Sands, writing for Gamers With Jobs, says the forced silence of a character like Gordon…
By Owen Good Published January 31, 2010 - Uncategorized
Kotaku ‘Shop Contest: What’s He Really Playing? Edition
Two weeks ago, MTV Multiplayer’s Russ Frushtick invited Project Runway‘s Tim Gunn over to critique Mario’s fashion sense – and blast on some virtual big game. And as a ‘shop goes, this should be like shooting fish in a barrel. So, your mission should be apparent. Bear (har har) in mind that Gunn is an…
By Owen Good Published January 31, 2010 - Uncategorized
Your Final Shot at 100 Gamerscore Just for Showing Up [Update]
Friendly reminder that beginning in about 30 minutes, Xbox 360 Achievements.org is staging one last run on NBA Live 07’s “Online with 1,000 People” achievement. This is the last chance to do it before EA shuts down the servers on Tuesday. The boosting session starts at 1 p.m. U.S. Eastern/10 a.m. U.S. Pacific. Trueachievements.com said…
By Owen Good Published January 31, 2010 - Uncategorized
K Monthly – January 2010
TABLE OF CONTENTS January 2010 FEATURES How Cover Shaped Gaming’s Last Decade by Brian Ashcraft Are Game Companies Spoiling Their Own Games? by Luke Plunkett Bayonetta Is Not Too Sexy, But Maybe Too Serious by Lisa Foiles Why A Man Plays Mario by Stephen Totilo The 2009 eBay Holiday Video Game Grey Market Report by…
By Michael McWhertor Published January 31, 2010