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Square Enix Says Japanese Retail “Prejudiced” Against Western Games
As far as business execs at large Japanese companies go, Yoichi Wada seems rather forward thinking. He’s been tackling discrimination in video games head on. “Even now, there have been people in Japan using the label youge- (Western games) with a terribly discriminatory meaning,” Wada said in an interview Japanese TV from last December in…
By Brian Ashcraft Published January 7, 2010 - Uncategorized
Take A Look At How Project Natal Actually Works
You’ve got questions about Project Natal, we’ve got questions about Project Natal. And, for once, Microsoft have some answers, providing this behind-the-scenes look at the development and technology behind their upcoming motion-sensing peripheral for the Xbox 360. Sure, most of it is fluff, but you’ll catch glimpses of how the camera is able to “read”…
By Luke Plunkett Published January 7, 2010 - Uncategorized
NSFW: Is This The Sexiest Game Developer Website?
Not counting erotic game developers, Japanese game developer Vanillaware must surely must have the market for the industry’s sauciest website cornered. Don’t believe us? Check out its landing page. Largely specializing in 2D sprite-based game design, Vanillaware is best known for developing PlayStation 2 title Odin Sphere and Wii game Muramasa: The Demon Blade. The…
By Brian Ashcraft Published January 7, 2010 - Uncategorized
Xbox 360: 39 Million Consoles Sold, Only Half Are On Xbox Live
To go with their big address at the Consumer Electronics Show earlier today, Microsoft released some statistics on Xbox Live and the Xbox 360‘s install base. To date, around 39 million Xbox 360 consoles have been sold worldwide, while there are 20 million people on Xbox Live (no disclosure was made on how many are…
By Luke Plunkett Published January 7, 2010 - Uncategorized
Will The Michael Jackson PS3 Bundle Get Western Release?
It currently does not look that way. The bundle, releasing on January 27 in Japan, comes with a 120GB PlayStation 3 as well as a Blu-ray copy of the Michael Jackson documentary This Is It. But is Japan it? When contacted about whether or not the Michael Jackson PS3 pack will get a U.S. release,…
By Brian Ashcraft Published January 7, 2010 - Uncategorized
Shia LaBeouf: Video Games Will Take Over
One of Hollywood’s hottest young actors Shia LaBeouf (Transformers, Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull) lent his likeness to the Transformer games and points out this: “Video games are more successful than films,” LaBeouf told GamePro. (That’s not entirely true as Kotaku proved last fall; however, that is not to deride the…
By Brian Ashcraft Published January 7, 2010 -
UncategorizedReaping Beauty — the Video
Also on Kotaku Talk Radio today, Fahey introduced us to “Reaping Beauty,” rapper MC Lars’ shout-out to Bayonetta. Well, here’s the accompanying music video, and it’s slam full of gameplay. “Reaping Beauty” is brought to you by MC Lars featuring colleagues Random and Beefy, with Tina Root singing the hook. Ms. Pac-Man, Zelda, Lara Croft,…
By Owen Good Published January 6, 2010 - Uncategorized
Kotaku Off Topic: Gaga Reflex
Day… one(?) of CES wasn’t the most eventful of convention days, but it did see two keynotes, one from Sony and one from Microsoft that were relevant to our interests. But, like this post, they were mostly off topic. The PlayStation 3, PlayStation Network, Xbox 360 and Xbox Live got some attention at their respective…
By Michael McWhertor Published January 6, 2010 - Uncategorized
Xbox Game Room To Feature “Over 1000” Classic Arcade Games
Although its cover was blown a little early, there’s still new info coming out of the Consumer Electronic Show in Las Vegas concerning Microsoft’s Xbox Game Room. Microsoft’s press release concerning the new Xbox Live service says the Game Room will be a “place to relive the glory days of arcade games”, and over the…
By Luke Plunkett Published January 6, 2010 - Uncategorized
Bethesda Once Pitched Singleplayer Star Trek RPG
Before making Fallout 3, Todd Howard and Bethesda Softworks pitched a sprawling single-player RPG set in the Star Trek universe – of the Shatner Capt. Kirk era, Howard told Kotaku Talk Radio. Appearing on our call-in show earlier today, Howard said at one point Bethesda did have the rights to Star Trek games, acquiring them…
By Owen Good Published January 6, 2010 - Uncategorized
Project Natal Launching This Holiday Season
It’s always been strongly hinted at, but today at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, Microsoft’s Robbie Bach has confirmed it: Project Natal will be out this “holiday season”. Nothing more specific than that was offered, but we take “holiday season” to be “November”. Guess the motion-sensing peripheral’s other important aspects – namely its…
By Luke Plunkett Published January 6, 2010 - Uncategorized
CES 2010 Keynote Starring Microsoft’s Steve Ballmer
Microsoft will kick off CES 2010 with its annual opening keynote, delivered by the energetic Steve Ballmer and presumably with the aide of a few high ranking Microsoft executives. We’re there live, waiting for Project Natal and Xbox Game Room news. In fact, we wouldn’t be surprised to see some more firm dates applied to…
By Michael McWhertor Published January 6, 2010 - Uncategorized
Motion Control on a New DS — How Might That Work?
An oblique reference to a DS successor helped turn Satoru Iwata‘s interview with Japan’s leading newspaper into a full-on bombshell. Specifically, the Nintendo chief said such a device must be enabled for motion control. What could they be working on? Motion control in a handheld is trickier proposition because, of course, you’re manipulating the thing…
By Owen Good Published January 6, 2010 - Uncategorized
Sony Details PSN Expansion To Other Products
At CES 2010, Sony Computer Entertainment chief Kaz Hirai described long-anticipated plans to unify its PlayStation Network content offerings across its product line – including network enabled Blu-ray players, Sony televisions and PCs. Further, Hirai announced the creation of a new studio specifically to produce content for this type of distribution. The studio will be…
By Owen Good Published January 6, 2010 - Uncategorized
Sony: Nearly Four Million PlayStation 3’s Sold Over Christmas
Sony’s Kaz Hirai took to the stage at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas earlier today, and while up there revealed some impressive sales numbers for the PlayStation 3 over the holiday season. According to Sony’s internal numbers, over the five week period running from the end of November to the new year, 3.8…
By Luke Plunkett Published January 6, 2010 - Reviews
Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles: The Crystal Bearers Review: The Big Book Of FF Activities
The Crystal Chronicles continue on the Wii with Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles: The Crystal Bearers, the action-packed third installment of Nintendo’s personal Final Fantasy series. A thousand years after the original Crystal Chronicles the world has changed. The four races are three, with the now dominant plant-like Lilties having defeated the Yuke tribe of machine…
By Mike Fahey Published January 6, 2010 - Uncategorized
LG’s Newest HDTVs Claim “Wii-like” Control Experience
How can television manufacturer LG Electronics make its latest batch of big black rectangles stand apart from the crowd? While CES is full of bigger-than-last-year TVs and high-def 3D displays, it’s LG’s new “Magic Wand” that intrigues us. The TV maker says that its new LE9500 and PK950 sets “incorporate a unique ‘Magic Wand’ remote…
By Michael McWhertor Published January 6, 2010 - Uncategorized
Gentlemiis, Start Your Engines …
So, the Xbox 360 version of Sonic & Sega All-Stars Racing gets Banjo (and) Kazooie as playable characters. What’s the Wii version offering? Well, you, of course. And by that Sega means Mii. Sega announced on its official blog today that players’ Miis will be part of the racing lineup, likewise taking advantage of special…
By Owen Good Published January 6, 2010 - Uncategorized
Sony Takes on CES 2010: This Time It’s Personal!!!
Join us as we sit in on Sony’s Consumer Electronics Show presentation today live in Las Vegas. Join in the chatter and see if Sony brought any bombs or mega bombs with them to the Strip. Click to viewSony CES 2010
By Brian Crecente Published January 6, 2010