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2010 Independent Games Festival Finalists Announced
With submissions having been open since July, the twenty finalists for the 12th annual Independent Games Festival have been announced. And boy are there some good games in the running. Granted, I haven’t played all of them, but I like what I’ve seen of Joe Danger, and I love what I’ve seen of Owl Boy,…
By Luke Plunkett Published January 4, 2010 - Uncategorized
Arise, Sir Championship Manager
Every year around this time, the Queen’s New Year Honours list is released, honouring those from the United Kingdom who are, well, worth being honoured. This year, plenty of video game types made the cut. The founders of Sports Interactive, Oliver and Paul Collyer, have been given MBEs (a member of the Order of the…
By Luke Plunkett Published January 4, 2010 - Uncategorized
Is This The Xbox 360’s Retail Retreat In Japan?
2008 was a strong year for the Xbox 360 in Japan. With timed exclusives like Tales of Vesperia, Microsoft was able to drawn both long lines and new gamers to its platform. 2009 was another story altogether. Spring 2009 looked promising with otaku heroine and Japanese popstar Shoko Nakagawa getting her own Xbox 360. But…
By Brian Ashcraft Published January 4, 2010 - Uncategorized
EA Shutters Online For Selected Games, Including Madden 09
Game company EA has announced that it will be shutting down online service for “some older EA titles”. Included in the list is football game Madden NFL 09 (PS3 and Xbox 360), which was released in August 2008. EA, it seems, has a different definition of “old”. 2009 just ended, days ago! Here is the…
By Brian Ashcraft Published January 4, 2010 - Uncategorized
This Is One Crazy Final Fantasy XIII Bug
At 50 to 60 hours long, Final Fantasy XIII is an enormous game. But with as long as Square Enix worked on the title and with all the money spent, that still hasn’t stopped a few bugs from slipping through. While there aren’t many bugs and the bugs that have been reported seem to be…
By Brian Ashcraft Published January 4, 2010 - Uncategorized
A New Year’s Message From Square Enix’s President
To kick off 2010, Square Enix boss Yoichi Wada has issued a public statement outlining the publishers corporate goals as they head into the new year. And that goal is? “Taking Root”. Which doesn’t really explain it too well, so let’s allow his Imperial Hotness to elaborate. “In the near future, the rate of convergence…
By Luke Plunkett Published January 4, 2010 - Uncategorized
The Biggest News of 2009 According To Famitsu Readers Is…
Japan’s biggest gaming publication, Famitsu, has polled a handful of readers (and retailers) about what news they thought made the most substantial impact during last year. Only a small number of the millions of Famitsu readers participated in this poll — the few, the proud, the dedicated. It would be a stretch to call those…
By Brian Ashcraft Published January 4, 2010 - Uncategorized
Master Chief’s Dancing Spartan Parade
This was from Philadelphia’s 2010 Mummers Parade. We post it not because we’ve developed a sudden interest in choreographed parade dance routines, but because we have an interest in 17 Spartans from Halo performing a choreographed parade dance routine. Reader Justin was on the scene to capture the moment with his camera. Thanks Justin! Click…
By Luke Plunkett Published January 4, 2010 - Uncategorized
Twilight Freakout, Guido Names and Fist Bumps
It’s 2010, and we’re off and running. Ditto for gaming’s Twitterati. Microsoft cleared out its Christmas decorations, Gears of War designer Cliff Bleszinski got a new name and Twilight caused a teenage girl freakout. Robert Bowling from Modern Warfare 2 developer Infinity Ward ponders fist bump etiquette. Teenage girls do not freak out over Brutal…
By Brian Ashcraft Published January 4, 2010 - Uncategorized
New Year’s Football
To: Luke From: Owen Re: Happy Happy This was left unsaid in the sports column I wrote Saturday, but I wanted to make a record of it here. Dad’s method of arranging football pictures is far easier in real life. Doing it on a video game was tough. First I needed to recreate my high…
By Owen Good Published January 3, 2010 - Uncategorized
Week in Games: Bayonetta Fix
Bayonetta finally arrives in North America, concluding a year, if not more, of sex-infused hype. Remember, this game actually can be played using one hand. Darksiders, near as I can tell, still requires both. They’re this week’s big highlights. Mad Moxxi’s Underdome Riot releases to PlayStation Network and the PC on Thursday. Speaking of downloadables,…
By Owen Good Published January 3, 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. •2009 Sleepers: The Best Games You Didn’t Play [1Up] I gotta say, with the exception of Flower they’re right. If I had a PC I…
By Owen Good Published January 3, 2010 - Uncategorized
Argument Over Game Blamed as Nine-Year-Old Stabbed to Death
Police and relatives say an argument over Tony Hawk: Ride precipitated a shocking murder in New York; Anthony Maldonado, 9, (pictured) who got a PS3 for Christmas, was stabbed in the chest by an enraged 25-year-old early New Year’s Day. The specifics of what sent Alejandro Morales, 25, into a murderous rage are unclear. The…
By Owen Good Published January 3, 2010 - Uncategorized
Left 4 Dead 2’s Frying Pans Kill a Tank 3 Times Faster than Shotguns
Granted, this chart assumes the Tank is just standing there taking the abuse. Still, a Steam user found that 10 frying pan hits kill a Tank in nine seconds, compared to 30 blasts from a combat shotgun in 26 seconds. The forum user, Urik, found that It’s not just the frying pan, any melee weapon…
By Owen Good Published January 3, 2010 - Culture
Sunday Comics
Penny Arcade published Jan. 1 PvPonline published Dec. 30 ActionTrip published Dec. 28 EXTRALIFE published Dec. 28 GU Comics published Jan. 1 Ctrl-Alt-Del published Dec. 28 Dueling Analogs published Dec. 29 Nerf NOW published Dec. 31 Rooster Teeth published Dec. 31 Monday Night Crew published Jan. 1 2P Start! published Dec. 30 Virtual Shackles published…
By Owen Good Published January 3, 2010 - Uncategorized
Weekend Talk Amongst Yourselves
Nothing says “Wow, someone got blasted last night” like half a leftover anchovy-jalapeno-mushroom pizza in the fridge. That’s the beauty of ordering a pizza online: There’s no human making eye contact during the transaction. It’s like buying porn. Where were we? Oh yeah, it’s Weekend TAY. Do so. As you can see by my conversation…
By Owen Good Published January 3, 2010 -
UncategorizedZelda Fan Movie Taken Down on Nintendo’s Request
Nintendo let the fan-made Legend of Zelda film “The Hero of Time,” stay up over the holidays, but its creators have now taken it down after the company asked for its removal. The Hero of Time (that’s one of its trailers above) had been shown at film festivals, and on Dec. 22, had been hosted…
By Owen Good Published January 2, 2010 - Uncategorized
What the Hell is in the Water in Barrie, Ont.?
Remember Barrie, Ontario? It’s the home of Brandon Crisp, who ran away after his console was confiscated, and was later found dead. It’s also home to a teenager who ran away to meet his 42-year-old “soulmate” from World of Warcraft. According to Toronto’s Globe and Mail, Andrew Kane, 16, “nonchalantly” asked his mom and dad…
By Owen Good Published January 2, 2010 - Uncategorized
Explaining the Commitment to Duke Nukem — Forever
Why would anyone spend 12 years working on a single game, with no assurances it’ll ever be finished. It’s called “escalation of commitment” – a classic good-money-after-bad bargain, and a psychologist thinks it explains Duke Nukem Forever. Jamie Madigan, a psychologist who also writes The Psychology of Video Games, found the circumstances of 3D Realms’…
By Owen Good Published January 2, 2010 - Uncategorized
A Picture Worth More Than Words
At the bottom of the house, at the bottom of a foot locker, at the bottom of a page of newsprint from 1970 were these words. “That’s all the Good sports for now,” the sign-off to my father’s sports column. I can’t remember why my brother and I were down in the basement going through…
By Owen Good Published January 2, 2010