Assassin’s Creed 2 Combat Is Just Plain Brutal

In the latest developer diary video for Assassin’s Creed II, Patrice and friends walk us through the game’s dynamic and painful-looking combat system. The developers here touch on one of my biggest gaming pet peeves in the video – enemies that don’t react to being hit. If I hit someone with an axe, they are…

Zombie Apocalypse Micro-Review: Paint the Town Red

Nonstop carnage is on the menu in Konami’s Zombie Apocalypse, which brings games’ undying affinity for the undead to a top-down, multidirectional shooter. Does it also hold the same appeal when it’s one – or four – against a thousand? Loved Senseless Slaughter: Who wouldn’t want to go up against an undead horde with unlimited…

We are trying to organise a Kotaku Uncharted deathmatch on Sunday Anyone interested ‘speakup’. I’ll knock together a thread on the forum #speakup

Talk Amongst Yourselves

Our TAY trio is ready for the new Kotaku, but they better heed some warnings. The horse will be able to add images to #cheats, but not yet (A known issue… bear with us). The troll needs to be patient waiting for his page to appear (Starred commenters can start a page about anything, but…

Nothing But Good Times At The Library

To: Crecente From: Bashcraft RE: Paid for the Party Today I went to the library and check out a bunch of comic books. Libraries are awesome. Comic books are awesome. Libraries and comic books? Awesome. What you missed last night Old News ’96: Nintendo Also Increasing Storage Capacity, Hopefully, Maybe First Borderlands DLC Involves, Yep,…

R4 Sales Get Shadier And Shadier

See those signs? They read, “Majikon” — Japanese for R4. And they are pointing into a random apartment building. Nintendo leading the legal charge against the R4, even asking individuals to anonymously rat out retailers selling the devices. One Akihabara R4 retail shop recently closed due to “adult reasons” — some on the Japanese internet…

Microsoft: We Will Outsell PS3 This Gen

Time for the baseball analogies! Microsoft’s Aaron Greenberg compares the console wars to a game of baseball. So, batter up. “What I can tell you is we remain confident that Xbox 360 will not only outsell PS3 for the full calendar year, but for this entire generation,” Greenberg told Game Informer. “It is similar to…

GameStop Gives You Two Extra Levels In COP: The Recruit Pre-order

COP: The Recruit looked like a big game when I saw it last. But if you want to super-size it, GameStop’s giving out two extra levels to pre-order customers. To me, the game is what Grand Theft Auto could’ve been on the DS — only from the perspective of the police. You play as an…

Do I Want To Go As Princess Peach For Halloween?

I resisted going as a video game character for Halloween because cosplayers’ homemade duds invariably put mine to shame. But now video game costumes are commercial — so I should get my Peach on. Option 1 — Actual Cosplay This gown/crown combo with gloves and earrings goes for the sale price of US$159.99 — and…

Want To See How They Made This Shoko Nakagawa Ad?

Nerd heroine Shoko Nakagawa appears in the latest ad for Super Robot Taisen NEO. She wears pearls and cosplays as an announcer lady while she talks into the camera. Making something like that must be very difficult. Eh… This isn’t Francis Ford Coppola in the jungle with Marlon Brando or Wernor Herzog trying to push…

SEGA Launches “Count-Up” Clock

Hate those countdown clocks — haaaaaaaaaaate them. Perhaps someone at SEGA hates them, too. Because the company didn’t launch a countdown clock for upcoming role-playing-game, Resonance of Fate (AKA End of Eternity in Japan). Instead SEGA launched a count-up clock. There’s a Twitter feed for the game’s character with tweets from Vashyron (“We can only…

Is This Square Enix’s Last PS2 Game?

Final Fantasy XI: Vana’diel Collection 2 is getting released in Japan on three platforms (Xbox 360, PC and PS2), but it will only be out on the Xbox 360 and PC in North America. According to game site Siliconera, this is Square Enix‘s last PS2 title. As the PS3 picks up more steam, the PS2…

Are You Ready For Ar Tonelico III?

I certainly hope so, because it’s coming to the PlayStation 3 this January — and it may well make its way West at some point in the future. I’m glad the series is graduating to the PS3. It’s not that I think Japanese role-playing game developer can’t do good things with the PS2; I just…

This Is How MGS Peace Walker Lets You See Through Clothes

Just like Superman! Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker is bringing X-ray vision to the franchise, because nothing quite says stealth like peeking through clothes. In a recent interview, art director Yoji Shinkawa explained the 2D cutscene feature: “For example, if you zoom in on the scene where you first meet Paz, you can see the…

PSP Game Canceled, To Be Released One Month Later At Half Price

Bwah? Japan’s D3 Publisher has decided to suspend the November 19 sale of PSP game Exorsister, only to release it a month later for half price. Citing the “unprecedented recession”, the ¥5,040 (US$56) game will not be released on November, but instead the title will come out on December 23 as part of D3’s budget…

Your MGS Peace Walker English Voice Cast Is…

Is Metal Gear Solid English voice actor mainstay returning for upcoming PSP title, Metal Gear Solid Peace Walker? Is he? In the latest Kojima Productions Report, the MGS PW voice cast has been announced. It is: Master Miller – Robin Atkin Downes Paz – Tara Strong Amanda – Grey DeLisle Strangelove – Vanessa Marshall Coldman…

N’Gai Croal Breaks the News to Miyamoto that Mario is Dead

N’Gai Croal, the former games writer for Newsweek (and friend of this site) floored Mario’s creator with news that one of the famed video-game character’s live-action, uh, actors had died recently. During a roundtable discussion earlier Thursday, Croal asked Miyamoto, straight up: “Where were you when you heard that Captain Lou Albano passed away, and…

Sengoku Basara 3 Looks Fun

That is, if you are into hack-and-slashing a bunch of enemies and punching giant holes in the ground. Here’s the just-released premium theater trailer Capcom screened at this year’s Tokyo Game Show. Sengoku Basara 3 (Devil Kings 3) will be released next year in Japan on the Wii and the PS3.

Joe the Condor Ties Up Chun-Li, Busts a Cap in Her

Here’s more than two minutes of Joe the Condor – announced recently as Tatsunoko’s last combatant in Tatsunoko vs. Capcom – beating ass galore with teammate Jun the Swan, versus Chun-Li and Morrigan. Capcom’s nothing if not a gracious host. Condor and Swan Gameplay [Gametrailers]

Shigeru Miyamoto Sees “Nothing Wrong” With HD Graphics

The Nintendo Wii is not an hi-def gaming machine. When Nintendo launched the console in late 2006, the company touted its analog TV friendly aspect — not everyone has an HDTV, you know! But it’s 2009. Soon it is 2010. We are living in the future. The number of HD televisions continues to grow —…