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ME2 Engineers Get By With a Little Help from Enemies
Christina Norman, BioWare’s lead combat designer, breaks down the retooled engineer class in Mass Effect 2 in an IGN interview. Engineer players who hack into and control mechanical enemies will find their control over their pets is more complete – more like a “charm” ability seen in other RPGs. Engineers can also summon combat drones…
By Owen Good Published December 5, 2009 - Uncategorized
Handmade Fable Fortune’s Tower Card Set: a Limited Edition of One
Shawn Baxter, aka the Capcom-Unity all-star contributor Snow_Infernus, thought for certain someone would have made a Fortune’s Tower card set based on the Fable II Pub Game. When no one did, he got tired of waiting, and made his own. The attention to detail put into this thing is simply mindblowing. For the cards, Baxter…
By Owen Good Published December 5, 2009 - Uncategorized
FTC Report Lauds Game Industry as the ‘Most Responsible’ Entertainment Marketer
The Federal Trade Commission, in a report to Congress, lauds the video games industry as best among all entertainment producers when it comes to responsible marketing and advertising. “Outpaces,” is the word the FTC’s report uses in describing the games industry’s conduct among its peers, noting the 80 percent prevention rate in keeping M-rated content…
By Owen Good Published December 5, 2009 -
UncategorizedMario Theme: One-Hand Me, Good Sir!
Here’s a virtuoso piano performance of the Super Mario Bros. theme – using one hand. If I’d remembered anything from my piano lessons beyond playing Old MacDonald on the black keys, I could probably describe how difficult this is. A commenter asks “Was that one hand for left AND right hand, or was it just…
By Owen Good Published December 5, 2009 - Uncategorized
Dragon’s Lair Heading for the iPhone
The 1983 laserdisc classic Dragon’s Lair will follow its cousin Space Ace to the iPhone; Electronic Arts is handling the port. Now you can enjoy Dirk the Daring’s inquisitive grunting and Princess Daphne’s coquettish cooing in a convenient portable format. The game will feature an arcade mode, faithful to the content of the original cabinet…
By Owen Good Published December 5, 2009 - Uncategorized
Infinity Ward Says Javelin Cheat Fix ‘In the Pipeline’ for PS3
Modern Warfare 2 update 1.05 has gone out for the PS3, but everyone will have to wait for patch 1.06 to fix the infamous Javelin glitch. Let’s hope Sony approves it fast, since they seem reluctant to police the cheaters. Robert Bowling, the Infinity Ward community manager, tweeted that 1.05 fixed some matchmaking issues. Update…
By Owen Good Published December 5, 2009 -
UncategorizedHalf-Contra: The NES Classic Goes 3D
Machinima put this up last week, following the Castlevania and Mario reconstructions in Half-Life 2. Anyone who’s ever played Contra – that should be all of us, right? – will want to watch this start to finish. More than once. Pretty shrewd how the level’s creator (M0rtanius) staggered the platforms so you could shoot up…
By Owen Good Published December 5, 2009 - Uncategorized
The Straight Story of ‘Gay Tony’
Calling it “the straightest Grand Theft Auto ever,” largely for effect, PopMatters’ G. Christopher Williams says The Ballad of Gay Tony hews to some hetero-driven crime-novel representations of both sexualities, but in the end is about much deeper themes. Warning, this discussion will contain spoilers of “The Ballad of Gay Tony,” released Oct. 29. “Club…
By Owen Good Published December 5, 2009 - Reviews
Madden NFL Arcade Micro-Review: Snacking on Football
Did you toss the football around over Thanksgiving? If so, did you take time to read the playbook and set your audibles? Thought so. That’s the spirit behind EA Sports‘s Madden NFL Arcade, the bite-size complement to its full franchise. Sports sims’ increasing complexity and granular game management decisions can be off-putting, even intimidating, to…
By Owen Good Published December 5, 2009 - Uncategorized
Sticks Up, Lacrosse Breaks Into the Xbox 360
Let’s be real. It would take a nuclear war for lacrosse, even though it’s literally more American than football or baseball, to displace either game on TV. It would take even more to put it in a retail video game box. “A lot of people have been demanding this in a video game for a…
By Owen Good Published December 5, 2009 - Uncategorized
Weekend Coupons: Console Yourself, Shopper
Retailers are trying to move more than games, they’re discounting hardware, too. If you’re so gauche that you’re gonna buy a console when you should be thinking of others – I say right on, you’ve come to the right place. Hardware • Wii. $15 off. Get it through Dell. Not much that needs to be…
By Owen Good Published December 5, 2009 - Uncategorized
Kotaku Originals; I Like This Aussie’s Tabasco
Crecente went on vacation; Totilo talked with Electronic Arts’ top man, but let’s not forget Luke’s eloquent and comprehensive breakdown of Australia’s games classification, and the political climate influencing it, in the roster of this week’s biggest stories. Kotaku Talk Radio Australia Hey, Stop Blaming The Australian Government/People For “Banning” Games Aliens vs Predator “Banned”…
By Owen Good Published December 5, 2009 - Uncategorized
Nintendo’s 1955 Cameo In The New York Times
As seen on NeoGAF.
By Luke Plunkett Published December 5, 2009 - Uncategorized
What Do You Want For The Holidays?
Hi. Um, how are you? That’s nice. Let’s talk, m’kay. Here’s how it works: We ask a question, you answer it. Simple and no strings attached! This isn’t some marketing survey or whatever. It’s an emotional investment in you. Yes, we’re interested in knowing you, Kotaku reader person. You probably know oodles about us –…
By Brian Ashcraft Published December 5, 2009 - Uncategorized
Brazilian Senator Seeks Violent Game Ban
Valdir Raupp, who is both a senator and a lion of a man, has put forward a bill seeking to ban the sale and distribution of violent video games in Brazil. Raupp is looking to “curb the manufacture, distribution, importation, distribution, trading and custody, storage [of] the video games that affect the customs [and] traditions…
By Luke Plunkett Published December 5, 2009 - Reviews
Canabalt Micro-Review: Up On The Rooftop, Tap, Tap, Tap
It’s not often that we play a video game designed, coded and scored in just five days. Canabalt, conceived and created for the Experimental Gameplay Project, uncomplicated as it is, somehow doesn’t feel like the typical output of two weekends. Canabalt is a game of escape, a simple, one-action platformer that—from a gameplay perspective—is little…
By Michael McWhertor Published December 5, 2009 - Uncategorized
A Week In Comments
Final Fight: Double Impact Screens Comment by: BryanH Nominated by: Showmeyomoves! Everyone secretly wishes they were Mike Haggar. I know what you’re thinking, ‘Of course I would want to be Mike Haggar, that is obvious. But everyone?’ Yes, truely. Lets look at the facts. 1. He was once a professional wrestler, and not that queer…
By Brian Ashcraft Published December 5, 2009 - Uncategorized
New PSN Game Is Nearly 10GB In Size
Upcoming PlayStation Network title Record of Agarest War may sound tempting to fans of strategy RPGs, but if you’ve got a 20GB system (or even a 60GB system), you may want to be careful. Why? Because a representative from the game’s North American publisher, Aksys Games, has revealed that the download-only title will be between…
By Luke Plunkett Published December 4, 2009 - Uncategorized
Check Out This Girl’s Final Fantasy XIII Summon
Not much time left before Final Fantasy XIII is released in Japan on December 17, but Square Enix has released some new screenshots — mostly of characters Cid Raines and Oerba Dia Vanille’s summon, Hecatoncheir. FFXIII [Official Site]
By Brian Ashcraft Published December 4, 2009