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  In PixelJunk Home, A Mix Of Flirting, Innuendo And… Success?

  Q-Games chief Dylan Cuthbert told Kotaku that the popularity of his company’s just-launched PlayStation Home space nearly crushed his team’s servers. Plus, he and I discovered independently, gamers there want to convey a message: “I’m hard.” I stumbled across the PixelJunk space by accident this morning, while checking out PlayStation Home on my PS3 for…

  By Stephen Totilo Published October 12, 2009
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  The Bonus Round Talks Brutal Legend, Assassin’s Creed II

  In the second portion of the newest Bonus Round discussion, Geoff Keighley, Michael Pachter, Tom Russo and I talk about two of this year’s most anticipated games, Double Fine’s Brutal Legend and Ubisoft’s Assassin’s Creed II. If you thrive on cautious optimism and the soothing words of Wedbush Securities Michael Pachter, always available for reasoned…

  By Michael McWhertor Published October 12, 2009
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  When Halo And Power Wheels Collide

  How could I have possibly been surprised to discover that there is a thriving Power Wheels customization community on the internet? And why was I not surprised to have come across it for Halo-related reasons? Fortunately, thanks to the folks at Bungie, we’re all that much more knowledgeable about the DIY Power Wheels modder set.…

  By Michael McWhertor Published October 12, 2009
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  Etiquette Check: How To Handle Xbox Friend Requests?

  The wisdom of Kotaku’s readership is requested. What’s the right thing to do regarding repeat Xbox Live friend requests? Taking a break from news and such for a moment, I turn to you readers of Kotaku for a question of etiquette. I have recently been receiving repeated friend requests from the same people. These are…

  By Stephen Totilo Published October 12, 2009
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  THQ Gets Cheap On Steam This Week

  Publisher THQ is doling out savings via Steam this week, starting today with half off all things Titan Quest. That’s a decent game from the defunct Iron Lore Entertainment for just ten bucks American! More deals throughout the week… [Steam]

  By Michael McWhertor Published October 12, 2009
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  DJ Hero’s Intro Slightly Larger-Than-Life

  It’s only a couple of weeks until the release of DJ Hero, which judging by this intro video is a game about a dark future where truckers and punk kids destroy overpasses before partying. This is what you get when you give the developers of a music game a very large CG budget and let…

  By Mike Fahey Published October 12, 2009
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  Rogue Warrior Gets A Different Kind Of Gaming Ad

  The slightly defaced ad for Bethesda’s fall shooter Rogue Warrior, photographed by me at my local subway exit near Kotaku’s NYC branch office, had one feature that turned my head: The two small words in red. The two words are a name, a name that was not immediately familiar to me. “Dick Marcinko.” When I…

  By Stephen Totilo Published October 12, 2009
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  Lead And Gold Looks Solid In Motion

  Swedish developer Fatshark’s Lead And Gold: Gangs of the Wild West may look like a dusty retro re-take on Battlefield or Team Fortress, but… that might be why we like the look of it so much. With a smaller class count—there are just four “archetypes,” the Blaster, Deputy, Gunslinger and Trapper—Lead And Gold may look…

  By Michael McWhertor Published October 12, 2009
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  WoW Movie Penned By Saving Private Ryan Scribe

  Speaking with MTV News, World of Warcraft director Sam Raimi revealed that Saving Private Ryan and The Patriot screenwriter Robert Rodat will be handling the story for the massively multiplayer movie. Raimi chats with MTV news about being faithful to the source material and presenting characters and settings that will be familiar to World of…

  By Mike Fahey Published October 12, 2009
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  The Awards We Don’t Give

  This is the second in a series of posts labeled “Hindsight” that discuss games you may have thought we were done writing about. Last time: Godfather II The Game. This time: X-Men Origins: Wolverine. There are many awards for video games. There are almost as many rationales for the granting to game makers and their…

  By Stephen Totilo Published October 12, 2009
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  Left 4 Dead 2 Achievements Reveal New Items, Confirm Campaigns

  The list of Xbox 360 Achievements for Left 4 Dead 2 appear to have just “confirmed” the game’s two, still-to-be-officially-announced final campaigns and revealed new items, new infected and… clown nose honking?! The 50 new Achievements, newly listed at Xbox 360 Achievements, don’t really venture into spoiler territory—there are no plot points revealed here—but we’ll…

  By Michael McWhertor Published October 12, 2009
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  Why Sniper Rifles Aren’t Allowed In The Office

  This random trailer for Army of Two: The 40th Day demonstrates why most modern-day office buildings have a strict anti-sniper rifle policy. I’m not quite sure about the message this trailer is trying to convey. Other than the fist bump, which is always enticing, I can’t see how this is supposed to make me crave…

  By Mike Fahey Published October 12, 2009
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  The Best Deal You’re Gonna Get On A PS3 Today [Update]

  Still waiting for the PlayStation 3 to get another price drop? You’re in luck, as the now antiquated, much larger version of the PS3 is now going for a completely reasonable $249 at SonyStyle.com. But wait… there’s more! In addition to being cheaper (and huger!) than the newer, slimmer PS3, the 80GB model up for…

  By Michael McWhertor Published October 12, 2009
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  Silent Hill: Shattered Memories Enters Fog Of Delay

  Konami’s overhaul of the original Silent Hill may be making a later appearance than previously planned. Retailers have bumped Silent Hill: Shattered Memories release date about a month, meaning the game could miss Black Friday availability. According to listings from GameFly and GameStop—typically the quickest retailers to react to delays—the Wii, PlayStation 2 and PSP…

  By Michael McWhertor Published October 12, 2009
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  Reminder: Gran Turismo 5 Is Still Pretty

  Sure we won’t be able to play Gran Turismo 5 until sometime early next year, but we can look at it all we want with this latest batch of screens. As we’re fond of pointing out, all of these screens come from replay mode, where the game looks so amazingly realistic it could run over…

  By Mike Fahey Published October 12, 2009
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  What Makes A Video Game Scary

  How can a video game be scary? Unlike horror movies where you’re stuck watching some hapless victim succumb to scary stuff, video games empower players to fight back. Or at least run away. It’s October. Time to identify horror-gaming’s essentials. Some of the scariest experiences I’ve had in my life come from video games. I…

  By AJ Glasser Published October 12, 2009
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  Savage Moon On PSP

  FluffyLogic is taking their action strategy game for the PlayStation Network and making it smaller, placing the player in control of the entire campaign in Savage Moon: The Hera Campaign for the PSP. Savage Moon is a tower defense sort of strategy game, released this past winter on the PlayStation Network. As Luke pointed out…

  By Mike Fahey Published October 12, 2009
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  Images of Command & Conquer on the iPhone

  Due out at the end of the month, it looks like the iPhone and iPod Touch version of Command & Conquer Red Alert is going to be a pretty robust title. Almost more importantly, it looks like EA Mobile has done a great job of maintaining the look of the classic real-time strategy title.

  By Brian Crecente Published October 12, 2009
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  XBLA This Week: Axel & Pixel Meet Sam & Max

  It’s Adventure Time on Xbox Live Arcade this week, when a boy and his dog meet up with a dog and his feral rabbit-looking thing. I completely approve of more adventure games on Xbox Live Arcade, even if one of those games is a collection of short, bite-sized Sam & Max adventures previously released on…

  By Mike Fahey Published October 12, 2009
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  This Could Be The Biggest Wii Pack Shot Ever

  Here’s the pack shot for Cyberbike, the Nintendo Wii exercise game that comes with its very own, full-size exercise bike packed right in. The Cyberbike comes from European publisher Bigben Interactive, who generally deal more in video game accessories than they do full-fledged titles, and when you get right down to it, the Cyberbike contains…

  By Mike Fahey Published October 12, 2009