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  Blizzcon, Gamescom: More Stories Than You Can Read

  To: Ashcraft From: Crecente Re: This Meat Is So Raw, So Red And Oh So Meaty And that’s a wrap. It looks like we’ve finally run through all of the reporting, previews, impressions, pictures and videos from Gamescom and BlizzCon today. Though I think McWhertor told me he might have one more for Friday. If…

  By Brian Crecente Published August 26, 2009
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  Maxis Hit With Job Cuts, EA Confirms

  Word from Electronic Arts today is that Maxis, the studio behind The Sims and Spore, suffered layoffs today. No word on how many people were affected. EA described the cuts as an attempt to “focus” the studio. “Often in the video game industry, the size of a studio fluctuates in response to business conditions,” an…

  By Stephen Totilo Published August 26, 2009
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  Decorate Your PlayStation Home In Early Hellghast

  The Visari Throne Room personal space is just one of more than a hundred new pieces of PlayStation Home content flooding Sony’s virtual world with tomorrow’s update. Killzone 2 plays a big part in tomorrow’s PlayStation Home update, with the launch of the Visari Throne Room bringing with it a ton of new Killzone 2…

  By Mike Fahey Published August 26, 2009
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  Testing Games Gets You $9 An Hour

  The Minneapolis Star Tribune finds one journalism student who is making some money testing an unnamed, unannounced Activision game. Video game tester Kelly Watkins is 20 and hopes to break into the industry. Watkins has already mastered the art of not naming the secret game he or she is working on — as well as…

  By Stephen Totilo Published August 26, 2009
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  New Left 4 Dead 2 Level Appearing At PAX, As Are We

  In an un-extraordinary coincidence, Valve announced that a new level of Left 4 Dead 2 will be playable at next week’s Penny Arcade Expo — on the same day Fahey and I did a lot of PAX booking. Valve announced that “Dark Carnival,” the third of the November PC and Xbox 360 game’s five campaigns…

  By Stephen Totilo Published August 26, 2009
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  The Mario Scape Pepsi Built

  Witness the spectacular aftermath of a Coke versus Pepsi “display war” in a California grocery store. Reader Chris writes that his sister snapped a photo of what she described as a huge 8-bit Mario display Pepsi built out of cases of their drinks at the Safeway in Rohnert Park, California. Keep in mind this isn’t…

  By Brian Crecente Published August 26, 2009
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  Kotaku Talk Radio: BlizzCon

  Hear PlayStation 3 debates featuring live calls from Kotaku readers. Listen to our Mike Fahey reveal the secrets of his strange interview with Ozzy Osbourne. Take Crecente’s podcast-naming challenge (Kotalku???). Laugh at my jokes. It’s our newest podcast episode. If you missed the live call-in show you can stream the full episode right here or…

  By Stephen Totilo Published August 26, 2009
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  Enter to Win a Copy of Batman: Arkham Asylum

  Holy cats—everyone’s talking about the latest Batman game. In Batman: Arkham Asylum, you become the Invisible Predator armed with Batman’s gadgets and abilities and battle the Joker’s crazies, including Harley Quinn, Victor Zsasz, and Killer Croc. In Batman: Arkham Asylum, you can roam freely and explore every inch of Arkham Asylum—the infamous island is presented…

  By Chrissie Lamond Published August 26, 2009
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  Raven Hit By Layoffs, Some Point to Lackluster Wolfenstein Sales

  Raven Software, developers of recently released Wolfenstein and soon to be released Singluarlity, let 30 to 35 go from their Wisconsin studios, sources tell Kotaku. In a prepared statement released to Kotaku today, Activision confirmed that Raven, a subsidiary of the company, had laid people off today, but declined to confirm or deny the number…

  By Brian Crecente Published August 26, 2009
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  Heavy Rain Story Could Expand Through DLC

  While the full story of PS3-exclusive Heavy Rain will ship on the disc, developer Quantic Dream is toying with the idea of further exploring the game’s diverse cast of characters through future downloadable content. Quantic Dream founder David Cage spoke to Videogamer.com at Gamescom last week about the possibility for additional, post-release downloadable content for…

  By Mike Fahey Published August 26, 2009
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  How To Hype A PS3 Game Advantage

  If only, for Sony, it was always so easy to argue that the PlayStation 3 version of a game is the superior edition. When Sony launched the PS3 in 2006, stressing the advantage of games being on the console was certainly was part of Sony’s plan: Flaunt the positives of games being pressed on Blu-Ray…

  By Stephen Totilo Published August 26, 2009
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  The Pictures, Still and Moving, Of Gamescom

  Gamescom was a massive event, both in scale and attendance with a quarter of a million people packing 1.3 million square feet over a week. There were plenty of things to do and even more to see. If you missed our exhaustive coverage, and aren’t really into reading, you should take the time to pick…

  By Brian Crecente Published August 26, 2009
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  Want To Work In The Japanese Gaming Industry? Here’s How

  It’s a regular occurrence. Open my email, and time after time, there the question is, staring me in the face: How do I work in Japanese gaming? Heck, I dunno. I don’t work in the game industry, but rather, cover the game industry. If you want to ask me about that, do it. Fire away!…

  By Brian Ashcraft Published August 26, 2009
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  Command & Conquer 4 Gets A Real Name

  After introducing the next C&C game with a placeholder numbered title, EA Los Angeles has settled on a name that only slightly evokes thoughts of sparkly vampires: Command & Conquer 4: Tiberian Twilight. EA let the fans choose the name they felt best fit the game, and I’d say the fans made a very wise…

  By Mike Fahey Published August 26, 2009
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  Gameloft Lines-Up Five For The PSPgo

  Gameloft’s focus is downloadable titles, and with the PSPgo sharing said focus, the company is ready with a line-up of five titles for 2009, including an online multiplayer version of UNO. Not one to miss the downloadable games party, Gameloft aims to be front-and-center this holiday season on the PSPgo and original PSP. The company…

  By Mike Fahey Published August 26, 2009
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  Tune In, Call Up, Talk Back: It’s Time For Kotaku Talk Radio

  In this week’s episode of Kotaku Talk Radio we’ll be talking about Blizzcon, used game sales, World of Warcraft‘s latest expansion, why some people need to stop complaining about Playstation 3 Slim and a taste of an upcoming chip tune concert in San Francisco. To listen, head over to our BlogTalkRadio page. Unfortunately, you can…

  By Brian Crecente Published August 26, 2009
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  Amazon Does Video Game Deals This Friday

  Tired of arriving late to the Amazon deals party? Well now you’ve got two days to prepare for Amazon’s next all video games Gold Box event. You should all know how this works by now, but just in case we’ll explain. At 12:01AM Pacific time on Friday, August 28th, Amazon will post a special discounted…

  By Mike Fahey Published August 26, 2009
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  2K Play Brings Indie Games To Live Arcade

  Forget Xbox Live Indie Games. 2K Games is bringing independent titles to Xbox Live Arcade directly, with The Misadventures of P.B. Winterbottom and Axel & Pixel due out this fall. The Misadventures of P.B. Winterbottom and Axel & Pixel are two games you wouldn’t expect to come from 2K, but they certainly seem to be…

  By Mike Fahey Published August 26, 2009
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  Diablo III’s Witch Doctor Conjures Up Memories, Concerns

  Played for a bit at last week’s Gamescom, I found my short time with Diablo III’s Witch Doctor initially exhilarating, but over time it left me questioning what exactly I liked about Blizzard’s famed franchise. The Witch Doctor, Blizzard tells us, dispatches opponents with “terrifying precision, assaulting his victim’s mind and body with elixirs and…

  By Brian Crecente Published August 26, 2009
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  Megan Fox Wants To Play Transformers With You

  You’ll be a sentient robot that can transform into a vehicle, and she’ll play one of Hollywood’s hottest young actresses despite that weird thumb. Megan Fox takes on all comers this weekend on Xbox Live. Perhaps the thumb will be to Miss Fox’s advantage in Saturday’s Game with Fame session, during which she’ll be challenging…

  By Mike Fahey Published August 26, 2009