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PlayStation 3 Firmware 3.01 Is Live
The new PS3 firmware, 3.01, just went live. It’s not a mandatory update, and we’re not sure what’s in the update or what it adds or what it fixes, but we are updating. Right now. As we speak. The previous 3.00 firmware update brought a host of new cosmetic changes. Users did report issues after…
By Brian Ashcraft Published September 14, 2009 -
UncategorizedIdols Coming To Tokyo Game Show
We’re a week away from this year’s Tokyo Game Show. Get ready for video games, Japanese people and idol group Idoling. SEGA has roped in the Japanese pop group Idoling for television ads for DS title Puyo Puyo 7. The will be special stage shows on September 26 and September 27. For those not familiar…
By Brian Ashcraft Published September 14, 2009 - Uncategorized
Xbox 360’s Processor Delivers Budget Supercomputing
A team of researchers pulled off some supercomputing on the cheap using a single Xbox 360’s graphical processing unit, instead of an array of processors operating in tandem, the BBC reports. The researchers, at the University of Warwick in the United Kingdom, think they’re the first to repurpose the processors as an inexpensive substitute for…
By Owen Good Published September 14, 2009 - Uncategorized
Activision Looking To A Future Where Consoles Aren’t Needed
Activision haven’t exactly had the rosiest of relationships with console manufacturers over the past few months. Which would be a problem for a console games manufacturer, were they not working on games that didn’t even need a console. Speaking at the Deutsche Bank Securities Technology Conference in San Francisco earlier today, Activision boss Bobby Kotick…
By Luke Plunkett Published September 14, 2009 - Uncategorized
AT&T tells Feds that Gaming is not “Broadband”
The games industry is unhappy that AT&T, in comments filed with the Federal Communications Commission, described real-time online video gaming as an “aspirational service” of broadband communications and not a core need. The dustup comes as the FCC is seeking to define the term “broadband,” which isn’t just an academic debate. The definition the FCC…
By Owen Good Published September 14, 2009 - Reviews
Mario & Luigi: Bowser’s Inside Story Review: A Fawful Good Time
Mario and Luigi’s eternal struggle against the forces that threaten the Mushroom Kingdom—and frequently kidnap Princess Peach—continue in Mario & Luigi: Bowser’s Inside Story, the latest in the lighthearted, action-oriented role-playing game series. This time, series staple bad guy Fawful has tricked Bowser into eating a particular strain of mushroom that causes him to inhale…
By Michael McWhertor Published September 14, 2009 - Uncategorized
Beatles: Rock Band Required Six Months of Lawyerin’
When you’re building something like The Beatles: Rock Band, the development cycle isn’t entirely on the coding end. A team of lawyers for the Beatles worked for six months on the likenesses, names and trademarks that went into the game. The Lawyer, a legal industry site, reports that the U.K. firm Eversheds handled a slew…
By Owen Good Published September 14, 2009 - Uncategorized
I Remember The Lizzies Being Sexier…
The Lizzies were a revelation in women’s lib as far as gang warfare is concerned, but you’d never know it from watching this trailer about them in the upcoming The Warriors: Street Brawl game. Far better to watch this video instead, if you want to know what the Lizzies were about. However, you should still…
By AJ Glasser Published September 14, 2009 - Uncategorized
Activision Boss: Next Blizzard MMO To Have “More Broad Appeal”
No, Bobby Kotick isn’t talking about a Blizzard-developed massively multiplayer online game that appeals more to women, but something that probably doesn’t have orcs riding motorcycles. Or even Night Elves! Something that won’t cut into World of Warcraft’s subscriber base. The Activision Blizzard CEO’s comments, as reported by GameSpot, will probably dash any hopes of…
By Michael McWhertor Published September 14, 2009 - Uncategorized
The Warriors: Street Brawl Preview: Go Home To Play
The late 70s must’ve been a hell of a time to spawn visions of a futuristic New York controlled by themed gangs. You’ve got the Baseball Furies, the Lizzies and more neon pieces of clothing than you could shake a crowbar at. Seriously, did something happen in 1975 to inspire these strange, strange interpretations of…
By AJ Glasser Published September 14, 2009 - Uncategorized
T-Minus
To: Ash From: Crecente Less than a week before we all start heading out for Tokyo Game Show! I’m looking forward to catching up with everyone. I’ve been working with Tim Rogers on securing a venue for our annual Kotaku Reader Party. I can’t announce the location just yet, but hopefully I can in the…
By Brian Crecente Published September 14, 2009 - Uncategorized
NPD Cross-Ownership Data Shows Some WiiPS360 Love
The NPD Group published a report today showing that game buyers in the United States get their game info from word of mouth “above all other information sources.” But somewhat more interesting is the platform crossover makeup of those surveyed. That data says that Xbox 360 owners and Wii owners look to have the biggest…
By Michael McWhertor Published September 14, 2009 - Uncategorized
Scribblenauts Word Count Higher Than Reported
Over the weekend, a hacker seemed to prove that there are exactly 22,802 words in Scribblenauts. Not true, the game’s creative director told Fast Company. An online article quotes Jeremiah Slaczka, creative director at game development studio 5th Cell, told the outlet that the the weekend word count report missed some words: “That was leaked…
By Stephen Totilo Published September 14, 2009 - Uncategorized
Yes, Gabe Newell Is Goin’ To Australia
Getting Valve’s big boss to fly halfway ’round the world isn’t as hard as you might think. All it takes is a few thousand dollars and a handful of e-mails. Yes, Gabe Newell is going to Australia. Newell has apparently ended his mock boycott of a Left 4 Dead modder’s campaign, committing (along with Valve’s…
By Michael McWhertor Published September 14, 2009 - Uncategorized
Shane Kim To Retire From Microsoft
Microsoft exec Shane Kim, formerly the corporate vice president of Microsoft Game Studios and current corporate vice president of Strategy and Business Development for the Interactive Entertainment Business, will leave that verbose title behind later this year. He’s retiring. In his role at Microsoft Game Studios, Kim oversaw releases such in the Halo, Age of…
By Michael McWhertor Published September 14, 2009 - Uncategorized
Nintendo’s Unusual 2009 Wii Strategy: Publishing The Oldies
Major music labels are happy to re-release re-mastered classic albums, year after year. Video game publishers, by contrast, focus on issuing new games. But in 2009, Nintendo hasn’t been doing that, as the full-year release lists now make clear. The impending release of Wii Fit Plus in two weeks is the latest in an atypical…
By Stephen Totilo Published September 14, 2009 - Uncategorized
Nintendo Weekly Download Update Issues A Street Challenge
Nintendo and its valued third parties are churning out the content this week for WiiWare, Virtual Console and DSiWare. This week, six new downloadable selections await the Nintendo fan with access to the information superhighway. The list of new items? Texas Hold’Em Poker, Spaceball: Revolution, Mart Racer, Crash ‘N The Boys Street Challenge, Art Academy:…
By Michael McWhertor Published September 14, 2009 - Uncategorized
Follow League Of Legends On Facebook, Get A Beta Key
Riot Games wants to build a huge following for League of Legends, and its willing to flood the closed beta of the game with Facebook users to make that happen. Riot Games wants 40,000 folks to follow the League of Legends Facebook group, or become fans, or whatever it is you Facebook people tend to…
By Mike Fahey Published September 14, 2009 - Uncategorized
Final Fantasy XIII Could Move Another Half Million PS3s In Japan
The Japanese release of Final Fantasy XIII might just do wonders for the PlayStation 3 in Japan, if the president of Famitsu publisher Enterbrain knows what he’s talking about. A massive marquee game moving consoles? What you talkin’ ’bout, Hamamura? Look, that’s what Enterbrain prez Hirokazu Hamamura said at today’s Foreign Correspondents’ Club of Japan,…
By Michael McWhertor Published September 14, 2009