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  Unseen 360 Clip Shows Avatars Playing Games (And A Dreamcast?)

  Earlier this year, production company Roger were brought in by Microsoft to create an animated short for the company’s E3 press conference, focusing on avatars. It was, apparently due to “time restraints”, never shown. The clip shows avatars freed from their dashboard confines, and parading around doing all kinds of things, from hanging out to…

  By Luke Plunkett Published July 23, 2009
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  Call of Duty: World at War Map Pack 3 Screens

  Three new screenshots for WW2 first-person-shooter Call of Duty: World at War‘s Map Pack #3. The pack is scheduled for August and has new multiplayer areas, plus one map for the zombie mode. The pack is expected to be priced at 800 Microsoft Points.

  By Brian Ashcraft Published July 23, 2009
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  SEGA Details Yakuza 4

  Ryu Ga Gotoku (Yakuza in the West) series creator Toshihiro Nagoshi has already announced that he and his team are hard at work on a new title in the franchise. A porn star [NSFW] is even auditioning to be in the game. Today, SEGA has provided more information about the title, dubbed Ryu Ga Gotoku…

  By Brian Ashcraft Published July 23, 2009
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  Catan Officially Settling on iPhone

  Settlers of Catan, the award-winning resource-allocation and strategy board game, will have a version on the iPhone and iPod Touch “this summer,” developed in conjunction with Catan’s creator, according to the game’s official website. An announcement on the Community & News board of the official Web site Catan.com declared today that “the game is being…

  By Owen Good Published July 23, 2009
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  Sony Laptops Now Feature 100% More PlayStation Network

  You know how Sony have been talking about rolling PlayStation services onto other devices? It’s happening, as the latest line of Sony VAIO laptops will be rocking the PlayStation Network. The upcoming VAIO W will series will use the PSN for, at the very least, the digital delivery of media content, like movies and TV…

  By Luke Plunkett Published July 23, 2009
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  Borderlands Gameplay Trailer: ‘The RPG and FPS Made a Baby’

  Sick of muted earthtones and dessicated grays in post-apocalyptica? Exempt Borderlands from the bitching, please. Click to view This latest trailer hits all the right notes – guns blazing, formidable monstrosities, Law and Order walkdown swagger – in showing you what the “role-playing shooter” (more descriptive than “first-person game”) delivers Oct. 20, Oct. 23 in…

  By Owen Good Published July 23, 2009
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  How Wii Sports Resort Took Over Times Square

  Witness a major marketing spend and a video game taking center stage at the Crossroads of the World. At the center of this stunt? 50 tons of New Jersey sand, part of a promotional island for Wii Sports Resort. (Apologies for the low video quality. Last time I take a video with my Blackberry, folks…)

  By Stephen Totilo Published July 23, 2009
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  Resident Evil Series Unsure On Direction, Developers

  Big changes could be on the way for the Resident Evil series, both in terms of direction and personnel, if comments from Resident Evil 5 producer Jun Takeuchi are any indication. Speaking at a Resident Evil panel at Comic-Con, Takeuchi was asked by a fan about the possibility of a total series reboot for the…

  By Luke Plunkett Published July 23, 2009
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  Xbox Division Sees 66 Percent Slide in ’09 Profit Despite 11 Million Units Shipped

  Microsoft’s Xbox division booked an eye-popping 66 percent drop in profit for the 2009 fiscal year, reflecting a terrible economy and mirroring steep declines across all of the software behemoth’s business segments. For the fiscal year, Microsoft’s revenue from the Xbox 360 and from PC gaming was down $161 million, which the company mainly attributed…

  By Owen Good Published July 23, 2009
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  DreamBox Succeeds At Tricking Kids Into Learning Math

  Seven months ago, DreamBox Learning launched its math-based edutainment site for kids between kindergarten and second grade. Today, it’s making virtual headlines with success stories. The Wall Street Journal reports that DreamBox — along with other web-based learning game sites like SmartyCard, Brightstorm and Grockit — is closing the gap between between a child’s expected…

  By AJ Glasser Published July 23, 2009
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  Halo Waypoint Becomes Destination For Halo Fans This Fall

  Microsoft has more than just Halo 3 ODST to whip the Halo fanbase into a lather this fall. It’s also launching the Halo Waypoint on Xbox Live, a “destination” for fans of Bungie’s space marine creation. Halo Waypoint will give fans their first peek at the Halo Legends anime series of shorts, with “select” episodes…

  By Michael McWhertor Published July 23, 2009
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  iPhone Archon To Get Weekly Updates, Get It Free

  The iPhone version of chess classic Archon will be getting major updates every week for the next couple of months, the developer tells Kotaku. The latest update to hit the App Store for the game for free includes plenty of fixes and tweaks as well as newly enhanced AI settings for the game. I’m told…

  By Brian Crecente Published July 23, 2009
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  Comic-Con

  To: Ash From: Crecente Re: Is Food Hating Genetic? It’s not even Friday yet and already Comic-Con is filling the site with news, previews, screens and videos. My favorite story, so far, is Blizzard talking about what role they think Bruce Campbell should play in Warcraft. Did I tell you I met Campbell once? This…

  By Brian Crecente Published July 23, 2009
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  You Can Buy Actual World Of Warcraft Gold Coins

  With World of Warcraft comic books, action figures, t-shirts and trading card games already thoroughly merchandised by Blizzard and their partners, what’s left to license? How about World of Warcraft coins? DC Unlimited is making ’em, legitimizing WoW gold selling. Both the Horde and Alliance will get 24 karat gold plated, Sterling silver and copper…

  By Michael McWhertor Published July 23, 2009
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  Old News ’87: Zelda Is Going To Be Bigger Than Mario

  Once a week, let’s dig up an old bit of news and see what became of it. Today we’ve got Nintendo in 1987 predicting that the Zelda NES “game pak” will be huge. Bold words, Nintendo. It’s May of 1987, the year after Nintendo started selling the Nintendo Entertainment System in America. Super Mario Brothers…

  By Stephen Totilo Published July 23, 2009
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  Even Comic-Con Has Its Own Exclusive PSPs

  Sony’s booth contains two very special PSPs, each a Comic-Con exclusive. Both are also Comic-Con appropriate, given their Green Lantern and Caprica branding, and likely to live forever protectively stored in a glass case. The Green Lantern one is the more eye-catching of the two. The Caprica styled PSP is maybe a little too understated……

  By Michael McWhertor Published July 23, 2009
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  Left 4 Dead 2 “Swamp Fever” Hands-On Impressions

  Valve brought a playable “Swamp Fever,” the second announced campaign for Left 4 Dead 2, to Comic-Con. In addition to showing a new environment in which to kill zombie hordes, it helps the game feel more like a proper sequel. At E3, the campaign “The Parish” played a touch too much like the original Left…

  By Michael McWhertor Published July 23, 2009
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  Rare Sighting: Pro-Marijuana Reference In A Video Game

  As I played the upcoming Grand Theft Auto-like iPhone game Gangstar: West Coast Hustle earlier this week, I tuned the radio to 42.0 and got a surprise. The 42.0 station, the frequency itself a reference to marijuana, is called “Legalize It. “It’s one of four radio stations of original music in the game, which models…

  By Stephen Totilo Published July 23, 2009
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  Dante’s Inferno Cartoon Features Monster Anal

  While EA’s Dante’s Inferno video game allows you to explore the darkest depths of hell, the animated feature goes darker and deeper still. During the Dante’s Inferno panel earlier today at the San Diego Comic-Con, director Vic Cook explained just how deep Dante would travel in the animated feature. “You’re gonna love it. We’ve got…

  By Mike Fahey Published July 23, 2009
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  Some New Lost Planet 2 Screens For You

  It’s Comic-Con time. That means, perversely, it’s time for video game news and video game media. Early out of the gates are these Lost Planet 2 screenshots. And yes. There are both mech suits and giant bugs.

  By Luke Plunkett Published July 23, 2009