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  Exclusive Rides For Gran Turismo PSP Preorders

  Preordering the long-awaited Gran Turismo for the PlayStation Portable scores you one of five rare rides, getting you ready to smoke your friends from the starting line. The five preorder vehicles might already be in the game, but preordering means that you don’t have to pay to unlock them, and you also score them in…

  By Mike Fahey Published August 4, 2009
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  Taylor Swift Shakes Her Polys In Band Hero

  Activision’s pop-ridden Guitar Hero spin-off Band Hero scores Taylor Swift as a playable character, and while I might not know who she is, she sure looks fine in polygons. Swift is actually one of pop’s finest songwriters, if Wikipedia and the New York Times are to be believed, regularly topping the country charts with songs…

  By Mike Fahey Published August 4, 2009
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  Namco Eyes Tekken, Soulcalibur As It Expands iPhone Development

  It’s a modern day gold rush and Namco’s not above admitting it, or trying to profit from it. Earlier this week the developer announced that they were opening up a new division dedicated solely to the creation of iPhone games. That means more Namco classics, new in-house titles and even third-party games for Apple’s inordinately…

  By Brian Crecente Published August 4, 2009
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  Talk Amongst Yourselves

  Did something seem different about Kotaku yesterday? That’s all done with, I hope. Please go back to commenting about video games. Thanks for weathering the tech storm with us. Confused about commenting on Kotaku? Read our FAQ.

  By Stephen Totilo Published August 4, 2009
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  Don’t Let This Flower Die!

  To: Crecente From: Bashcraft RE: Down and Out It’s summer vacation. Mini-Bash has been given homework: water this sunflower. So far, he seems to be remembering, and it hasn’t kicked the bucket just yet. Reminds me of that episode of Degrassi Junior High where the students had to carry an egg and pretend it was…

  By Brian Ashcraft Published August 4, 2009
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  Namco Bandai’s Best-Selling Games Are…

  Namco Bandai today released their Q1 2010 earnings report. And buried amidst the boring money stuff (net sales are down 15.8%) is something a little more interesting: game sales data. Listed were the publisher’s top five-selling games for the quarter ending June 30, 2009 (as in, only those sold during that three-month period, not lifetime…

  By Luke Plunkett Published August 4, 2009
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  Guy Mods Consoles, Could Do 10 Years In Prison

  There are some people who modify their own consoles so they can play imported games. That’s fine. There are others, however, who do so for reasons of piracy and commercial gain. Those people are not fine. 27 year-old Matthew Crippen, who is a student at California State University, sounds like he might (might!) be one…

  By Luke Plunkett Published August 4, 2009
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  Over 3 Million DSi Units Sold in Japan

  As of August 2, Nintendo has sold 3,062,920 DSi units domestically in Japan. The DSi went on sale in Japan last fall on November 1, 2008 for ¥18,900. The total number of DS units sold in Japan is 27 million. DSi hardware sales have been powered by the July release of DS title Dragon Quest.…

  By Brian Ashcraft Published August 4, 2009
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  Sony Ramping Up PS3 Production For…Something

  According to Taiwan’s DigiTimes, Sony have recently “placed significant orders for key Sony PS3 components” from local manufacturers, waaaaay above the quantities they normally source. Interesting. They say it’s enough parts to produce one million PS3 consoles in the third quarter of 2009, which is apparently twice as many as were manufactured last quarter. DigiTimes’…

  By Luke Plunkett Published August 4, 2009
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  What Games Did Japan Buy In July?

  July may be over, but it’s not forgotten. It lives on as the month that follows June, and at the same time the month that precedes August. July. Say it with me, July. The number crunchers at Famitsu publisher Enterbrain have crunched some numbers. Those numbers make up Japanese sales data for the month of…

  By Brian Ashcraft Published August 4, 2009
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  Sony Scraps WipeOut HD Loading Ad

  The people have spoken. Spoken angrily. And Sony have listened, removing the worst of the in-game advertising from WipeOut HD only 24 hours after it was first officially announced. “The ad has been removed from WipEout HD”, a Sony rep told Eurogamer, “and we are investigating the situation to ensure that any in-game advertising does…

  By Luke Plunkett Published August 4, 2009
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  Hitman Actor Returning For Hitman 2?

  The Hitman movie sequel is still very much in the early stages. Twentieth Century Fox has scribe Kyle Ward (Uncharted movie script, Kane & Lynch script) attached to the Hitman 2 script. But is actor Timothy Olyphant, who played lead Agent 47 in the first film, returning to reprise his role? “It’s not on my…

  By Brian Ashcraft Published August 4, 2009
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  LittleBigPlanet Does The Time Warp

  Media Molecule, we fully endorse this continued move away from game characters and national holidays towards making LBP content a little more unique. A little more interesting. Case in point: this "history kit". It combines “objects, decorations, music, sounds, materials and 140 (zomg!) stickers” from a number of historical styles/civilizations, including Roman, Egyptian, Arabic, Oriental,…

  By Luke Plunkett Published August 4, 2009
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  Company Renames Rape Game Category

  As the fallout from the Rapelay controversy continues, one Japanese erotic game distributor has, for better or worse, figured out a work around. PC download site BGameBox has posted a notification that the categories “ryoujoku” (rape) and “choukyou” (sexual training) have been removed from the site as of July 31. A separate email newsletter informs…

  By Brian Ashcraft Published August 4, 2009
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  Handmade SFIV Sticks Don’t Skimp On The Heavy Stuff

  Mekishiko916 likes Street Fighter, and is handy with circuits and a soldering iron. Combining those two, he’s come up with these amazing hand-made arcade sticks that aren’t just heavy-duty, they’re wireless as well. Being a patriot, he eschews Japanese components in favour of American HAPP parts (though you can ask for Seimetsu/Sanwa parts if you’re…

  By Luke Plunkett Published August 4, 2009
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  Tornado Outbreak Trailer Twists My Expectations

  I’ve been fascinated with tornadoes since I saw this video when I was a kid. But rather than go out and almost get killed myself trying to recreate those guys’ experience, I’d rather play a game about tornadoes. Sadly, I’m not sure Tornado Outbreak can sate my sick interest. Because rather than playing as the…

  By AJ Glasser Published August 4, 2009
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  Poor Old Leipzig Ain’t What It Used To Be

  Last year, Leipzig was host to Europe’s premier games industry expo, which attracted over 200,000 people. This year? Leipzig’s Games Convention Online could only attract 43,000 punters. Why the decline? Well, it’s all in the name. Last year’s Leipzig Games Convention was a showcase for all things gaming, from consoles to handhelds to the PC.…

  By Luke Plunkett Published August 4, 2009
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  Persona 4, Explained In Pictures

  Persona has one of the most unique core mechanics in all of gaming. But the series’ finer points may be lost on newcomers, or those ignorant of its enduring appeal. For those people, then, there is this comic. Artist and Persona fan Hiimdaisy has penned this amazing, loooooong comic that does a great job of…

  By Luke Plunkett Published August 4, 2009
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  This Is Vegas Publishers: This Is Not Cancelled

  When you don’t hear about a game for months, you start to presume the worst. Like, that it’s been cancelled. We haven’t heard about This is Vegas for months, so has it been cancelled? Surprisingly, no, it has not. Despite being caught up in the implosion of Midway (the game’s former developer/publisher) and its own…

  By Luke Plunkett Published August 4, 2009
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  Pirate Bay Co-Founder Jumps Ship

  Another man overboard. Joining former Grokster exec Wayne Rosso, Pirate Bay’s Peter Sunde is abandoning the BitTorrent site he co-founded. “I have decided to not be the spokes person for The Pirate Bay anymore,” Sunde blogged this Monday. “The reasons are many but most importantly it takes too much of my time. I want to…

  By Brian Ashcraft Published August 4, 2009