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Back From Germany
To: Ash From: Crecente Re: Has Anyone Seen Inglourious Basterds or District 9? I’m safely ensconced back in Denver. I flew back Sunday from Cologne after spending a week with McWhertor hustling to cover the surprisingly fun Gamescom. I managed to nearly miss all of my connections, but still get on board the train and…
By Brian Crecente Published August 24, 2009 - Uncategorized
Batman Spike Special Tonight Includes Kotaku Cameo
Thank you, Spike TV, for making me look tall. And for labeling my fellow games reporters as “the most evil villain of them all.” It’s all part of the channel’s new Batman: Arkham Asylum special. Batman: Arkham Asylum Launched premieres tonight on Spike at midnight eastern and pacific. The half-hour show features just one soundbite…
By Stephen Totilo Published August 24, 2009 - Uncategorized
Gamescom’s Halls Of PC Hardware, Nintendo And Sad
You’ve seen the best of what Gamescom’s varied halls had to offer, now see the rest—the PC gaming focused Hall 9, where NCSoft, Razer and numerous MMO vendors set up shop, and Hall 8, featuring Nintendo. Let’s take a quick journey through Halls 8 and 9, far faster than one could do it during one…
By Michael McWhertor Published August 24, 2009 - Uncategorized
Final Fantasy Versus XIII Dev Time “Comparatively Faster” Than FFXIII
Sick of looking at these same Final Fantasy Versus XIII screen shots? Yeah. Me too. Well, the good news is that development on Final Fantasy XIII is doing wonders for that other Fabula Nova Crystallis entry, according to the developer. Square Enix’s Yoshinori Kitase told us at Gamescom this week that development time on Final…
By Michael McWhertor Published August 24, 2009 - Uncategorized
Obama Almost Got A New Wii From Joe Biden
All that Gamescom, Quakecon and Blizzcon news last week distracted from a key story reported by the LA Times: Why Barack Obama didn’t get a Wii for his 48th birthday on August 4. The Times ran a story last week about how America’s vice president, Joe Biden, has been trying to strengthen his relationship with…
By Stephen Totilo Published August 24, 2009 - Uncategorized
World Of Warcraft: The Lands Beyond The Cataclysm
Check out this tour of the zones of World of Warcraft: The Catacylsm, for a look at Gilneas, The Lost Isles, and how Deathwing’s reappearance will forever change the face of Azeroth. New lands are all well and good, but seeing places where I’ve spent countless hours over the past five years completely changed is…
By Mike Fahey Published August 24, 2009 - Uncategorized
Heavy Rain Eyes On: Meet Scott Shelby, Private Eye
Quantic Dream’s Guillaume de Fondaumièr offered us our third official look at the developer’s PlayStation 3 game Heavy Rain at Gamescom, showing us just a few of the many possibilities that await us in the hi-def choose your own adventure. Since Quantic Dream had already thoroughly teased the adventures of newly revealed character Ethan Mars…
By Michael McWhertor Published August 24, 2009 - Uncategorized
Professor Layton And The Diabolical F Train
Pimple-removal, romance novels and liquor get advertised inside New York City subway cars. This morning, I walked into a car of the F train and, for the first time, saw a video game getting big-time promotion. Despite video games being played constantly on the train — there’s always someone playing on an iPhone, DS or…
By Stephen Totilo Published August 24, 2009 - Uncategorized
Final Fantasy XIII’s Paradigm Shift, Gestalt Mode & More
We’re just a few months away from Final Fantasy XIII’s release—in Japan anyway—giving Square Enix good reason to reveal more about the role-playing game’s battle system. We got a look at FF XIII’s goods this week at Gamescom. Final Fantasy XIII producer Yoshinori Kitase and director Motomu Toriyama walked us through a brief demo of…
By Michael McWhertor Published August 24, 2009 - Uncategorized
StarCraft II Can Be Played Offline
Troubled by the Battle.net login screen that appears upon first launching StarCraft II? Does it mean that StarCraft II requires an internet connection? Not so, says Blizzard’s Rob Pardo. Some of our readers were a bit put off by the suggestion that the single player portion of StarCraft II would require logging into Battle.net, as…
By Mike Fahey Published August 24, 2009 - Uncategorized
Sonic & Sega All-Stars Racing Preview: Better Than A Blue Shell
How is this game different from Mario Kart? Besides starring Sonic and featuring a Billy Hatcher level. That was the key question during a recent hands-on with 2010’s Sonic & Sega All-Stars Racing. What Is It? Sonic & Sega All-Stars Racing is a kart-racing game shaped by the mold of the Mario Kart series, with…
By Stephen Totilo Published August 24, 2009 - Reviews
Resident Evil 4 Mobile Edition Micro-Review: Learning to Read With Zombies
Resident Evil 4 may have come out more than four years ago, but all it takes is a new platform to make the game feel fresh. The third-person survival horror game from Capcom hit the iPhone earlier this year as Resident Evil 4 Mobile Edition, promising to deliver key moments of the original game in…
By Brian Crecente Published August 24, 2009 - Uncategorized
Hands On With Diablo III’s Monk
Though the Diablo III kiosks in the BlizzCon pressroom were swamped all weekend, I did manage to squeeze in a little time with the game’s newest class – the Monk. To give you folks a little background information, the BlizzCon press room is a place of joy and wonder. They line two walls with kiosks…
By Mike Fahey Published August 24, 2009 - Uncategorized
Minis Impressions: Fieldrunners on the PSPGo
I am a Fieldrunners devotee on the iPhone, getting sucked into the tower defense game way more than I like to admit. I was excited to hear that the title was going to make its way to the PSPgo as part of the Minis program for the portable announced at Gamescom last week. Sony didn’t…
By Brian Crecente Published August 24, 2009 - Uncategorized
In Defence Of Sports Games
It’s alarming how many of you people hate sports games. To the point where a harmless post on a sports game on this site usually elicits unnecessary levels of fury and trollishness. We get it. A lot of you hate sports games. Hate Madden, hate FIFA, hate NBA2K, hate Pro Evo (Wii Sports doesn’t count;…
By Luke Plunkett Published August 24, 2009 - Uncategorized
Ozzy Tells Kotaku of His Secret Video Game Addiction
During our post-BlizzCon interview with Ozzy Osbourne, the rock legend revealed that he had once been addicted to a video game. Help us figure out which game that was. Ozzy is not exactly known for his clarity, so you’ll have to forgive us if we cannot tell you exactly which game he was talking about…
By Mike Fahey Published August 24, 2009 - Uncategorized
John Carmack And The Hideo Kojima Sunset
Famed Metal Gear designer Hideo Kojima once told me that there was something beautiful he’d been striving his whole career to create in video games: The perfect sunset. I recently asked John Carmack what his sunset is. Carmack, ever the programmer, didn’t immediately tell me what his sunset would be. Instead, after I described Kojima’s…
By Stephen Totilo Published August 24, 2009 - Uncategorized
Tricia Helfer Is StarCraft II’s Kerrigan
Original voice actress Glynnis Talken Campbell is still out as the voice of StarCraft II’s Kerrigan, but Blizzard found a worthy replacement in the form of Cylon Number Six, Tricia Helfer. At a panel that took place while I was knee-deep in interviews, Blizzard introduced the new Sarah Kerrigan to the world, smashing previous rumors…
By Mike Fahey Published August 24, 2009 - Uncategorized
Modern Warfare Mobility DS: Guns, Tanks and Planes
New Modern Warfares aren’t just coming to the consoles this fall, the DS will also be getting a brand new first-person shooter from Activision. Call of Duty: Modern Warfare Mobilized will include a new story line with unique missions spread out over 16 levels with players taking on the roles of both U.S. Marines and…
By Brian Crecente Published August 24, 2009 - Uncategorized
World Of Warcraft: Cataclysm: Why Level 85?
The Burning Crusade raised World of Warcraft’s level cap to 70. Then Wrath of the Lich King took it to 80. Why is it only going to 85 in the Cataclysm expansion? Tom Chilton explains. Among all of the changes coming in World of Warcraft: Cataclysm, raising the level cap to 85 instead of following…
By Mike Fahey Published August 24, 2009