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Wii Sports Resort Sells A Million In Japan
Nintendo has announced that Wii Sports Resort has reached the million seller milestone. The game launched on June 25 in The Land of The Rising Sun and was met with brisk sales. The second week was a sharp drop off, but as the chart below points out, the title has recently seen an upswing in…
By Brian Ashcraft Published August 25, 2009 - Uncategorized
Gran Turismo 5: Q4 2009?
So says this pamphlet for the game, which was passed around last week at Gamescom. You don’t need to be a German (or Austrian!) to make out what “4. Quartal 2009” means. Before you ask, yes, it means Q4 2009. And before you ask, yes, it’s a real Sony pamphlet, not a work of Photoshop…
By Luke Plunkett Published August 25, 2009 - Uncategorized
Why Sony Ditched The Spider-Man PS3 Font
Since the console launched in 2006 until the official announcement of the new, slimmer machine, the PS3 has been written in the same font used for Sony’s Spider-Man 3 movie. What’s more, the official way to type out the name was in ALL CAPS. The new console iteration ditches both in favor of either the…
By Brian Ashcraft Published August 25, 2009 - Uncategorized
PSN Going Down For More “Maintenance”
Never mind the fact that last week, in the lead-up to Sony’s Gamescom press conference, the PlayStation Network went down for maintenance. This week, it’s going down again! At 2:15pm (PST) tomorrow, August 25 (which is 9:15pm GMT), and running for around four hours, nobody will be able to sign into the PlayStation Network to…
By Luke Plunkett Published August 24, 2009 - Uncategorized
Will Final Fantasy XIII Be Playable At Tokyo Game Show?
A playable demo for upcoming role-playing-game Final Fantasy XIII has already been released in Japan. Bundled with Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children Complete, it came out earlier this spring. And with the Japanese PS3 version being something like 90 percent finished, you’d think that the game would be in playable form at this year’s Tokyo…
By Brian Ashcraft Published August 24, 2009 - Uncategorized
Sony Losing Money on PS3 Slim
The hardware business is not a profitable business. Don’t believe us, just ask Sony. When the original PS3 launched, Sony bled money on each PS3 sold. But the manufacturing process improved, and Sony was able to close the gap. Just as that started to happen, the company is now launching a new hardware iteration. New…
By Brian Ashcraft Published August 24, 2009 - Uncategorized
EA Germany Exec Accuses Gov’t of Game Censorship
Wracked by a mass shooting partially blamed on games, the government considering a ban on “killerspiele” and developer Crytek threatening to leave, Germany’s firsthand experience in the violent games debate is like no other country’s right now. Electronic Arts‘ top many in Germany, Gerhard Florin (pictured) says enough is enough. In an interview last week…
By Owen Good Published August 24, 2009 - Uncategorized
Sony’s Motion Controller Will Be Out Spring 2010
Sony’s motion controller has neither a name nor a finalised form. Which means, yeah, it’s still a work in progress. And that means it won’t be out until, oh, Spring 2010. PlayStation boss Kaz Hirai has told The Times “we are slating it for spring of next year”. “It” being the motion controller. “One of…
By Luke Plunkett Published August 24, 2009 - Uncategorized
Kid Napped in PSP Deal Gone Bad
What’s it they say, “You never hear about a drug deal gone good?” Same for selling games. In this case, an unhappy customer took a Utah teen for a ride when the PSP that changed hands didn’t work as advertised. The suspect’s now in custody, so, this ends well. But it began badly, on Saturday,…
By Owen Good Published August 24, 2009 - Uncategorized
Elemental: War of Magic Impressions: There’s More To Might Than Magic
Elemental: War of Magic is a PC turn-based strategy game with a sweet map and a marriage alliance system that sounds like something from George R.R. Martin’s A Song of Ice and Fire series. That’s no accident because developer Stardock’s CEO & President, Brad Wardell is way into A Song of Ice and Fire –…
By AJ Glasser Published August 24, 2009 - Uncategorized
iPhone Madden to Arrive by Opening Day
Well, well. Now we know why Gameloft was in such a hurry to get NFL 2010 for the iPhone out the door this month. EA Mobile says Madden NFL 10 will release to the iTunes store by opening day. Although the news release says only “September 2009,” (October ’09 in the rest of the world),…
By Owen Good Published August 24, 2009 - Uncategorized
Stardock Updating Impulse, Rolling Out Ready-to-Play
Even if you’re a Steam loyalist, PC gamers, you’ve got to admit it’s nice to have options. But Stardock’s digital distribution service, Impulse, and its latest update aim to provide more than just competition. Phase IV of Impulse rolls out a new service called Ready-to-Play that functions as a sort of Facebook for PC gamers.…
By AJ Glasser Published August 24, 2009 - Uncategorized
Red Steel 2 Hands On: Now With Ninjas!
Ubisoft had a newly playable copy of Red Steel 2 at Gamescom, its cowboy-samurai western now full of ninja and 360-degree Wii MotionPlus-powered sword swingin’. And I nearly had my delicate wrist snapped off playing the thing. After getting a brief overview of what’s new in Red Steel 2—including ninja, some fancy new moves like…
By Michael McWhertor Published August 24, 2009 - Uncategorized
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