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LittleBigPlanet Adds “Purchased Levels” To PSP Version
The PlayStation Portable port of LittleBigPlanet may be expanding its downloadable content offerings with the addition of “purchased levels,” as spied in the most recent playable version of the game. Siliconera spotted the menu option during a recent playtest of the PSP game, a choice that sits alongside “story levels” and “downloaded levels.” Clearly, “purchased”…
By Michael McWhertor Published July 31, 2009 - Reviews
‘Splosion Man Micro-Review: An Exploding Barrel Of Monkeys
Xbox Live’s “Summer of Arcade” kicked off with some serious heat, courtesy of Twisted Pixel’s ‘Splosion Man, an original side-scrolling platformer that lets the player do one thing: explode. Or ‘splode, as they say. That’s what our fiery hero does, blowing himself up to jump, bounce off walls, ignite exploding barrels, and turn enemies into…
By Michael McWhertor Published July 31, 2009 - Uncategorized
Carpal Tunnel Syndrome
To: Ash From: Crecente Re: Right Now, Mrs. Bashcraft Will Start Reading Kotaku No, not me. I wasn’t the one diagnosed today with carpal tunnel syndrome, Lucy was. Lucy is our 15-year-old border collie. She’s been having a lot of trouble with one of her front paws lately so Trish took her to the vet…
By Brian Crecente Published July 31, 2009 - Uncategorized
Cursed Mountain Preview: Save Me, Science, Save Me
Agnostic mountain climbers today don’t know how good they have it with global positioning devices, high altitude helicopter rescue parties and 457 kHz standard avalanche beacons, something I realized while playing Deep Silver’s Cursed Mountain. Step into the shoes of Eric Simmons and his missing brother Frank if you want to know what mountaineering was…
By AJ Glasser Published July 31, 2009 - Uncategorized
Notebook Dump: The Limits Of Ninja Turtle Knowledge, An iPhone Adventure, And More
There comes a time in the week to reflect on what got into my reporter’s notebook but didn’t turn into Kotaku blog posts. Shall we? Games I Didn’t Touch: I saw the fall line-ups for a trio of publishers in New York this past week. Majesco, Sony and Ubisoft were showing more than 30 games…
By Stephen Totilo Published July 31, 2009 - Uncategorized
Invade Bowser’s Bowels In Mario & Luigi: Bowser’s Inside Story
.html Adventuring within the guts of Mario and Luigi’s arch nemesis Bowser may not be what you were expecting of the newest Mario & Luigi RPG, but Bowser’s Inside Story has the intestinal fortitude to go there. The follow up to Mario and Luigi: Partners in Time and Mario and Luigi: Superstar Saga takes Nintendo…
By Michael McWhertor Published July 31, 2009 - Uncategorized
We’re Hiring! A Tech Guy, That Is
Would you like to work for the Gawker Media empire, slaving away on the technology that powers our informative web sites? Then have we got the job for you, tech guy or tech gal! Here’s the official description from HR! Got a list of things you think need fixin’ on our sites? Well so do…
By Michael McWhertor Published July 31, 2009 - Uncategorized
Libraries Got Game
There are, perhaps, few more disconsonant scenes than of the austere silence of the library and the boisterous play of video games, but a growing movement is starting to put the two under one roof. Libraries around the country, from the Library of Congress, to university and community libraries, are beginning to archive, collect and…
By Brian Crecente Published July 31, 2009 - Uncategorized
Sega Sammy Bleeds $108 Million In Gold Rings, Reveals Conduit Sales
It was a tough quarter for Sega’s parent company, Sega Sammy Holdings, as the company announced losses of 10.293 billion yen ($108.85 million USD). It also revealed sales data on recent games The Conduit and Virtua Tennis 2009. Sega Sammy pulled in $639.4 million during the quarter, including video game sales, arcade and pachinko revenues.…
By Michael McWhertor Published July 31, 2009 - Uncategorized
Pearl Jam’s Backspacer Gets Day One Rock Band Release
Harmonix continues to jam as much Pearl Jam into Rock Band as they possibly can, with the band’s 9th studio album, Backspacer, available for download on the day it’s released. Pearl Jam is releasing their 9th album without any major record label assistance on September 20th, but they’ve got a pretty strong support system in…
By Mike Fahey Published July 31, 2009 - Uncategorized
A Boy And His Blob Preview: You Will Fail
Prepare for very nice graphics. And prepare to die. A Boy And His Blob, beloved NES platformer only some of us on the team have played, has inspired a Wii successor from the makers of the crushingly hard Contra 4. Oh yes, you will struggle in this one too, it seems. The guy from the…
By Stephen Totilo Published July 31, 2009 - Uncategorized
Top Devs Defect On Sony’s ‘The Agency’
Sony Online Entertainment‘s The Agency, the massively multiplayer spy role-playing game announced in 2007, may have hit a bit of a development snag, losing key personnel that includes the studio’s director and executive producer. Eurogamer reports that producer Matt Wilson, art director Corey Dangel, and producer John Smith have all defected from SOE and The…
By Michael McWhertor Published July 31, 2009 - Uncategorized
Jak & Daxter: The Lost Frontier Preview: Air Combat, Of Course
When I think of Jak & Daxter I don’t think of flight combat. But if that’s going to be 40% of the new game, so be it. It’s fun. What Is It? Jak & Daxter is an October PSP game set after the events of the console Jak & Daxter trilogy (that racing game doesn’t…
By Stephen Totilo Published July 31, 2009 - Uncategorized
Fallout 3: Mothership Zeta Trailer Beamed Up
The Fallout 3 Mothership Zeta downloadable content hits Xbox and Games for Windows Live on Monday, and Bethesda dropped off the official trailer, in case anyone still needs convincing. Nothing gets me in the mood for a little retro post-apocalyptic science fiction action-adventure like a little operatic chanting. It worked for the original Star Trek…
By Mike Fahey Published July 31, 2009 - Uncategorized
What Are You Playing This Weekend?
If things work out the right way this weekend, I’ll be playing a little Shadow Complex, just one of many still unreleased games I plan to dabble in during my free time. The others… I probably shouldn’t say. But I’ll definitely be making a few minutes for Fat Princess and Shadow Complex, maybe a little…
By Michael McWhertor Published July 31, 2009 - Uncategorized
TMNT: Turtles In Time Price Dropped Like A Foot Ninja
Ubisoft’s HD remake of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Turtles in Time will be just a bit cheaper than expected when it hits Xbox Live Arcade next week. TMNT: Turtles in Time Re-Shelled, the HD remake of one of the best mutant turtle video games ever created, was originally priced at 1200 Microsoft points, or $15.…
By Mike Fahey Published July 31, 2009 - Uncategorized
Scribblenauts Live Word-Test Preview: Just Say The Words [Concluded]
For the next hour, if you write a concrete, kid-friendly noun, I will try to test it in Scribblenauts. The DS game should render your nouns as objects. I’ll attempt to keep up in the comments. Event now over. I will ignore bad words, so don’t waste my time. Look for a preview of Scribblenauts’…
By Stephen Totilo Published July 31, 2009 - Uncategorized
Braid Coming To PlayStation 3, Says German Ratings Board
A PlayStation 3 version of Xbox Live Arcade hit Braid appears to be in the works, with Germany’s Unterhaltungssoftware Selbstkontrolle (USK) rating the latest port as of yesterday. That’s excellent news for PS3 owners. The USK (via NeoGAF) pegs Hothead Games, developers of Penny Arcade Adventures: On the Rain-Slick Precipice of Darkness and the Mac…
By Michael McWhertor Published July 31, 2009 - Uncategorized
Persona PSP Video Walkthrough
Listen to Atlus’ Aram Jabbari, as he walks us through the new features in the North American PSP remake of the original Persona. Aram goes over everything in this 7 minute-plus video, from the new dialog to the Snow Queen quest, which we already know is coming and doesn’t need to be framed with his…
By Mike Fahey Published July 31, 2009 - Uncategorized
The Goal: To Make A Game That Does Hip-Hop Right
Anthony Castoro wants to make a video game that gives hip-hop respect. In the process, he’s making an MMO set for 2012 release that happens to be attached to a rapper who is serving a year in prison. Yesterday, the Austin, Texas game development company Castoro co-founded, Heatwave Interactive, announced a partnership with top-selling rapper…
By Stephen Totilo Published July 31, 2009