-
- Uncategorized
Fifty-two Weekends
To: Luke From Owen Re: Chi Town This weekend was my 52nd on shift, which means I’ve done my first year with Kotaku. Coincidentally, Adam Barenblat has too. His friends in Boulder threw him a Happy Kaketaku Anniversary party yesterday. Now watch us find out there’s some sort of elaborate hazing ritual for your first…
By Owen Good -
- Uncategorized
Game Music as Porno Soundtracks
Bow-chika-bow-bow in chiptones would be bleep-dinka-bink-bink or something, right? Or it’d sound like this boot-knockin’ mixtape an obviously bored (and, today, who isn’t?) The -Minus World put together. Here are the five soundtrack candidates for the hot monkey sex you’ve always seen other people having but were too afraid to pay for yourself. • Killer…
By Owen Good - Uncategorized
Your DSiWare Block Sizes
For those who are holding in their hands Nintendo’s newest handheld, you might be wondering just how much DSiWare you can stick on it. Nintendo Everything has an early list of DSiWare file sizes. Remember that on the DSi, the 256MB of memory translates to 1024 blocks. And of that, 96 are taken up by…
By Owen Good - Uncategorized
Power Glove Adds Functionality; Still Not Necessarily Useful
In this, the 20th anniversary year of the Nintendo Power Glove, modder Matt Mechtley tricks it out with an accelerometer and bluetooth. But he still has to code some games to take advantage of it. Power Glove 20th Anniversary Edition — Build Video from Matt Mechtley on Vimeo. Writes Matt: It’s been 20 years now…
By Owen Good - Uncategorized
Week in Games: What has 64 Feet and No Pubic Hair
Why, the front row of a Hannah Montana concert! This week Hannah Montana: The Movie drops on not one but both (!!!) consoles I own, and McWhertor, surprisingly, hasn’t asked me to review it. Oh yes, that’s right, the core-gaming tween audience has finally found its crossover hit in Hannah, who comes to the 360…
By Owen Good - Uncategorized
Is this the Last “Old Time Rock & Roll” Ad?
A bunch of readers saw this last night during Saturday Night Live, the sequel or – one hopes – the conclusion to the Guitar Hero "Risky Business" series of ads. I run hot and cold on Bob Seger. “Old Time Rock ‘n Roll,” thanks to just about every wedding DJ I’ve ever heard, is presently…
By Owen Good - Uncategorized
Utah Lawmakers Need $25K to Override Veto of Anti-Game Bill
The Deseret News heaps the last spadeful of dirt on the grave of Utah HB353, saying the state legislature appears unlikely to call a veto session because of, well, money. The law would have provided people with the means to sue game retailers who advertised they were family friendly, and then were found to sell…
By Owen Good - Uncategorized
Answer Survey, Help Game Preservationists
You guys got opinions – put ’em to use. A researcher at the University of Maryland wants to hear from gamers on subjects like culturally significant games, how they should be preserved, emulation and others. Looking through the survey the researcher, Rachel Donahue, seems to be interested in what qualifies a game for being significance,…
By Owen Good - Uncategorized
Study Finds Games Reinforcing Positive Behavior, Too
Last year some researchers at three universities found, of course, that “violent games normalize our children to violence.” The same researchers, this year, say “prosocial” games can normalize kids to good behavior. Middle schoolers in Singapore and Japan, and college students in the U.S. were observed in three studies, according to the research, which has…
By Owen Good - Uncategorized
An Idea of How Large the Big Huge Layoffs Were
An anonymous tipster representing himself as an ex-Big Huge Games employee advised us to compare the studio’s current team page with a cached version and count up the missing men and women. Neither THQ nor Big Huge have formally confirmed the layoffs, but according to the links the tipster sent, it looks like at least…
By Owen Good - Uncategorized
The Race is Not to the Swiftest Spartan
This is a cool photo, but some realities quickly set in. Like what the inside of a Spartan helmet smells like after a 10K race. Granted, this guy is in much better shape, but I sound like Fatty McGee after a mile and a half with nothing obstructing my breathing. Elite runners need ventilation, too,…
By Owen Good - Uncategorized
Hearsay: Wii Fit Plus Dated in Europe?
If Nintendo’s exergaming success hacks you off, might want to stop here. A screen shot from a game shop out in Amsterdam says “Wii Fit Plus” is on the way mid-November. Perhaps more importantly, the Wii Motion Plus controller, and a Wii Sports 2 Resort, bundled with the controller, have drop dates of July 10.…
By Owen Good - Uncategorized
Sony Gets Chippy on Eve of DSi Release
As the weekend shopkeeper I’m not on most PR primary distribution lists. So the “Statement from Sony PlayStation on PSP and Competitive Landscape,” isn’t in my hands as I type this. But it’s out there. Oh, is it out there. Here’s the text of the release, republished on both Engadget and Wired, and attributed to…
By Owen Good - Uncategorized
Quick, Someone Go Squat on MadMenTheGame.Com
Trademark filings are sort of like optioning a book to Hollywood – the deal’s been done, but it doesn’t mean the movie/game will come to pass. Let’s hope it stays that way for “Mad Men.” The trademark for Mad Men, yet another Critically Acclaimed Drama on Cable TV that I’ve yet to watch, has been…
By Owen Good - Uncategorized
Team Fortress, (Semi-) Unplugged
This low-res take on Team Fortress’ lineup strikes me as a kind of MTV Unplugged homage. Take something iconic, render it in less than the state of the art, and see if it remains iconic. Answer: Yep. While I’m not sure of the practical application of a low-polygon version of these characters, it’s still cool…
By Owen Good -
- Uncategorized
I Wanted to Play Halo 3, But Then I Got High
ForgePorn I can sort of understand because, hell, people have been drawing dicks on everything since the time of cave paintings. But marijuana? Don’t kids draw on desks anymore? Bongs and bud are now a solid second place to bewbs when it comes to building illicit-themed Halo 3 levels, as this gallery shows. Although, some…
By Owen Good -