Do you feel like reviews ruin games for you? I used to buy games based on word of mouth or advertising alone when I was younger, now I check reviews for everything before buying it (Usually check IGN.com). How many great games am I missing out on because they didn’t appeal to the guys that…

EA Sports Looking To Amazon, “Mommy Bloggers,” Not Metacritic For Wii Reviews

Game publishers think Metacritic review score averages are a Big Deal. EA boasts—and frets over—its own Metacritic scores in earnings calls. Others base bonuses on aggregate arbitrary numbers. But EA’s Peter Moore isn’t as worried about Metacritic averages. At least not when it comes to Wii games. The EA Sports’ label president tells Gamasutra that…

World At War Map Pack 2 Tomorrow

The second Call of Duty: World at War Map Pack drops tomorrow for the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360. Here’s the trailer for the most interesting bit – the Shi no Numa zombie map. Shi no Numa is the map that proves that Japanese World War II soldiers can be the living dead, as can…

Mythic Delivers Code-Laden Human Skull

Of all the packages I was actually looking forward to today, a human skull emblazoned with a secret code for an in-game Warhammer Online item was definitely not one of them. Being a member of the video game press is fun, especially when simulated human remains wind up on your doorstep. My cats really appreciate…

Seventeen Magazine Gets An MMO

Teen bastion of style and sex tips, Seventeen Magazine, is signed up with Habbo.com to create an online interactive world for its readers. Break out the virtual lip gloss. According to Media Week, Seventeen will supply Habbo with articles, quizzes and polls for the MMO while Habbo will host a Seventeen Beauty Salon section where…

Jimmy Fallon Brings Love of Gaming From SNL To Late Night

Tonight on his NBC late night show, Jimmy Fallon will talk video games with Microsoft. It won’t be the first time that gaming has cropped up on the show, and Fallon promises it won’t be the last either. “We are treating game openings like movie openings if they’re cool,” he told Kotaku. “Video games are…

Name This Game Development Studio

They work in a brick building next to my brother’s laundromat. They’re making a sure-fire hit game this fall. Name them, please. The answer is below… (Photos snapped by me on Friday, a day after attending an MIT commencement ceremony.)

Valve Responds To Left 4 Dead 2 Boycott, Vows Support For Original

Valve’s E3 announcement that Left 4 Dead 2 would hit this year, almost one year to the day after the original, has seen mixed response. Nearly 25,000 fans of the original have pledged not to purchase the sequel. Why? As outlined in the Left 4 Dead 2 boycott group‘s manifesto, that group of fans believe…

EA: Burnout Devs Making “Revolutionary” Need For Speed

At E3, the head of EA told us that Burnout and Need For Speed won’t be merged into one brand. Instead, team Burnout is shifting, for now, to make a new Need For Speed. During my interview with EA CEO John Riccitiello last week at E3, I asked if EA’s two big racing brands, Need…

Bioshock 2 Will Explore Other Philosophies, More Moral Choices

Most of the pleasure I found in playing Bioshock came from the story and the development team’s deft use of Ayn Rand’s objectivism in the game. When I met with Alyssa Finley, executive producer for Bioshock 2, that’s the first thing I wanted to know. Bioshock was a solid shooter, but not one that stood…

Famitsu Senses More Tingle From Nintendo

Nintendo’s upcoming line-up may have more than just new appearances from Link, Mario and Samus, as the venerable fairy Tingle from The Legend of Zelda: Majora’s Mask may be starring in a new game of his own. The newest issue of Famitsu teases Tingle’s return, offering little more than an elfin sprite, the text “Fairy?”…

ESRB President Calls For iTunes Game Ratings

When Apple talked up the upcoming firmware upgrade for their iPhone and iPod Touch they touched on the fact that it will now allow you to block movies and TV shows based on content. But what about games? Currently the only way you can lock out the ability to download specific games on the portables…

EverCracked! The Phenomenon of EverQuest

Continuing the 10th anniversary celebration for EverQuest, Sony Online Entertainment is debuting a full-length documentary on the game at this year’s SOE Fan Faire, with Jace Hall adding flavor. While I find the story of EverQuest’s origin interesting enough without Jace’s particular brand of humor, perhaps the attendees at the SOE Fan Faire in Las…

EA Re-Thinking How You Spend Your Gaming Money

Pirated copies of The Sims 3 temporarily rattled EA. Burnout Paradise DLC came too late. And Battleforge is now part of the hardest market in gaming. So said EA’s CEO to Kotaku in a conversation about games and … money. As the head of EA, John Riccitiello can talk games better than most CEOs, and…

Fixing Prototype PS3 Install Issues

A small number of PlayStation 3 owners are having trouble installing Prototype on their consoles. Here’s how to trick your PS3 into letting you play, straight from Activision support. Some PS3 owners are experiencing an error that tells them there is not enough space on their hard drive to install Prototype. Activision is working on…

Star Wars Battlefront: Elite Squadron Preview: Land, Air and Space

We may never see the full-blown glory of what was to be Star Wars: Battlefront III coming to a console, but at least the portable versions of the franchise lives on. What Is It? Star Wars Battlefront: Elite Squadron will have players take on the role of clone trooper X2 who switches sides to join…

Ngmoco Says No-Go To iPhone 3GS Exclusives

Leading iPhone game publisher Ngmoco has no plans to release exclusive games for the newly announced iPhone 3GS, instead offering a more creative way to take advantage of the new model’s increased graphical power. MTV Multiplayer, the website that used to be Totilo’s playground, spoke to Ngmoco co-founder Neil Young on the subject of the…

What Games Are We Tweeting About?

Interested in finding out what titles have gamers Tweeting like crazy? Look no further than Tweet My Gaming, a new website from the creators of GamerDNA. Tweet My Gaming is a site that provides a constant feed of video game tweets from everyone who tweets them. It tags video game names and then captures any…

Joy Ride Preview: Take It Easy

Avatars, long-caged in Xbox 360 waiting rooms, finally have a chance to cut loose on dirt race tracks, better still Joy Ride is free for Xbox Live members. Well, free if you don’t spend a dime on customization, new tracks or tricks. Is Joy Ride a fun freebie from Microsoft or a Trojan Horse packed…

America’s Army 3 Invades Steam

The third installment of America’s Army is now available for pre-loading on Steam one week ahead of its June 17th release date. Yes, America’s Army 3 is only a week away from release, and right now you can pre-load the game/recruitment tool on Steam so you’re ready to drop into the action as soon as…