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  Steve Wiebe Explains His Stampede Score

  If you saw this week’s King of Stampede, you might have wondered “Why the hell was Steve Wiebe getting a certified score on that game?” In this outtake, I asked, and he answered. Steve also explains how he ended up with a cameo in “Four Christmases” (as “Jim”, the husband-who-never-talks, playing Donkey Kong on the…

  By Owen Good Published January 3, 2009
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  Kotaku Originals: Holiday Clearance

  We rounded up the year in Kotaku Kontent, did some podcast postapalooza, and unveiled our nominees for the Goaties this week. Oh, and managed to get in posts about farting and pee-pee. Here is your week in original coverage, with another reminder that the weekend-mans gets a New Year’s holiday too, so we’re running a…

  By Owen Good Published January 3, 2009
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  A Field Guide To Second Life Animal Hybrids

  As some of you were confused about the difference between what Second Life denizens call furries and what they call nekos, or hybrids, I thought I would take a moment to clear things up. Since the dawn of time, man has had close bonds with the animal kingdom. Many Native American tribes revered animal spirits…

  By Mike Fahey Published January 3, 2009
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  Lord Of The Rings: Conquest: PC System Requirements

  Pandemic have released the PC system requirements for upcoming Middle Earth kill-em-all LotR: Conquest. Going by the install size and specs, looks like a straight console port. Which is OK. Means it’ll run! From the game’s official forums: System Requirements =================== Lord of Lord of The Rings: Conquest™ requires at least the following: FOR WINDOWS…

  By Luke Plunkett Published January 3, 2009
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  Some People Use The PS3 For Web Browsing, Less People Use The Wii

  Business Research firm Market Share have released statistics outlining global internet browser share. Internet Explorer and Firefox are obviously the two largest, but what about the PlayStation consoles and Wii? Surprisingly, enough “PlayStation” owners (guess they’re counting both the PS3 and PSP) use their system’s browsers to make a dent in the global rankings, with…

  By Luke Plunkett Published January 2, 2009
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  WET Still Dripping In These New Screens

  Been a while since we heard from WET. Probably because it was being published by Sierra, and then left in limbo after the whole Activision-killed-Sierra thing. It’s still due for release this year, though. Apparently. At least, developers A2M are still working on it, and have released a bunch of new screenshots for the game.…

  By Luke Plunkett Published January 2, 2009
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  People Magazine Plugs Atari, Snubs Nintendo in “Celebrate the ‘80s!”

  The latest special issue of People celebrates the Atari 2600 as the console that “ruled the interactive gaming world” in the 1980s – no mention of the original Nintendo, Sega Master System or even Coleco Vision. I’m not sure why People Magazine is even celebrating the 80s in the first weeks of 2009, but if…

  By AJ Glasser Published January 2, 2009
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  Science Doing Some Science On Wii Fit

  Does Wii Fit work? It’s hard for me to tell, personally, as my Little Debbie Zebra Cake intake ratio is tied proportionally to my progress in the non-game. See, I’m not a scientist. Thankfully, researchers at the University of Mississippi — specifically researcher Scott Owens — are evaluating Wii Fit‘s ability to make you more…

  By Michael McWhertor Published January 2, 2009
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  Metal Gear Solid 4 Cast Does… Group Therapy Improv?

  In quite possibly the most bizarre clip of 2009, the cast from Metal Gear Solid 4 improvises a scene in which they’re “suffering from delusions of being the characters they portray in the game.” Voice actors David “Solid Snake” Hayter, Jennifer “Naomi Hunter” Hale, Paul “Colonel Roy Campbell” Eiding, Christopher “Otacon” Randolph, and Quinton “Raiden”…

  By Michael McWhertor Published January 2, 2009
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  Next LEGO Game Is…LEGO Rock Band?

  A “source” has told VG247 that Traveller’s Tales’ next LEGO game won’t be Star Wars. Won’t be Indiana Jones, either. Won’t be Robocop, won’t be Predator, won’t be Halo. It’ll be LEGO Rock Band. Seems the rumour stems from an interview on Britain’s Radio One last night, in which TT swore a new LEGO game…

  By Luke Plunkett Published January 2, 2009
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  What’s Microsoft Announcing At Its CES Keynote?

  Next Wednesday, Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer will kick off the Consumer Electronics Show with a keynote that will likely involve chairs being thrown and perspiration-soaked Brooks Brothers shirts. But what about product announcements? Um… It doesn’t sound like Microsoft is bringing much in the way of big guns, at least if Techcrunch’s report on details…

  By Michael McWhertor Published January 2, 2009
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  Problems With Puzzle Quest iPhone

  Puzzle Quest is no stranger to gameplay bugs in any of its myriad releases, but the iPhone version deleting characters takes the cake for the “kick in the shins” category. According to forum posts on touchArcade and my own awful experience on a six hour car ride, heroes are randomly deleted from the game. You’ll…

  By AJ Glasser Published January 2, 2009
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  EA, Take-Two Deal Makes Media Deals Worst Of List

  Congratulations, Take-Two. You win second place on the list of 10 worst media deals of 2008. Spurning Electronic Arts’ offer to buy you got the attention of some list-making investors, who hailed your decision. Oh, they hailed it as a massively missed opportunity, considering EA offered to buy your stock at a premium of $25.75…

  By Michael McWhertor Published January 2, 2009
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  White Knight Chronicles Has Solid, If Not Spectacular Week In Japan

  Role-playing game White Knight Chronicles has been the focus of much attention for its perception as a great white hope for the PlayStation 3 in Japan. It is from Level 5, after all. You know Level 5, developers of the best selling Professor Layton series for the Nintendo DS, entrusted with Square Enix’s most recent…

  By Michael McWhertor Published January 2, 2009
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  Rain Delay

  To: Ash From: Crecente Re: That New Year Smell We had to put off publishing our Game of the Year awards until Monday due to a technical glitch. Blame it on pregnant chads or Boca Raton voters. Saturday we’re leaving El Paso, driving back to Denver over the weekend. As much as I love visiting…

  By Brian Crecente Published January 2, 2009
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  iPhone Game Lets Your Pecs Battle With Push Ups

  Looking at the bird chests of the Kotaku editorial staff, you’d think we don’t know from push ups. But we’re thinking, thanks to PushupFu for the iPhone, we’ve got more chiseled cleavage in our future. Normally, we avoid “exergaming” but PushupFu, one entry in a planned series of exercise focused Fu Apps for the mobile…

  By Michael McWhertor Published January 2, 2009
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  The Clip Where Dead Rising Wii Thrashes Out, Almost Redeems Itself

  Dead Rising Wii was at TGS. Was almost the worst thing there. Truly awful. Yet at the same time, it was almost the best thing there, because this clip was playing at the demo booth. We’d forgotten all about it, but Capcom Japan have seen fit to release the clip – performed by Gagaga SP,…

  By Luke Plunkett Published January 2, 2009
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  PixelJunk Expands By Three In 2009

  What does 2009 have in store for the PlayStation Network? At the very least, two more PixelJunk games. At most? Maybe three! Q-Games founder Dylan Cuthbert briefly outlined his company’s 2009 plans for the series. He writes on the official U.S. PlayStation blog that “two or three more PixelJunk titles [will be] coming out” in…

  By Michael McWhertor Published January 2, 2009
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  Yes, Roy Orbison Is Coming To Rock Band Next Week

  Harmonix confirmed today what you may have already had leaked all over you: a Roy Orbison six-pack is hitting the Rock Band series next week. The tracks? You already know. “Claudette”, “In Dreams,” “Mean Woman Blues,” “Oh, Pretty Woman,” “Ooby Dooby,” and “You Got It,” six tracks that span nearly years worth of Orbison’s career.…

  By Michael McWhertor Published January 2, 2009
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  Vibras Five.One Surround Sound Headset Review

  The Vibras Five.One from Track Scan delivers big Dolby Digital surround sound in a tiny package. It boasts that it’s “the only headset to earn Microsoft’s authorization as ‘Licensed for Xbox 360’.” Is that enough? Manufacturer Track Scan purports that the Vibras is “unsurpassed in its superior audio quality,” offering up an Xbox 360 tailored…

  By Michael McWhertor Published January 2, 2009