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  You Got KOS-MOS In My Tales Of Hearts

  Recently released in Japan, Namco Bandai’s Tales of Hearts for the Nintendo DS features a slew of support-character cameos, including everyone’s favorite gnosis killing machine, KOS-MOS. Hearts features cameos from a wide variety of Namco Bandai’s characters from previous Tales games, but KOS-MOS here comes straight from the ill-fated Xenosaga series, which towards the end…

  By Mike Fahey Published December 29, 2008
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  Michael Phelps’ Game To Be The Next Tiger Woods Game

  505 Games is creating a game based on Olympic swimmer extraodinaire Michael Phelps, but can swimming carry a video game? Probably not. That’s where the pure action comes in. Swimming is a the sort of sport that is extremely exciting…for swimmers. 505 Games realizes this, and while there will be a healthy dose of watersports…

  By Mike Fahey Published December 29, 2008
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  Wired’s Annual Vaporware List In Need Of Retiring Or An Overhaul

  Like many gamers and gadget junkies Wired’s annual Vaporware list has long been a must read for me. But this year, not so much. Even ignoring the fact that their list includes Home, a game that has already come out and will likely remain in permanent beta, according to SCEA; the writers of Wired seem…

  By Brian Crecente Published December 29, 2008
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  WSJ: Lower PS3 Holiday Sales Equal Fading Hope

  An article in the Wall Street Journal today considers the state of Sony’s PlayStation 3 in the video game market, highlighting the fact that the console’s holiday sales had dropped considerably over last year’s. Citing NPD numbers as well as industry analysts, the article points out that November sales for the PS3 had dropped 19%…

  By Mike Fahey Published December 29, 2008
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  PS3 101: Ripping And Playing Music

  Sony ushers in a whole new batch of PlayStation 3 owners this holiday season with a series of videos showing how to get the most out of your shiny new console. The first video went up Friday, showing owners how to create their own photo slideshow on the PlayStation 3, something I’ve never really futzed…

  By Mike Fahey Published December 29, 2008
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  AP Gets Grumpy About Gaming

  The Associated Press has a list of grievances about video games this year, and who doesn’t. Difference is, they have a really, really big soapbox they get to stand on to air them. In classic Festivus style, AP decided now would be a good time to wrap up the year with their Airing of Grievances.…

  By Brian Crecente Published December 29, 2008
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  Here’s What Pool Revolution Looks Like

  Well we know from the previous post that Hudson has released Pool Revolution: Cue Sports for WiiWare today, and that it sports online multiplayer gameplay, but what does it look like? This, apparently. Pool games haven’t really had to change all that much since the PSOne days. There’s only so far you can go with…

  By Mike Fahey Published December 29, 2008
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  Weekly Wii Update: Maboshi, Pool, And More Star Tropics

  It’s the last Wii Update of the year! Will Nintendo make it count, or end the year with a whimper? Let’s see what two new WiiWare and one new VC titles have to say. Representing the final two WiiWare titles of the year we have a Nintendo first-party WiiWare game called Maboshi’s Arcade (800 points),…

  By Mike Fahey Published December 29, 2008
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  Chet Faliszek Talks Left 4 Dead’s Future

  Valve’s Chet Faliszek is one of the guys responsible for the dialog and writing in some of Valve’s greatest games, like Left 4 Dead and Portal. So when we invited him on for our Very Special Kotaku Christmas Podcast we had more important things to ask him about. Questions like, what’s going on with Old…

  By Brian Crecente Published December 29, 2008
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  Get A Present? Give A Present

  To: Crecente From: Ashcraft Gearing up for the big New Year’s holidays here in Japan. The entire country has already shut down. Last week, we sent out presents to family members who gave us presents for the Micro Bash’s birth. For celebrations here, you don’t really get presents (sometimes you do!), but rather, celebratory envelopes…

  By Brian Ashcraft Published December 29, 2008
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  Best Game Ads? No, These Are The Worst Game Ads

  Sure, video game ads are (generally) a classy, expensive affair these days, but in previous days, things weren’t so high-brow. They were dorky, they were cheap, they were low-brow. Doesn’t mean they’re not worth celebrating, though! Which brings us to the fourth instalment of 1UP’s “The Best Worst Videogame Ads”, which this time around feature…

  By Luke Plunkett Published December 29, 2008
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  Wow, Metal Gear Solid 4 Sold Out Today At Some Store

  Early Metal Gear Solid 4 reviews might have been too flattering, and the cutscenes might have been too long. But MGS4 is a solid title. And months later, it’s selling out today in Akihabara. Initial sales were strong, and while MGS4 is the biggest selling PS3 title in Japan, it topped off at 600,000 and…

  By Brian Ashcraft Published December 29, 2008
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  Sure, LittleBigPlanet Can Do First-Person, Why Not

  You may have heard whispers a few months back about LittleBigPlanet and the first-person perspective. Well, whispers be damned. Media Molecule already have the game running in first-person. Speaking with IGN, Media Molecule’s Alex Evans has – in response to questions about a first-person LBP – shown the site how the game’s levels can be…

  By Luke Plunkett Published December 29, 2008
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  Former Capcom Employee Talks Sexuality of Street Fighter IV Developer’s President

  Developer Dimps is responsible for developing Street Fighter IV for Capcom. Dimps president Takashi Nishiyama? “Pretty sure bisexual,” outs former Capcom employee Yoshiki Okamoto. In an interview with newly engaged James Mielke, Okamoto (1942, Forgotten Worlds, Folklore) dishes about the Dimps executive, who lives in the same apartment building: Mr. Nishiyama used to work at…

  By Brian Ashcraft Published December 29, 2008
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  Fallout 3 To Show 19 Other Nations What Post-Apocalyptic America Looks Like

  North America, Western Europe, Japan. Those are the three major gaming regions in the world. Fallout 3 being released there, no big deal. But Fallout 3 in the Balkans and Middle East? It’s a little more unique, especially when you consider many of the countries I’m about to name don’t often get dedicated “official” releases.…

  By Luke Plunkett Published December 29, 2008
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  Joypolis, Your Official Arcade Theme Song (With Added Schoolgirl)

  SEGA’s Joypolis amusement arcade has a theme song. This is it. Japanese crooner "talent" Nezumi Senpai sings it. There are tons of versions, including this one. Popopopopooooooooo. It’s stuck in our heads. Now it’ll get stuck in yours. You’re welcome. Youtube: Joypolis themes [Insert Credit]

  By Brian Ashcraft Published December 29, 2008
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  Resident Evil 5 Figures For Your Resident Evil 5 Playtime

  From emerging game figure POWERHOUSE NECA come these Resident Evil 5 figures. The first line will feature three characters, each of them 7″ tall, and should be out early next year. The three are stars Chris Redfield and Sheva Alomar, along with that fat bloke with the GIANT axe/hammer that’s starred in most of the…

  By Luke Plunkett Published December 29, 2008
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  Lorne Lanning Vaguely Talks Hollywood CG Film Project

  Last we heard, Oddworld creator Lorne Lanning had inked a deal with Hollywood to bring his vision, sci-fi actioner Citizen Seige, to life in a CG flick. What happened? Lanning tells Gamasutra’s Brandon Sheffield: “We’ve got the Citizen Siege film in development. And we now have an even better idea of why they call it…

  By Brian Ashcraft Published December 29, 2008
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  Halo Wars Features Royal Dancing, Party Games

  Halo Wars is an easy sell. It’s Halo, it’s real-time strategy, it’s on the Xbox 360. Don’t tell Amazon that, though. They’ve got their own idea of what the game’s like. This Amazon product pages list a game called Parent C. It’s got the Halo Wars box art and the description of…something else. Check the…

  By Luke Plunkett Published December 29, 2008
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  Xbox 360 Getting Lots of Shelf Space

  Before we start, things to keep in mind: This is at one store in Osaka’s electronics district, Den-Den Town. At this same store, something like ten people showed up for the Xbox 360 launch. Japanese otaku blog Ota Road points out the discrepancy between retailer Sofmap’s first floor in-store displays for the Xbox 360 and…

  By Brian Ashcraft Published December 29, 2008