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Rock Band: Ten Million Served
While it’s been overshadowed at retail by Activision marketing juggernaut and Guitar Hero’s brand recognition, that doesn’t mean Harmonix’s Rock Band has been a slouch at the sales register. It was revealed yesterday during parent company Viacom’s financial earnings conference call that the series as a whole – adding up all variations of the game…
By Luke Plunkett Published February 13, 2009 - Uncategorized
Be Scary, And Yes, Win F.E.A.R. 2
The appropriately named King Frankenstein sends us this entry, writing only: “Hello Kotaku.” Creepy mask and short greeting — scary! We’re giving away a copy of multi-plat horror shooter FEAR 2: Project Origin. Here’s the contest: Masks are scary, so make a mask. You can make it out mask out of anything – but the…
By Brian Ashcraft Published February 13, 2009 - Uncategorized
Don’t Pay For Xbox Live, Pay For Designer Furniture Instead
Continuing their recent preoccupation with sending out ill-advised press releases, Sony yesterday told the world how to best spend $50. You know, the $50 so many of you spend on Xbox Live Gold subscriptions. With the PlayStation Network being free and all, Sony figure that the $50 you’re spending on Microsoft’s online service is $50…
By Luke Plunkett Published February 13, 2009 - Uncategorized
Namco’s Chocolate Bugs Valentines
Happy Day-Before-Valentine’s Day! Japanese game maker Namco knows what’s best for Valentine’s Day: chocolate shaped like bugs. De-licious. Namja Town, Namco’s food amusement park — yes, Namco has food amusement parks in Japan — is offering a set of four kabuto-mushi beetles made of chocolate. Priced at ¥4,500 (US$50), the set includes one Hercules beetle,…
By Brian Ashcraft Published February 13, 2009 - Uncategorized
Cricket Coming Back To Consoles
Ever since the Wii debuted, it’s been crying out for a cricket game. It’s got baseball, so why not cricket? And ever since Peter Moore took over EA, he’s been talking niche sports games. There’s no better way to bring the two together than with EA’s Cricket ’09, which has leaked into the public consciousness…
By Luke Plunkett Published February 13, 2009 -
UncategorizedDead Space Was Developed For Xbox
EA’s horror title Dead Space has had a long gestation period. The game was originally slated for the original Xbox. The above clip was shown during a presentation called “Creating Horror and Immersion with the Art of Dead Space” that was given by the game’s art director Ian Milham at this year’s Animex game and…
By Brian Ashcraft Published February 13, 2009 - Uncategorized
The Death Of Print: January 2009 Edition
No question that print media is dying. Only question is how long it’ll hold out. In the interests of keeping tabs on things, then, let’s take a look at Future Publishing’s latest British circulation numbers. With the demise of Ziff Davis’ print empire in the US, Future are now top dog in the world of…
By Luke Plunkett Published February 13, 2009 - Uncategorized
The World Is Ready For An $11,000 Diamond Mario Pendant
Who said economic times are tough? Not the makers of this Mario pendant, who somehow feel that a global recession is just the right time to be launching a diamond-encrusted Mario pendant worth around $11,000. It stands 4.5″ tall, and is coloured to match Mario’s distinctive overalls and hat. The frame is made of 10K…
By Luke Plunkett Published February 13, 2009 - Uncategorized
PSP Reaches 50 Million In Worldwide Sales
The PSP has crossed an important sales milestone. The Sony handheld gaming console has sold over 50 million units worldwide. The PlayStation Portable went on sale December 12, 2004 in Japan, March 24 the following year in North America and September 1 of that same year in PAL regions. Slimmer models have been introduced since…
By Brian Ashcraft Published February 13, 2009 - Uncategorized
Taipei Game Show Gets Real Life PlayStation Store
The Taipei Game Show is underway in, wait for it, Taipei. The Sony Computer Entertainment Taiwan booth even has a PlayStation Store. Yes, an actual PSN Store! People can even touch it. This Taipei Game Show store is packed with demo kiosks and Sony goodies available for purchase — goodies like Sony cats Toro and…
By Brian Ashcraft Published February 13, 2009 - Uncategorized
Microsoft Responds To January NPD Sales, Seems Pleased
Microsoft sold over 300,000 Xbox 360 consoles in January. That’s cause for celebration in the halls of Redmond, as the company’s gloating presser boasts of not only strong software sales, but record Xbox Live numbers. Seems January 2009 was the “single biggest month ever for Xbox LIVE”, which leads us into a presser which sees…
By Luke Plunkett Published February 13, 2009 - Uncategorized
What Do You Say To A Man Dressed As Chun Li?
Well, if you are Street Fighter: The Legend of Chun Li star Kristin Kreuk, you knee ‘im the chopper, that’s what. During a Tokyo press conference for the upcoming Hollywood flick, comedian Suzuki Q Taro showed up dressed as Chun Li, saying, “I’m the real Chun Li.” Kreuk unleashed an actor’s attack, sending Q-chan through…
By Brian Ashcraft Published February 13, 2009 - Uncategorized
And January’s Top 20 PC Games Were…
It’s not just console NDP figures we’re getting today. There are PC charts, too, (though again sans hard numbers) showing which games sold the most at retail for the month of January. Will the results shock you? Of course they won’t. Of the 20 titles, eight were published by EA and five by Blizzard, leaving…
By Luke Plunkett Published February 13, 2009 - Uncategorized
Kill Bill Actress Selling Xbox 360 Resident Evil 5
Chiaki Kuriyama, Kill Bill‘s Gogo Yubari, will be appearing in Japanese TV ads for the Xbox 360 version of upcoming survival horror title Resident Evil 5. “I’ve played Resident Evil before,” says Kuriyama, “and I can’t wait for the upcoming entry in the series. I played it a little before we started filming the commercial,…
By Brian Ashcraft Published February 13, 2009 - Uncategorized
Nintendo Responds To January NPD Sales, Seems Pleased
Blah blah blah Nintendo sold the most consoles for the month blah blah blah 679,200 Wiis blah blah blah 510,800 DSs blah blah blah. Man, this gets repetitive, doesn’t it? To you and I, maybe, but sure not to Nintendo, who continue to be pleased – no, very pleased – with the way the current…
By Luke Plunkett Published February 12, 2009 - Uncategorized
Monster Hunter 3 (tri-) Dated… Sorta
Wii title Monster Hunter 3 (tri-) has been dated. The game will be released “this summer” in Japan. Capcom’s only provided a release window and has yet to release its pricing. Originally slated as a PS3 title, the game was announced for the Wii in 2007 due to high development costs. カプコン・辻本良三氏「『モンスターハンター3』は今夏発売」と発表 [Gpara]
By Brian Ashcraft Published February 12, 2009 - Uncategorized
Sony: Big PSP Games Are Coming, We Promise
The PSP keeps selling, but Lord only knows who’s buying it. It’s certainly not people playing games on it, because aside from a few notable examples, the handheld has been starved of quality lately. You know it. I know it. And Sony, Sony know it, SCEE’s Claire Backhouse telling MCV: Granted, perhaps there hasn’t been…
By Luke Plunkett Published February 12, 2009 - Uncategorized
Gamers Gang Up On Tiger Woods
Pro gamers went up against athletes at the Gillette-EA SPORTS Champions of Gaming Global Finals in Florida last Tuesday. The result? Total domination by the gamers. Most of the star athletes were defeated in their own games. Tiger Woods went down before 52-year-old Tiger Woods PGA Tour 2009 world champ, Steven Ward. New Orleans Saints…
By AJ Glasser Published February 12, 2009 - Uncategorized
Ken Levine and Todd Howard on Teddy Ruxpin
Want to know what happened at that panel where their Stephen Totilo and Newsweek’s N’Gai Croal talked shop with Ken Levine and Todd Howard? They talked about Teddy Ruxpin. The actual topic of discussion was whether hardcore gamers should fear the Wii. The answer? Good luck getting a definitive one from this vid. You could…
By AJ Glasser Published February 12, 2009 - Uncategorized
Square Enix: “Dragon Quest IX Delay May Affect Final Fantasy XIII”
Dragon Quest IX is going to be delayed — blame fatal bugs for that! Is DQIX‘s postponement is going to affect another big Square Enix game Final Fantasy XIII? Square Enix president Yoichi Wada explained, “The next term’s schedule has been fixed yet. Presently, I cannot say what kind of effect we will experience from…
By Brian Ashcraft Published February 12, 2009