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TABLE OF CONTENTS January 2009 Outside Looking In Persona 4: Reflecting The Self by Leigh Alexander An American Tale Mr. McGee Goes to Hong Kong by Brian Ashcraft What’s In Your Gamer DNA? In Search of Wisdom from the Crowd of Gamers by Owen Good The Wii’s Gray Christmas Supply Catches Up With Scalpers by…
By Michael McWhertor Published January 31, 2009 - Uncategorized
Another Non-Ad: Killzone 2’s “Super Bowl” Spot
Super Bowl Ad? Fan-made? Web only? Lots of chatter taken as gospel says this cost Sony $5 million to air tomorrow. No. No one spends seven figures for that kind of music and writing. Bottom line, there’s a list of Super Bowl ad sponsors. And while Sony’s on it, it’s for two movies, not for…
By Owen Good Published January 31, 2009 - Uncategorized
Epic Explains Gears Meltdown
A digital certificate that expired on Wednesday borked the original Gears of War for PC players; Epic is working up a fix. Meantime, VP Mark Rein has given an explanation and an apology. Note: Folks, I broke the headline and it’s taking a while to flush out of our system cache; the correction’s been made.…
By Owen Good Published January 31, 2009 - Uncategorized
Sage Advice, but Not Viral Marketing
Lots of you have pointed us to this – a highway roadside sign in Austin, Texas, warning of ZOMBIES AHEAD. Is this viral marketing for Resident Evil 5? I checked with a source at Capcom. Answer: “99100 percent sure it is not.” This kind of thing would have to go through Capcom HQ in Tokyo,…
By Owen Good Published January 31, 2009 - Uncategorized
Your Comprehensive List O’ Street Fighter IV Achievements
The value of achievements, on a gamer level, may be debatable. On the publisher level, if nothing else, their announcement is one more tool to hype a game pre-release. Street Fighter IV, which drops Feb. 12 in Japan, Feb. 17 in North America, Feb. 20 in Europe, offers 47 achievements for 1000 Gamerscore for all…
By Owen Good Published January 31, 2009 - Uncategorized
Mass Effect Patch OTW for PC
PC players rejoice; Bioware says an omnibus patch for Mass Effect is in the works. While not specifying its content just yet, it’ll likely address issues discussed on the Bioware forums. Bioware community dude Chris Priestly said they’ve been observing “the different Mass Effect PC forum communities” and gathering feedback. Both BioWare and Demiurge will…
By Owen Good Published January 31, 2009 - Uncategorized
Mario Explains Relationships for Us
It’s no secret I peek at Reddit when I’m working weekends. But last week its contributors made something too hilarious not to share: An extremely dark view of relationships, in the context of Super Mario Bros. Around Wednesday a user kicked it all off with “Mario Explains It: Lesson 001.” (Above) The guy was clearly…
By Owen Good Published January 31, 2009 - Uncategorized
Developer Reaches Back-Pay Deal With Government
Sensory Sweep, accused of not paying its 200 workers since at least October, has entered into a consent agreement with the federal Department of Labor under which current and former employees will be repaid. The agreement is in a consent injunction ordered by a federal judge on Thursday. It grew out of an injunction the…
By Owen Good Published January 31, 2009 - Uncategorized
Well, That Didn’t Last Long
Remember Duck Hunt for the iPhone? Yeah, it was booted from the App Store, and not because of its piece of shit controls and absence of the Asshole Dog, either. LawlMart’s Duck Hunt was “developed” on the “iPES” for the iPhone and iPod touch, and just in case that didn’t rip off Nintendo’s IP enough,…
By Owen Good Published January 31, 2009 - Uncategorized
Can B-Movies Make an A-List Game?
Headstrong, developer of House of the Dead: Overkill, thinks they can. In this video, the creative staff discuss the game’s grindhouse style and how this won’t necessarily be a rail shooter. Of course, this isn’t the first M-rated game for the Wii. Seventeen titles have gotten it for “Blood and Gore” even. But it’s definitely…
By Owen Good Published January 31, 2009 - Uncategorized
THQ Axes a Hundred as it Fixates on Smart Phones
THQ fired 100 employees following a decision to shift its mobile game development to the smart phone platform only. Three studios are closing, in San Diego, the U.K. and Germany. VentureBeat’s Dean Takahashi reported the development yesterday. Previously THQ had made games for all kinds of phones. Now they’re focusing only on smart phones —…
By Owen Good Published January 31, 2009 - Uncategorized
Rumor: World of Goo Publisher Files for Bankruptcy Protection
GameDaily BIZ cites an unnamed industry source that Brighter Minds Media, publisher of the acclaimed World of Goo, has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. The move would allow the company to retain control over its operations while it reorganizes to pay its creditors. We searched the filings for U.S. District Court in the Southern…
By Owen Good Published January 31, 2009 - Uncategorized
Kotaku Originals: Broken Record
Not the good kind either, the roid-infused home run record kind. I mean the old-school “broken record” which repeats the same phrase until you lift the needle. In this case: Workers fired, business sucks. Here’s the roundup of Kotaku’s original reporting the last week: Umlauts: Köööööln!!! Third Prize is You’re Fired: Rumor: Need For Speed…
By Owen Good Published January 31, 2009 - Uncategorized
Penny Arcade Survey Offers A Terrifying Glimpse Into Gamer Demographics
For those who did not take part, last week Penny Arcade ran a survey on their site. Asking for details on the site’s readers. Since 38,000 people responded, we find the answers very interesting. I mean, 38,000 people? That’s a hell of a lot of people/internet gaming nerds. It’s a veritbale gaming census. So let’s…
By Luke Plunkett Published January 31, 2009 - Uncategorized
What’s Your Comfort Game?
Time for…drum roll please…Tell Us Dammit — no, make that TELL US DAMMIT. Here’s who it works: We ask a question, you answer it. Simple and no strings attached! This isn’t some marketing survey or whatever. It’s an emotional investment in you. Yes, we’re interested in knowing you, Kotaku reader person. You probably know fucktons…
By Brian Ashcraft Published January 31, 2009 - Uncategorized
Lost TV Show Goes A Little Bit FPS, A Little Bit Rock N’ Roll
We’ve seen it in a sequence in Doom already, but that was a movie about an FPS, so it doesn’t count. This, though – an FPS sequence in the TV show Lost – counts. Counts for…something. What it is, exactly, we’re not sure. But hey, since there’s a very good chance the writers and creators…
By Luke Plunkett Published January 31, 2009 - Uncategorized
A Week In Comments
Ryu Ga Gotoku 3 Has Mandatory Install Comment by: phinehas Well, it was either the mandatory install or they cut off a finger. Midway Finds New Chairman In Booty Comment by: Modus_Operandi Nominated by: Spoony Bard So now Booty is synomous with Midway. People are going to have their hands full with Booty. But dont…
By Brian Ashcraft Published January 31, 2009 - Uncategorized
Nintendo Has Some New Graphs To Help You Understand Its Success
Nintendo is doing well. The “$17 billion in sales last year” type of well, with more than $2 billion in profit. To help illustrate just how smashingly the company is doing, it generated some charts. Sure, the Negative Nellys out there are going to point out falling profits, but just look at those brightly colored…
By Michael McWhertor Published January 30, 2009 - Uncategorized
Kyoto Prefecture Still Using DS For English Instruction
Back in 2006, we brought word that middle and high school students in Kyoto Prefecture’s Yawata City were using the DS to study vocab. Now, in 2009, the front page of today’s Yomiuri Shimbun says… Elementary school students in Kyoto Prefecture’s Yawata City are using the Nintendo DS to study English starting this April. The…
By Brian Ashcraft Published January 30, 2009 - Uncategorized
There Is A Fourth, Mysterious Need For Speed Game In Development
EA have hit the big, red reset button on the Need For Speed franchise. As we heard, three new games are coming. No, wait. Seems there are four new games coming. Blackbox – despite recent layoffs – still have the manpower and the time to work on not just NFS: World Online, but a “future…
By Luke Plunkett Published January 30, 2009