• Culture

  You’re Never Too Old For Giant Mechanical Death Machines

  Galan Pang works as an artist at CCP’s Shanghai studio, where he’s done some amazing stuff for upcoming shooter Dust 514. The gallery below contains images both from that game and his personal works, in which killer giant mechs feature prominently You can see more of Galan’s work at his personal site and his CGHub…

  By Luke Plunkett Published September 14, 2012
• CultureTotal Recall

  Getting to the Bottom of the Akira Game That Might Not Have Sucked

  For such a beloved manga and animated film, poor Akira hasn’t had the best of luck when it comes to video games. Amidst the wreckage of the awful NES and Amiga adaptations of the movie, though, there always lingered the promise that a cancelled Akira project – one destined for the SNES, Genesis and Mega…

  By Luke Plunkett Published September 14, 2012
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  CultureTotal Recall

  The History of Video Games Gets, Uh, Weirdly Sexual Towards The End

  This bizarre little piece of animation was originally intended to serve as the intro to a German documentary about video games. The idea was to take existing characters from the history of games and “reinterpret” them, to match the series’ brief to present the everyday lives of MMO addicts. I can kind of see that,…

  By Luke Plunkett Published September 14, 2012
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  Valve Has a Sweet New Portal Turret That Actually (Sort of) Works

  Valve artist Realm Lovejoy tweeted this video earlier in the week, saying “Look at what I helped unbox today at work”. Which is a lot calmer than how I would’ve said it. “Oh my GOD look at this just LOOK AT THIS” is all I’d be able to manage, before ducking behind a couch for…

  By Luke Plunkett Published September 14, 2012
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  Metal Gear’s Insane Plot, as Told by Someone Who Hasn’t Played the Games

  The wonderful Zac Gorman gets more detailed about the plot for the Metal Gear games than I could ever manage. He’s pretty much spot-on, right? The plot to the Metal Gear Solid series as described by someone who has never played it [Magical Game Time]

  By Luke Plunkett Published September 14, 2012
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  The First Proper Trailer For The Next Game From The Resistance Guys

  Well. Was this song worth the hold-up for Fuse’s debut trailer? Either way, here’s the debut trailer for Fuse, from Insomniac, a game about futuristic soldiers with guns viewed from the third-person and which uses cover as a basic mechanic. You can learn more about the game from Evan’s big preview published earlier today

  By Luke Plunkett Published September 14, 2012
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  These “Fans” Aren’t Happy About Bayonetta 2

  One of the bigger surprises today wasn’t just the reveal of Bayonetta 2, but the news that it’s been locked down as a Wii U exclusive. Good news for anyone looking to pick up Nintendo’s console, but bad news for 360 and PS3 owners who had no such plans. People like this. Here, for your…

  By Luke Plunkett Published September 14, 2012
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  Nintendo Land is 2012’s Wii Sports

  Like Wii Sports was to the Wii, Nintendo is going to need something small, fun and easy to learn if “new” players are going to get hooked on the upcoming Wii U. Nintendo Land is surely going to be that game. Well, provided you actually buy it, since only the “premium” version of the console…

  By Luke Plunkett Published September 13, 2012
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  For Those With a Fetish, Here’s the Wii U’s Box Art

  Not for the games, we knew about those already. This is what the actual console’s box will look like when it goes on sale in the US in November. I like it. Classy. It’s simple, it’s bold, it doesn’t try too hard to sell you on STUFF, at least not on the front.

  By Luke Plunkett Published September 13, 2012
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  If Adulthood Were A Children’s Toy, It Sure Would Suck

  Yeah, being an adult kind of sucks sometimes. It’s certainly not as much fun as being an 80’s action figure! This funny (and kinda dark) fake trailer asks the question: “What if adulthood had its own toy commercials?” My thinking is that a lot more people probably wouldn’t buy adulthood, but that’s just me. If…

  By Kirk Hamilton Published September 13, 2012
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  Everything You Need to Know About The Wii U (That Nintendo Was Willing To Tell Us)

  The new Wii is called the Wii U. It’s coming out in America on November 18 and will cost $299, not counting hidden costs. Nintendo blasted out a ton of news about it today. But they didn’t tell us everything. Here’s What We Know It’s $299, for the basic version that includes the console (which…

  By Stephen Totilo Published September 13, 2012
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  Chinese Developer Straight-Up Rips off Facebook Game

  We’ve seen Chinese and Vietnamese “developers” flat out copy successful Flash games, and steal visual assets from titles like Torchlight before. Now they’ve taken it upon themselves to rip off an actually good Facebook game, Woodland Heroes, a real-time strategy game made by alums of the studio that makes Madden NFL Worst part? The copycats…

  By Owen Good Published September 13, 2012
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  Happy 20th Birthday, Harley Quinn! You’re Getting This Stunning Statue to Celebrate.

  I mean, she should be right? The Dark Knight’s always beating up on her puddin’ and spoiling all her psychotic, malicious fun. But, darn if she doesn’t look downright flirty here, in a new statue coming from DC Collectibles. The piece—sculpted by Jack Matthews—stands about 9.25 inches tall and sports the character design that debuted…

  By Evan Narcisse Published September 13, 2012
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  A Moment To Remember The Song That Sold Borderlands

  As we sit here waiting for the launch of Borderlands 2, it’s easy to forget that a lot of people thought that the first game was going to be a huge flop. It was a new idea amid a flood of sequels, and a totally untested quantity—did we really need another first-person shooter? Why would…

  By Kirk Hamilton Published September 13, 2012
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  Amanda Palmer Asks Musicians To Play For Free, Pisses Off Musicians [Update]

  Now is the time on Kotaku Melodic where we talk about a music thing that’s not really games-related. Y’all have been warned. Okay, here we go! It’s an old story: Famous, beloved musician raises a crapload of tour money on Kickstarter. Said musician writes an enthusiastic blog post asking for volunteers to play with her…

  By Kirk Hamilton Published September 13, 2012
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  Fantasy Drafts Are Returning to Madden‘s Career Mode

  The official Twitter feed for Madden NFL 13 just announced that fantasy drafts—a mainstay feature of the game’s franchise mode for nearly a decade—will return to the game’s Online “Connected Careers” mode tomorrow. Fantasy drafts dispersed the entire NFL population of players and allowed franchise holders to reconstitute their teams through a league-wide “draft” of…

  By Owen Good Published September 13, 2012
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  Okay, I’m Ready To Set The FarmVille 2 Theme Music On Fire Now

  Well, that didn’t take long. I’ve been playing FarmVille 2 for just over a week, and I am 100% ready to light the theme music on fire. Listen to it. It’s up top. Now imagine that music plays every single time you load up the game. Every. Single. Time. FarmVille 2 isn’t really a game…

  By Kirk Hamilton Published September 13, 2012
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  The London Philharmonic Is Totally Going To Record The Music From Fez (And Some Other Games, Too)

  You may recall that a while back, we held a vote to help the London Philharmonic determine which music they’d include on their follow-up to their first “Greatest Video Game Music” album. Many a vote was cast, and in the end, Mass Effect 3 won. Which was a lit-tle bit awkward, since IGN also held…

  By Kirk Hamilton Published September 13, 2012
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  Balloon Trip Breeze Brings Back Memories of the NES’ Balloon Fight

  What I recall of Balloon Fight on the Nintendo Entertainment System was whaling on one button or the other to maintain altitude, to the point of thumb cramps. Balloon Trip Breeze, the Wii U’s obvious homage to the NES classic, relies on the use of a stylus with the Wii U GamePad’s touchscreen, as Kotaku‘s…

  By Owen Good Published September 13, 2012
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  Mario Gets His Race On In “Boost Rush” Mode For New Super Mario Bros. U

  At Nintendo’s press event today, Jason took a look at the new “Boost Rush Mode” for New Super Mario Bros. U for the Wii U. Here, you can see the mode in action—it involves pushing the screen to scroll faster by hitting boost blocks. Also, check out the nifty secret Luigi finds near the end.

  By Kirk Hamilton Published September 13, 2012