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  Supposed Video Game Developer ‘Spy’ Had Worked on Language-Learning Game for Department of Defense

  The death sentence imposed on Amir Mirzaei Hekmati today by the Iranian government charges that the U.S. citizen and Marine was “waging war on God.” But his activities for a video game development company appear to be quite different than the nefarious CIA-funded actions his televised “confession” implied last December. In his so-called confession on…

  By Stephen Totilo Published January 9, 2012
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  The Secret World Shines a Spotlight on the Illuminati

  Of the three secret societies vying for power in Funcom’s supernatural MMO The Secret World, the Illuminati is probably the most well-known. That’s probably not a good thing. I mean when your secret society has a Wikipedia page you’re probably not quite as secret as you think you are. Just because you can’t see them…

  By Mike Fahey Published January 9, 2012
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  SSX Gets Its First Real-Life Athlete in The Art of Flight’s Travis Rice

  The tricks and uber-moves you pull off on EA’s SSX games use reality only as a jumping-off point, quickly spiraling into the arcade-y stratosphere. Not a lot of pro snowboarders would fit into this snowy universe. Travis Rice, however, is one of them. As seen in the 2011 documentary The Art of Flight, Rice rides…

  By Evan Narcisse Published January 9, 2012
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  “Stuff Gamers Say”

  Kotaku columnist Leigh Alexander has put together a funny collection of “Stuff Gamers Say” over at the mumbling/entertaining/frustrating online magazine Thought Catalog. Top points for “Time to Crate” reference.

  By Kirk Hamilton Published January 9, 2012
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  Kotaku‘s Guide to Gaming in the Year 2012

  Another year, another twelve months filled with new game releases, extravagant gaming events, and big hardware releases. How can anyone hope to keep them all straight? Kotaku‘s 2012 Gamer’s Calendar is here to help. This massive infographic (suitable for framing) represents the biggest and baddest games, hardware releases, and gaming events of the year, listed…

  By Mike Fahey Published January 9, 2012
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  iCade Houses Your iPhone in the D-pad Dock of Your Dreams

  iCade, the iPad accessory that started as a April Fool’s Day joke evolves into an all-new form just announced at CES 2012. iCade Mobile lets you slide your iPhone or iPod Touch into a d-pad style sheath that provides physical inputs for your on-the-go gaming. You’ll get four face buttons and two shoulder buttons. Now…

  By Evan Narcisse Published January 9, 2012
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  PlayStation Vita’s AT&T Data Plan Comes in Two Flavors, No Contracts

  The data plan for the 3G version of Sony’s hot new portable gaming system, the PlayStation Vita, will run you $15 for 250 MB or $25 for 2GB. There are no contracts, AT&T reps said during a presentation at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas. The 3G PlayStation Vita costs $300. The Wi-Fi only…

  By Stephen Totilo Published January 9, 2012
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  Used Game Sales Up, Console Sales Down at GameStop

  GameStop, the biggest gaming-centric retail chain in the U.S. says its sale of gaming consoles was down 19.6% over the holidays, a sure sign of slowing sales (blame the Wii). Used game sales were up 3.5%. Blame… GameStop!

  By Stephen Totilo Published January 9, 2012
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  Call of Duty Elite Comes To iDevices Tomorrow, Letting You Tweak Loadouts on the Go

  Some hardcore fanatics might say that Call of Duty’s a major part of their life. Thinking about killstreaks, prestiges and perks in Activision’s multi-developer FPS series takes up a large part of their days and their nights get spent filling online opponents full of bullet holes. It’s these players who’ve flocked to Call of Duty…

  By Evan Narcisse Published January 9, 2012
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  X-Com: Enemy Unknown Will ‘Re-imagine’ Classic X-Com. First Screens Prove It.

  X-Com Enemy Unknown, the first shock gaming announcement of 2012 will be a “re-imagining” of the original X-Com game and will play as a mix of real-time and turn-based strategy, according to the first tantalizing details revealed by Game Informer magazine today. The upcoming fall 2012 console and computer game, which is being made by…

  By Stephen Totilo Published January 9, 2012
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  New Toshiba TV Promises Glasses-Free 3D for Nine* People

  Toshiba’s got a $10,000 TV at the big Consumer Electronics Show that can display glasses-free 3D—a la the Nintendo 3DS—for up to nine people, though four’s optimal. Engadget says it’ll be out by the end of March.

  By Stephen Totilo Published January 9, 2012
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  Assemble Your Very Own Avengers Team on Facebook

  Step into the steel-toed boots of S.H.I.E.L.D.’s Nick Fury and recruit a team of super-powered friends to save the world from Marvel’s most wanted in Marvel: Avengers Alliance, coming soon to Facebook. Okay, so it’s not the big-budget Avengers video game we were hoping for. Marvel: Avengers Alliance might be even better. Instead of playing…

  By Mike Fahey Published January 9, 2012
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  Feast Your Eyes on Five Minutes of Humans-vs-Zombies-vs.Humans in This Resident Evil: Operation Raccoon City Trailer

  The newest Resident Evil game definitely falls into the Survival Action category of things, per the chart seen here. We get a chance to see what kind of action will be on tap in the clip above. There’s running, gunning, explosions and a few familiar faces, too. You’ll get your chance to visit Resident Evil’s…

  By Evan Narcisse Published January 9, 2012
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  Mortal Kombat Komplete Edition Kollects DLC, MusiK and 1995 MK Movie This February

  Mortal Kombat made a bloody and triumphant return to consoles last year, giving gamers updated versions of classic Kombatants like Sub-Zero and Johnny Cage and an all-new engine that offered more depth than ever before. The game also mined the fighting franchise’s long history to offer a drip-feed of DLC that rolled out skins and…

  By Evan Narcisse Published January 9, 2012
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  Could Serious Sam: BFE Be the Perfect Game?

  In these heady days of Skyrim, Portal 2, Batman: Arkham City, and The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword, have we overlooked a hidden gem in Serious Sam 3: BFE? Commenter DocSeuss seems to think so, and he’ll tell you all about it in today’s Speak Up on Kotaku. Is Serious Sam 3: BFE a perfect…

  By Mike Fahey Published January 9, 2012
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  Iran Sentences Alleged Video Game Developer ‘Spy’ to Death [UPDATE]

  A U.S.-born man who appeared to confess on Iranian state television last month that he allegedly spied for America—actions that supposedly included doing work for a video game development studio purported to be a CIA front—has been sentenced to death by the Iranian government. Iran’s Revolutionary Court found Amir Mirzaei Hekmati to be “Corrupt on…

  By Stephen Totilo Published January 9, 2012
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  Time-Traveling Talk Amongst Yourselves

  Today’s installment of Talk Amongst Yourselves went live at 10:20, like TAYs usually did. Right? You saw it then? You didn’t miss it, did you? We goofed today and missed running it then. Sorry, folks. But we’re back-publishing it to that time for those who look for it there. We apologize for our tardiness. Forgive…

  By Stephen Totilo Published January 9, 2012
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  Resident Evil 3 Vs. Resident Evil 4: Separating Survival Horror from Survival Action

  Not all horror video games are created equally. Some focus on creating an atmosphere of isolation and vulnerability. Others rely on shock to frighten the player, while making sure there’s enough firepower laying around to shoot horror right in the face. Confused? Perhaps this handy graphic will help. It’s the difference between Resident Evil 3…

  By Mike Fahey Published January 9, 2012
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  New Alan Wake Headlines the Next Xbox House Party

  The next Xbox 360 “House Party”—a promotional rush of a bunch of new downloadable games, probably released one a week—will be headlined by Alan Wake’s American Nightmare, according to a trailer that’s leaked through Xbox.com. Joystiq noticed it and we’ve watched it: It also includes the cool top-down body-hopping/barrel-possessing Warp, the disaster-survival game I Am…

  By Stephen Totilo Published January 9, 2012
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  Jumping and Doodles is all Doodle Sprint is About

  Sometimes a blatant clone of another game can be a terrible thing, other times, as contradictory as it is to say, it’s not that bad. Doodle Sprint is the latter. It is a shameless clone of always-runners like Canabalt, asking the player to simply tap (or hold) their fingers on the screen to make a…

  By Luke Plunkett Published January 9, 2012