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  Bruce Shelly And Ensemble Studios Say “Goodbye and Thanks”

  Ensemble Studios is being shuttered. The studio’s Bruce Shelly leaves us with one last (and bittersweet) blog post. He writes: “My expectation is that this is the final ES blog that I will write. I have enjoyed pulling it together for the past several years and sharing with you what I could about the inside…

  By Brian Ashcraft Published January 30, 2009
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  This Is The New Xbox Experience That Could Have Been

  Design firm Grid/plane worked with Microsoft on early design ideas for the New Xbox Experience. While the NXE we ended up with is a different beast, it’s interesting looking at what could have been. While Grid/plane’s ideas obviously centred around a new menu system, they also “dreamt up an immersive 3D environment for users to…

  By Luke Plunkett Published January 30, 2009
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  Has “Something Big Gone Wrong” At Nintendo?

  Respected analyst Hiroshi Kamide thinks so. Following Nintendo’s announcement last night of a cut in profit forecasts, Kamide thinks the revision was made because the company know “something big has gone wrong”. “Today’s revision suggests that the roaring pace of Wii growth that we’ve seen until now may be over”, Kamide told The Times. “The…

  By Luke Plunkett Published January 29, 2009
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  SEGA Making 20 Player Mecha Arcade Game

  Border Break: SEGA NETWORK ROBOT WARS is an upcoming, well, networked robot wars arcade game from, yes, SEGA. There’s not an official image of the game yet, but rather, a large question mark placeholder. The game will be unveiled at the upcoming AOU Show in Japan. What we do know: Border Break supports up to…

  By Brian Ashcraft Published January 29, 2009
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  Batman: Arkham Asylum Screenshots, Trailer

  While one Batman game lies rotting in the dirt, another, more promising title lives on. And it’s been a while since we heard/saw anything on Batman: Arkham Asylum, so let’s go take a look! Or, more importantly, let’s take a listen. Ah, Mark Hamill. You were born to play Luke Skywalker, but we live to…

  By Luke Plunkett Published January 29, 2009
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  Here Are Good Ways To Study English Says Japan

  In Japan, there’s a great interest in learning the English language. It’s big business. Japanese speakers have several options to learn the King’s lingo. These are the most popular. Based on data from internet information sharing company iSHARE INC., 413 individuals answered a poll covering how they studied English. Out of the sample group, 52.3…

  By Brian Ashcraft Published January 29, 2009
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  Rumor: Need For Speed PSP, EA Canada Staffers Axed

  Another batch of Vancouver area game developers are looking for work, as sources tell us that EA Canada‘s Burnaby location was the latest to be hit by Electronic Arts’ ongoing layoffs. The count numbered as many as 55 EA staffers, according to a regularly reliable source, one who tells us that the cuts might also…

  By Michael McWhertor Published January 29, 2009
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  Get Secondhand Lands For Free

  There are two things everyone needs when the economy’s down: free stuff and a lot of laughs. Looks like you can get at least one of those from Secondhand Lands. Secondhand Lands is a fantasy satire MMORPG starring such parodies as the Sugar Prune Fairy, Princess Pwnies of the Apocalypse and cable trolls. Starting today,…

  By AJ Glasser Published January 29, 2009
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  Take A Closer Look At Halo 3’s Mythic Map Pack

  The official Austrian Xbox blog has posted a few screenshots of Halo 3‘s Mythic Map Pack, along with – for the first time – some names and descriptions to go along with them. The first map – Sandbox – has a variety of vehicles at your disposal, as well as allowing extensive modification via Forge.…

  By Luke Plunkett Published January 29, 2009
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  Indiana Jones And The Staff Of Kings Revealed In New Nintendo Power

  We’ve already seen the trailer and been properly prepared by Nintendo Power‘s own teasing, so the cover treatment given to Indiana Jones and the Staff of Kings isn’t exactly a shocker. But we’ll take it! The March issue of Nintendo Power promises the first (print, we assume) look at LucasArts’ next Indy adventure, in which…

  By Michael McWhertor Published January 29, 2009
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  Yuusha 30: Turns Out Countdown Clocks Are Sometimes Warranted

  Marvelous Entertainment‘s PSP-bound Yuusha 30 looks clever. Clever enough for us to forgive them their use of a countdown clock teaser that led many to think it was The Legend of Zelda related. As already revealed by Famitsu, Yuusha 30 lets players save the world from evil “Demon Kings” thirty seconds at a time. It’s…

  By Michael McWhertor Published January 29, 2009
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  PlayStation Store Update: Savagely Mooned & Bejeweled

  So much to see! So much to do(wnload)! Whether you need PlayStation Network original games or new Sackboy outfits, there’s a lot to like about this week’s North American PlayStation Store update. Let’s look! Savage Moon and Bejeweled 2 give PlayStation 3 owners something new to play, while the new Final Fantasy XIII trailer gives…

  By Michael McWhertor Published January 29, 2009
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  We Require More StarCraft II Screen Shots

  The waiting for StarCraft II isn’t the hardest part. It’s determining which media is new. And these, we’re fairly certain, are new screen shots of StarCraft II. This one‘s definitely new. But this one? Pretty sure that last one is old. And by “old,” I mean internet old, possibly as ancient as three weeks under…

  By Michael McWhertor Published January 29, 2009
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  Reviewing Flawed Code

  To: Ash From: Crecente Re: Golly, Pie With Cheese Is Good I know I’ve ranted about this before, but I just don’t get how so many people can write reviews of games using early builds and just ignore the issues. Sure they’re issues that will most likely be fixed for retail release. But what if…

  By Brian Crecente Published January 29, 2009
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  Disney Confirms Cuts, Consolidations

  Disney Interactive Studios has confirmed to Kotaku “restructuring” at its Propaganda Games studio in Vancouver, clarifying that about half of the number of employees we reported affected by layoffs were let go. Exact numbers weren’t provided, but we were told that approximately 35 or fewer Propaganda Games staffers were laid off, with two development teams…

  By Michael McWhertor Published January 29, 2009
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  Is Your Copy Of Gears Of War PC Busted? Here’s Why

  Owners of the “Games For Windows” release of Gears Of War have found themselves unable to play the game they own today. The reason? An expired Windows digital certificate, which went digitally sour yesterday. Epic Games’ forum dwellers began kvetching about the issue within the past 24 hours, when presented with a warning that read…

  By Michael McWhertor Published January 29, 2009
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  Prince of Persia’s DLC to Bring Three More Hours of Gaming

  That new Prince of Persia downloadable content planned for a Feb. 26 release will add three new hours of gameplay to the title, Ubisoft said today. The still-unpriced-content will continue the story of the Price and Elika through the Underground Palace. Other pack goodies include: New Power: Energize – Reconstruct destroyed areas of the environment…

  By Brian Crecente Published January 29, 2009
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  Guitar Hero World Tour Finds Oasis Today

  Guitar Hero World Tour owners thirsty for new content can drink in Oasis’ latest, as Activision has made Dig Out Your Soul available as downloadable content. What can you look forward to? In addition to the Oasis tracks already released for World Tour, fake rockers can now jam to “The Turning,” “I’m Outta Time,” “(Get…

  By Michael McWhertor Published January 29, 2009
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  Deadly Creatures, Locked In Mortal Combat

  It’s a developer diary! It’s a nature documentary! It’s both! The developers of the upcoming Wii exclusive action adventure title Deadly Creatures talk up the combat abilities of the game’s two unique protagonists. From this installment of the Deadly Creatures development diaries, we learn that while the scorpion is a powerful brawler, the tarantula is…

  By Mike Fahey Published January 29, 2009
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  Update: Layoffs Hit Disney Interactive, Turok Sequel Canceled

  Disney is the latest in a long list of companies planning to pare down its workforce, with cuts and consolidations affecting Disney Interactive Studios. Layoffs are said to have already hit Turok developer Propaganda. Sources tell us that Vancouver based Propaganda Games is in the process of laying off approximately 70 employees. That reduction in…

  By Michael McWhertor Published January 29, 2009