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  Gears of War Movie Will Be Like Lord Of The Rings But “Harder Edged”

  Live Free Or Die Hard director Len Wiseman is helming the Gears movie and co-writing it with Fast & Furious scribe Chris Morgan. And yes, Wiseman is not a gamer, but a grabber. Admitting that he “sucks” at video games, Wiseman (pictured, with friend) happened on Gears when he was asked to select a video…

  By Brian Ashcraft Published January 23, 2009
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  Here, The Full Guitar Hero: Metallica Tracklist

  We don’t need ESRB leaks. Metallica themselves have gone one better and released the full, complete tracklist for the upcoming Guitar Hero: Metallica on the band’s website. And it’s a good one. You’ll find most of the band’s older classics represented (“One”, “Master of Puppets”, “For Whom The Bell Tolls”, etc), and should also find…

  By Luke Plunkett Published January 23, 2009
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  More Microsoft Layoffs Hit Game Testers, Games For Windows Group

  Sorry. More Microsoft layoff news. Seems in addition to the Flight Sim and Gamerscore sackings, Microsoft have also laid off a number of testers, as well as members of the Games for Windows team. According to Venturebeat, around 30% of Microsoft’s video game testers have been shown the door, so if your next Microsoft Games…

  By Luke Plunkett Published January 23, 2009
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  Onechanbara – Easy On the Eyes, Not On The Wallet

  Half the appeal of the Onechanbara hack-‘n’-slash games on PS2 was the price. With that gone, all you’ve got is the other half – the one with the boobs. Onechanbara: Bikini Zombie Slayers for the Wii retails for $29.99 while Onechanbara: Bikini Samurai Squad will set you back $39.99. The Wii game is supposedly a…

  By AJ Glasser Published January 23, 2009
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  AJ on X-Play – Yes, I’m a Girl, You Can Stop Speculating

  A couple of weeks back, I climbed on a soapbox about the media frenzy surrounding video games in connection with real life violence or tragedy. This week, I got to go on X-Play’s Head-to-Head segment for a repeat performance with considerably less bearing* and more boob. Enjoy! Head-to-Head: Videogames in the Mainstream Media *When you…

  By AJ Glasser Published January 23, 2009
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  U.S. Senator Doesn’t Want Microsoft To Fire People

  Yes, Microsoft is slashing 5,000 jobs: 1,400 of them this week and another 3,600 over the next 18 months. U.S. Senator Charles Grassley wants to stop this bloodletting right now. “I am concerned that Microsoft will be retaining foreign guest workers rather than similarly qualified American employees when it implements its layoff plan,” the Iowa…

  By Brian Ashcraft Published January 23, 2009
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  Atlus Teases More Devil Summoner For America

  Good work, Atlus. Your “Atlus Faithful” e-mail newsletter works like a charm, because every Kotaku reader and his mother just tipped us off to the near-existence of another Shin Megami Tensei game coming stateside. The game? Well, we’re not sure, since Atlus’ only communication, outside of the teaser picture above was “???” in the e-mail…

  By Michael McWhertor Published January 23, 2009
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  Indiana Jones and the Staff of Kings Hits Wii In Spring, Says New Trailer

  Looks like Indiana Jones’ video game adventures might not be completely canceled, at least according to a newly (and unofficially) released trailer for Indiana Jones and the Staff of Kings for the Wii. Wait, the Wii? Yes, it looks like rumors about Indy’s demise on the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 platforms were pretty accurate…

  By Michael McWhertor Published January 23, 2009
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  L.A. Noire Developer Hiring Some Folks To Help Actually Finish The Thing

  Remember L.A. Noire, the “interactive detective story” set in the late 1940s, set to be published by Rockstar Games? Apparently, so does the developer, Team Bondi, who are staffing up to maybe actually finish it. The Sydney, Australia area dev — headed by Brendan McNamara, former Director of Development for Sony’s Team Soho Studio which…

  By Michael McWhertor Published January 23, 2009
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  Animal Crossing: Wild World Tops 5 Million Sold In Japan

  We’re calling it: Animal Crossing: Wild World is a hit with the Japanese. A pretty bold claim, we know, but with five million copies under its belt in Japan alone, we’re feeling pretty confident. Japanese sales tracker Media Create revealed that the Nintendo DS game is the second title for the platform to move past…

  By Michael McWhertor Published January 23, 2009
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  Newspapers, Yes, They’re Still Dying

  To: Ash From: Crecente Re: Japanese Baby Clothes Don’t Cause Choking Hazards. Apparently. I was talking to some friends in the newspaper business today about the future of print media. What a depressing topic. What bothers me most about the seemingly inevitable death of print is how blase everyone seems to be about it. What…

  By Brian Crecente Published January 23, 2009
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  Raw Thrill’s H2Overdrive In VideOH MY GOD!!!

  Specular Interactive and Raw Thrills’ arcade sequel to Hydro Thunder in-everything-but-name looks good in stills. But the powerboat arcade racer H2Overdrive looks amazing in motion. Let’s watch some videos! 1UP has the first in-action clips of H2Overdrive and my goodness does it look lovely. It’s so Hydro Thunder-esque, from its race starting “Go! Go!! Go!!!”…

  By Michael McWhertor Published January 23, 2009
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  WipEout Stylists The Designers Republic Shuts Down

  The UK design studio largely responsible for the identifiable visual style of Psygnosis’ WipEout series, The Designers Republic has shut its doors after more than two decades in business. Why? Money problems. The Designers Republic founder Ian Anderson tells the Creative Review that the studio, which handled visual work on titles like WipEout and WipEout…

  By Michael McWhertor Published January 23, 2009
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  Don’t Blame the Recession, Blame the Developers

  News of game developers slashing thousands of jobs this week and shutting down studios, seems to dispute the notion of a recession-proof video game industry. But video games are indeed recession proof, it’s the developers and publishers who aren’t. “A recession is about the impact on sales, and layoffs are a function of profitability,” said…

  By Brian Crecente Published January 23, 2009
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  More Guitar Hero: Metallica Tracks Revealed By ESRB

  The slow drip of song reveals from Guitar Hero: Metallica continues, thanks not to Activision or the media, but the ESRB. We’ll know the full tracklisting next week, reportedly, but here are three more songs. According to the ESRB’s description, Guitar Hero: Metallica features some potentially objectionable lyrics. Specifically in Social Distortion’s “Mommy’s Little Monster,”…

  By Michael McWhertor Published January 23, 2009
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  House of the Dead Overkill – Terror, Horror, Flesh, And Ice Cream

  Sega’s House of the Dead: Overkill isn’t just another House of the Dead game. It’s a House of the Dead game with one hell of a nice trailer. Can’t say the visuals in the trailer do much for me, and I’ve never really been a big fan of the House of the Dead series outside…

  By Mike Fahey Published January 23, 2009
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  Hands All Over Street Fighter IV Tournament Edition Fight Stick

  I know what I’m going to be doing this week. Mad Catz just sent me one of their choice Street Fighter IV Tournament Edition Fight Sticks to review for the Xbox 360. Forget for a second that this beast of a controller sports arcade parts, and just look at the thing. It’s friggin beautiful. It…

  By Brian Crecente Published January 23, 2009
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  Second Hit Of Grateful Dead Coming To Rock Band

  The downloadable content for Rock Band keeps on truckin’, with a second bowl full of Grateful Dead tracks due to hit the game’s music store starting January 27th. What can Dead Heads look forward to? Another half-dozen jams, all master recordings, all $1.99 (160 Microsoft Points) each. The Grateful Dead Pack 02, priced at $9.99…

  By Michael McWhertor Published January 23, 2009
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  Do you have the skills to DESIGN the game?

  If so, graduate to a future in Game Art & Design with The Art Institute of Pittsburgh – Online Division. Our unique program is your first step toward becoming an artist and designer in the multi-billion-dollar game design industry. You’ll learn how to design game play and background, create characters and their environments, and apply…

  By Chrissie Lamond Published January 23, 2009
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  Halo Wars The Video Documentary: Part 1

  For those of you who’d rather not fill your Xbox 360 with a nice-sized chunk of video, here’s the first in a series of video documentaries for the real-time strategy game Halo Wars. It almost serves as an introduction to the real-time strategy genre for those fans of the series who are used to the…

  By Mike Fahey Published January 23, 2009