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  Noby Noby Boy Delayed

  This morning, we kinda hoped Noby Noby Boy would be out later this month. “Any day now”, even. Sadly, tonight we’ve got word that it won’t be out this month. It’ll be out next month. On February 19. And it’s February 19 for a worldwide, simultaneous release. So, around a month or so. Not too…

  By Luke Plunkett Published January 22, 2009
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  Mario & Sonic Getting Winter Olympics Game

  Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Games was a big hit for SEGA. Big hits typically mean one thing: Sequels. According to this “exclusive” for Spanish Nintendo magazine Nintendo Acción hints at Mario and Sonic teaming up again for a winter games version of Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Games. Here’s a translation from…

  By Brian Ashcraft Published January 22, 2009
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  First Physics, Now AI Is Being Moved To Your Graphics Card

  Once was a time a graphics card handled just that. Graphics. But these days? Nvidia cards already handle physics processing, and by next year both Nvidia and ATI cards might handling AI as well. Speaking with Custom PC, representatives from both graphics card manufacturers say that “they’re working on GPGPU-accelerated AI in games”, and that…

  By Luke Plunkett Published January 22, 2009
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  SEGA Is Counting Down To… A WiiWare Game

  That SEGA countdown clock (oh how we hate countdown clocks!) may still be counting down, but the game’s already been revealed in this week’s Famitsu. The game is called Pole’s Big Adventure and being produced by Takao Miyoshi (Phantasy Star Universe). The game is a tongue-planted-firmly in cheek send-up of retro side-scrolling Famicom games. The…

  By Brian Ashcraft Published January 22, 2009
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  GameStop Pre-Owned Sales: The Numbers (And The Horror)

  Of all their reprehensible practices, GameStop’s trade-in process may be the worst. Pity, then, that so few of you are avoiding it, as sales of pre-owned gear in 2008 were up, up, up. The company’s sales as a whole were up 22%. If you think that was driven by sales of new games over the…

  By Luke Plunkett Published January 21, 2009
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  New PSP Title Offers Blasts of 30 Seconds Gameplay

  Upcoming Yuusha 30 (Brave 30) has players save the world in four different game modes — 30 seconds at a time. Each mode has its own main character and gameplay mode: A brave warrior in a side-scrolling action game, princess in a shooting game, a demon king in a strategy game and a knight in…

  By Brian Ashcraft Published January 21, 2009
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  LittleBigPlanet Dojo: Valentines Day, Groundhog Day, Chinese NY, WipeOut (?)

  The European community site for LittleBigPlanet has been updated to reveal what’s in store for the game’s DLC in the coming weeks. And what’s coming is mostly festive, partly in-house advertising. With Chinese New Years, Valentines Day and Groundhog Day all on the immediate horizon, the game will be celebrating with costumes for each holiday.…

  By Luke Plunkett Published January 21, 2009
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  Judas Priest Singer Trademarks Game Name

  Judas Priest frontman Rob Halford (aka “Metal God”) has copyrighted the title of a video game: Metal God. Clever, huh. The trademark was filed on January 11 of this year and covers “computer games; video games; and game controllers for computer games.” Details about said games are scant, and it might be to protect “Metal…

  By Brian Ashcraft Published January 21, 2009
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  At Least Ready At Dawn Is Hiring!

  If you’re one of the hundreds of video game developers finding yourself newly unemployed, you can always get a job at God of War: Chains of Olympus developer Ready At Dawn studios! The independent developer sounded the call for new talent today, looking for a few folks willing to relocate to sunny Santa Ana Irvine,…

  By Michael McWhertor Published January 21, 2009
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  Big Bang Mini Ships Today

  Wikipedia lies! Big Bang Mini didn’t go out on January 6 – it’s out today for the Nintendo DS. Big Bang Mini is a shooter where the projectiles are all fireworks and you spend about as much time dodging in the lower screen as you do making pretty things happen in the upper screen. There…

  By AJ Glasser Published January 21, 2009
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  There Will Be No More Killzone 2 Delays

  There’ll be no more delays for the oft-delayed Killzone 2. SCEA have just announced that the game has gone gold, meaning it’s finished, done, and ready for release. February 27 is the day it’ll be out on store shelves across the US, and to mark the occasion, Sony released this giant picture of the box…

  By Luke Plunkett Published January 21, 2009
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  Metal Gear Solid 4 Sneaks Past 1 Million Sold Stateside

  Konami’s PlayStation 3 exclusive Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots has crossed the million mark in the U.S., according to NPD sales data. Good news for Snake, but how about LittleBigPlanet‘s Sackboy? According to Gamasutra’s report on 2008 sales, NPD puts LittleBigPlanet sales at well over 600,000 copies for the holidays. Not bad,…

  By Michael McWhertor Published January 21, 2009
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  Mourn The Mature Wii Horror Game ‘Winter,’ You May Never Play it

  Bemoaning the lack of mature, long-session games on the Wii? Then you might want to avoid looking at n-Space’s aborted Winter, a survival horror game for the Wii that will, quite possibly, never be released. IGN’s exclusive look at Winter, from the developer of the lukewarm Gamecube title Geist, is about as depressing for “core”…

  By Michael McWhertor Published January 21, 2009
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  New Health Potion Adds “+160 HP” and Ginseng

  There’s a new video game-inspired energy drink in town. As if we needed another one. Harcos Inc. has released a new red Health Energy Potion to go with their blue Mana Energy Potion. Mind you, these aren’t in any way related to the Final Fantasy Potion drink beyond the basic concept of video game commercialization.…

  By AJ Glasser Published January 21, 2009
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  Pachter Breaks Up Fight Between Kaz, Greenberg, Claims Both Are Right

  Gentlemen, gentlemen, please. Why don’t we stop all this console manufacturer bickering and make peace? Wedbush Morgan analyst Michael Pachter says that PlayStation boss Kaz Hirai and Xbox 360 director Aaron Greenberg are both right. How can that be? Surely both mouthpieces, whether they’re boasting “official leadership in this industry” or whether they’re claiming the…

  By Michael McWhertor Published January 21, 2009
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  EA Confirms Cuts At Madden Developer

  What was rumor yesterday is now fact. Madden NFL, Tiger Woods and NCAA Football games developer EA Tiburon is home to the latest casualties at Electronic Arts, though numbers were not disclosed. The Orlando Sentinel is reporting that EA Tiburon’s Craig Hagen confirmed that cuts were made to the 650-plus employee strong studio in Maitland,…

  By Michael McWhertor Published January 21, 2009
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  Mailbag: From Two Years of Harassment to the Anthropology of Kotaku

  To: Ash From: Crecente Re: Wash Your Hands? Gargle? I think maybe, people don’t understand the sheer volume of emails we receive in a given day. And how incredibly different they can be. A bulk of the emails I receive are either tips, people contacting me from a company or bloggers/writers asking for advice. But…

  By Brian Crecente Published January 21, 2009
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  Team Fortress 2 Getting One More New Gameplay Mode

  Valve’s team-based shooter Team Fortress 2 may have at least one more gameplay mode left in it, according to the developer’s Robin Walker. On top of that, a tenth class is in the works. You’re just going to have to wait a while to see what that tenth class — previously teased in a Left…

  By Michael McWhertor Published January 21, 2009
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  Sony To Cut 2,000 Employees, Kill TV Plants In Japan

  Sony head honcho Howard Stringer will announce on Thursday plans to eliminate 2,000 full-time jobs and close two television manufacturing plants in the face of a projected $1.1 billion loss, reports Japan’s Nikkei Daily. Potentially more painful to Stringer is a reported plan to cut managerial and executive bonuses for the year. Nikkei reports that…

  By Michael McWhertor Published January 21, 2009
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  New “Rock Band Game” Name Dropped

  What’s this then about a new Rock Band game? The reference comes from, of all places, Vic Mignogna, best known as the voice of Edward Elric in Fullmetal Alchemist and his work in quite a few Dragon Ball Z games. About 6 minutes into part five of a six part recording taken from the Winter…

  By Brian Crecente Published January 21, 2009