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Reviews
Does For the Win…Win?
Groups of massively multiplayer online gamers from around the world band together to form…unions. No, wait, stay with me! For the Win is the latest book from Cory Doctorow, known for his work at website Boing Boing as well as his best selling novel Little Brother. The book is set in the near future in…
By Brian Ashcraft Published April 21, 2010 -
Yet Another Study: Brain Training Games Don’t Improve Intelligence
First it was French scientists who said brain training games like Brain Age do not work. Now, it’s UK scientists. As part of a nationwide study for a BBC television program, over 11,000 individuals used the “brain training” games for six weeks. Those in the study were up to the age of 60 years old…
By Brian Ashcraft Published April 21, 2010 -
Ladies, Do Not Try And Sell A Nintendo Wii Over Craigslist
A pair of women from Toledo, Ohio thought it would be a good idea to try and sell their Nintendo Wii consoles via Craigslist. Ladies: it is never a good idea to conduct video game business over Craigslist. In two completely unrelated incidents, one woman was assaulted when a prospective “purchaser” came to her home.…
By Luke Plunkett Published April 21, 2010 -
Report: Nintendo’s New 3D Portable Hits This October
Nintendo’s venture into 3D gaming, courtesy of the recently revealed Nintendo 3DS, will hit as early as this October, according to a new report citing a “very senior publishing source.” CVG says it has on good authority from multiple “industry sources” that the Nintendo 3DS, which won’t require 3D glasses to display potentially dazzling three-dimensional…
By Michael McWhertor Published April 20, 2010 -
Yes, There Are Actually Pokemon Batteries
Just what Japan needs: More Pokémon stuff. Whether it be Pocket Monster branded school buses or any of the endless heap of merchandise, Japan loves its Pocket Monsters. On May 25, these Maxell Pocket Monster batteries go on sale in The Land of the Rising Sun. Thunder Pokémon Raikou and thunderbolt Pocket Monster Electivire appear…
By Brian Ashcraft Published April 20, 2010 -
Japanese Poll: Only 8% Will Definitely Buy A Nintendo 3DS
The general public has yet to see the upcoming 3D-glasses-free Nintendo 3DS. It will be playable sometime this year. Exciting, no? Well, not to some folks in Japan. Nintendo has described the portable as allowing games to be “enjoyed with 3D effects without the need for any special glasses”. The Nintendo 3DS will succeed the…
By Brian Ashcraft Published April 20, 2010 -
European Volcano Causes Aussie Game Delays
You know how ash from the Icelandic volcano has disrupted plane travel to and from Europe? Well, we’ve heard there were video games on some of those cancelled flights. Mindscape, the Australian distributor for Konami, has told us that several of its upcoming releases have been delayed as a result of a new cloud of…
David Wildgoose Published April 20, 2010 -
Allow Me To Retort
As seen on Reddit via Hawty McBloggy
By Brian Ashcraft Published April 20, 2010 -
Art Can Be Games Too, You Know
Games as art? Not my kind of discussion, really. Games can be what they want to be, and what you want them to be. Whatever. But art as games? Now this is something I can get behind. Italian group AIOMI put this together, showing that as dour as the old lady is, the Mona Lisa…
By Luke Plunkett Published April 20, 2010 -
Nintendo’s Kooky, Room-Moving Wii Accessory Kit
Tired of moving your Wii from one room to another? No, me neither, but just in case you are the type of person who has to shuffle their console from room to room, Nintendo’s new “Wii Migration Connection Kit” has you covered. Out now in Japan, and as an official first-party deal, it’s a box…
By Luke Plunkett Published April 20, 2010 -
Nintendo Blames DS Piracy For 50% Sales Drop In Europe
Nintendo has been cracking down hard on sellers of R4 cartridges (and similar devices) lately. Want to know why? The Japanese company is blaming them for a 50% drop in sales of DS games in Europe. According to a report on the Asahi Shimbum’s website, Nintendo reckons sales of the devices – which allow users…
By Luke Plunkett Published April 20, 2010 -
What The New iPhone Could Mean For Gaming
The new iPhone 4 that our colleagues at Gizmodo have been showing the world adds a second camera to what is one of the world’s fastest-growing gaming platforms. Think a second camera could change iPhone gaming? The addition of a front-facing camera makes the iPhone that much closer to a Nintendo DSi, the latest in…
By Stephen Totilo Published April 19, 2010 -
How To Raise A Nerd
My oldest son is seven years old. When he was born, I named him a geeky middle name for one reason: To fulfill his destiny as a nerd. Let’s be honest. I am a nerd. Perhaps, you are a nerd, too. We could even been kindred nerd spirits or bitter nerd enemies nerd-raging at each…
By Brian Ashcraft Published April 19, 2010 -
The Nintendo Download: Mega Man 4 And Not Much Else
I’m not saying it’s a slow week for the Nintendo Download, but when Mega Man 4 for the Virtual Console is the most exciting title in the lineup – okay, I’m saying it’s a slow week for the Nintendo Download. I mean, there may be joy to be found in three more installments of the…
By Mike Fahey Published April 19, 2010 -
The McDonalds Nintendo DSi
A few weeks ago, I showed you every Nintendo DS that had ever been released. Turns out I missed one: the official McDonalds Japan DSi console! While we knew that staff in Japanese McDonalds restaurants were being trained on Nintendo’s handhelds, we had no idea they were being trained on official, company-branded consoles. And tastefully-branded…
By Luke Plunkett Published April 19, 2010 -
No Star Fox? Nintendo, You Have A Volunteer
There has not been a new Star Fox game, recently. The sci-fi adventure series debuted in 1993 and saw a Nintendo DS title in 2006. It’s now 2010, and where’s a new Star Fox game? When game site GamesTM told series creator Shigeru Miyamoto that it would like to see a new Star Fox game,…
By Brian Ashcraft Published April 19, 2010 -
A Look At Pokemon Black & White Walking Gameplay
Pokémon Black & White is the completely new Pocket Monster series that will be out later this year. We have already seen the first screenshots. But screenshots don’t move. Gameplay does. Japan’s Sunday morning kiddy show Pokémon Sunday provided the first look (and super brief look) at gameplay. And by gameplay, we mean walking through…
By Brian Ashcraft Published April 19, 2010 -
Reminder: Our WarioWare D.I.Y. Contest Ends at Midnight
That’s midnight Kotaku time, so, seven hours from now. If you’ve been perfecting your Kotaku-themed WarioWare D.I.Y. mini-game to win the enormous grand prize package Nintendo’s put up, now’s the time to wrap things up and go gold. So be sure to visit the contest page – where you’ll find all the rules and conditions…
By Owen Good Published April 18, 2010 -
Nintendo DSi XL Off To A [Adjective] Start In U.S.
In March, the Nintendo DS had a hell of a month, selling more than 700,000 units to portable gamers in the U.S. That was the same month the pumped up Nintendo DSi XL launched. How’d it do? According to NPD figures cited by Gamasutra, the XL version of Nintendo’s DSi system moved 141,000. Which is…
By Michael McWhertor Published April 16, 2010 -
How Hard Should A Video Game Be?
Indie game developer Edmund McMillen has written a fascinating article on the difficulty of determining the difficulty level of a game like Super Meat Boy, complete with plenty of helpful illustrations like this one. When the members of Team Meat aren’t busy getting ready for the summer release of Super Meat Boy, they like to…
By Mike Fahey Published April 16, 2010