Xbox

AC IV‘s Controversial, Online Singleplayer Features Make Game Easier

The fun, rich single-player campaignof Assassin’s Creed IV: Black Flag is more enjoyable and less tedious if you play the game with an active online connection. Without a connection, multiple valuable features are not available. Curiously, the game’s publisher Ubisoft seems to be walling its online features off unless users activate an online pass, dubbed…

Why Batgirl Would Make the Batman Video Games Better

Warning: mild spoilers follow for plot points in Batman: Arkham Origins So, Barbara Gordon didn’t become Batgirl in the latest Bat-game. It was a longshot, sure, since this was a prequel focused on Bruce Wayne’s maturation into the role of Batman. But, after playing the freshly released Batman: Arkham Origins, I came away thinking that…

No, China, Master Chief’s Battle Suit Is Not Real

The U.S. military is working on new “smart armour.” And state-controlled China Central Television recently covered the gear by passing off fan-made Halo battlewear as U.S. military concepts. This is not a joke. The program was New Defence Observations, a military show (read: propaganda), on Channel 7. On the October 19 episode, which is recently…

Forget About Titanfall Ever Coming to PlayStation [Update]

In a conference call to investors, Electronic Arts’ Blake Jorgensen just said that Titanfall is, “for the life of the title,” exclusive to Xbox One, Xbox 360 and PC. So the game is not a timed exclusive to Microsoft platforms. Titanfall’s Microsoft exclusivity has been well known since the title was announced at E3 but…

Tips For Playing Assassin’s Creed IV: Black Flag

Assassin’s Creed IV: Black Flag is a vast game. Edward Kenway’s groovy pirate adventure will likely devour the free time of more than a few history buffs over the next few weeks. But while all pirates sail the same seas, not all of them are as smart about it. After spending 30+ hours adventuring through…

The Walking Dead: Season Two Is Exactly The Storyline We Wanted

An older Clementine—that we control—with the same short haircut. Good girl, Clementine. You learned from the best. Here’s the teaser trailer: If you played the first season you’ll recognize some key locations and recall some really horrific memories. Here’s the official, albeit not too detailed description of the plot for Season Two: The Walking Dead:…

About Those Xbox One Vs. PS4 Graphics Rumors…

For the last few weeks, with little hesitation, game development sources have been telling Kotaku that the PlayStation 4 is more powerful and easier to develop for than the Xbox One. You may have heard this before. But our best sources don’t expect that to have a huge impact on the graphics of games on…

Here’s a Need for Speed trailer that doesn’t star Jesse Pinkman! Yay science! A lot of pre-render in this Need for Speed: Rivals trailer, but it still looks good. And yeah, piss on those cops. These willful speed competitions only become dangerous when The Man tries to shut them down.

Battlefield 4: The Kotaku Review

Let’s just admit it. Battlefield 4 was never a game you were going to play for the single-player. And thank god for that, because in DICE’s latest entry in their fantastic, consistently polished military first-person shooter series, the campaign is useless and forgettable. There are these big set-piece moments—the Michael Bay explosions and extravagantly violent…

Assassin’s Creed IV: Black Flag: The Kotaku Review

The loading screen is always the same in Assassin’s Creed. Your character stands, clad in the robes of his people, armed to the teeth and surrounded by empty space. A desaturated digital landscape fades into the distance and out of sight. You press the thumbstick forward, and he begins to jog. What’s left to do…

Halo: Spartan Assault is Coming to Xbox 360 and Xbox One

Halo: Spartan Assault—the top-down, twin-stick shooter released over the summer for Windows 8 PCs and mobile devices—is coming to the Xbox 360 and Xbox One by the holidays, Microsoft said this morning. The game on consoles will feature a new online co-op mode, and new missions showcasing the mode. The Flood will also be an…

Microsoft has announced they hired TV and radio host Jonathan Ross to work as an executive producer with developers in the UK, including Lionhead and Rare. “We wanted to bring in new talent that would challenge the way we build games and the way we think about what an audience is and what is entertainment.”…

Kinect Accessory Will Stop The Camera Spying On You

Not that the Xbox One will be spying on you, that’s always sounded a little overly-dramatic to me, but if you’re the type to assume the worst – but still, um, buy the console regardless – then this is the peripheral for you. PDP will be releasing a $20 TV mount that in addition to…

Rumored Xbox One Launch Issues Lead To Lots Of Questions

As we inch closer and closer to the release of next-gen consoles, we’re starting to learn more and more about their features—and some of what we’re hearing might not be great news for anyone who expected a totally stable experience at launch. Over the past few days, the Internet has exploded with drama surrounding the…

Tiger Woods and EA Sports Part Ways, Ending 16-Year Run Together

The Tiger Woods PGA Tour series will end its 16-year run in 2013 as EA Sports announced it has parted ways with the star golfer. EA Sports will continue a golf simulation under PGA Tour branding on next generation consoles, the publisher said today. Daryl Holt, the vice president and general manager for golf for…

Next Month’s Call of Duty Adds… Aliens

A rumor yesterday, an official trailer today: it’s the new co-op mode for Call of Duty: Ghosts. We’ll be shooting aliens. Activision says: “Call of Duty: Ghosts introduces Extinction – an all-new 1-4 player cooperative game mode featuring a unique blend of fast-paced survival action, FPS base defense, scavenging and class leveling…” To contact the…

Ryse is Gonna Beat the Truth Out of You. Or Stab It, Whatever Works.

If Ryse’s main character, Marius Titus, is on a truth-finding mission, as this live-action trailer for the Xbox One game suggests, then he has a rather confrontational approach to conducting an inquiry. No, I think this is more a sword-and-sandals tale of vengeance. Come on, once he confronts Nero (or whoever that is at the…

The Walking Dead: Season Two will be revealed tomorrow, if this teaser from Telltale Games’ Twitter is any indication. Looks like Clementine is again the focus of the story. Expect news at 3 p.m. EDT. Telltale had earlier said a new season was due for this fall.

GTA V‘s Sex And Violence Toned Down In Japan

Two weeks back, I picked up a Japanese copy of Grand Theft Auto V and began leisurely working my way through the game. After a few hours of playing it, I started to notice that some things were curiously missing in the sex and violence department. [Note: Video is NSFW and contains major spoilers for…

In GTA Online, It’s Never a Good Idea to Get in a stranger’s Car. Weird things happen in the virtual version of Grand Theft Auto Online. So, yes: people may not think twice when it comes to getting into a car that a stranger just drives up and gets out of. Stay safe out there.…