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Dirt Returns, Only It’s Missing a Few Things
I’m going to tell you a secret. My favourite racing series of this generation has been neither Gran Turismo nor Forza. It’s been Codemaster’s Dirt series. A new game in the franchise should be cause for joy, then, but, well. Hrm. The next game isn’t Dirt 4. It is, as GameSpot describes it, “an arcade-style…
By Luke Plunkett Published December 12, 2011 -
Holy Shit! It’s a New Mass Effect 3 Trailer
The VGA Awards Mass Effect 3 trailer has hit, demonstrating one way to handle a gigantic intelligent robot creature hell-bent on the extinction of everything: Giant bug sex. I’m not sure what sort of twisted ancient intelligence built a temple for the sole purpose of unleashing an enormous amorous insect on any Reapers that might…
By Mike Fahey Published December 10, 2011 -
Indie Developers Unhappy with their Placement in the New Xbox Dashboard
If you count the directions keyed on the D-pad (or the left stick) it takes 17 button presses to reach the Indie Games section of the Xbox Live Marketplace under the new Xbox dashboard, which released this week. It takes only eight buttons to get to the Xbox Live Arcade and Games on Demand catalogs.…
By Owen Good Published December 10, 2011 -
Xbox Live is Free This Weekend in Europe [Corrected]
On the heels of the new dashboard rollout this week, Xbox Live’s Gold level services are free to all this weekend. In addition to multiplayer gaming, features like Video Kinect are also available to Silver (free) subscribers. The weekend includes free previews and discounts on downloadable films (like The Hangover) as well. Enjoy. [Correction] I…
By Owen Good Published December 9, 2011 -
Oh, Good. More Duke Nukem DLC Coming Next Week
Can’t get enough Duke Nukem? (That’s—I say, that’s a rhetorical question, son, you’re not supposed to answer it.) Well, good. Gearbox done whomped up even more DLC for the game. Give the devils their due, despite a withering, almost universal critical rejection of Duke Nukem, Gearbox Software and 2K are earnest in their post-release support,…
By Owen Good Published December 9, 2011 -
Battlefield‘s Taken a Piece of Call of Duty‘s Pie, Says Peter Moore
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 left an inch-deep bootprint on video gaming’s biggest retail month, and dominated most measures the popular press use to designate big-game-itude. Yet Peter Moore, the Electronic Arts chief operating officer, is insisting his label’s Battlefield 3 drew blood from the year’s biggest commercial release. “I think when the dust…
By Owen Good Published December 8, 2011 -
Xbox Verizon FiOS Viewing Will Be Weighed and Measured by Nielsen
Later this month Verizon will be launching 26 channels of live streaming cable content through the Xbox Live dashboard for users of its FiOS TV service, a brand new way to watch cable made possible in part by the support of North America’s ancient television audience measurement system. Measuring television audience size since the 1950s,…
By Mike Fahey Published December 8, 2011 -
Watching Dante’s World Get Torn Apart in DmC Gets Me All Excited
While I enjoyed the Japanese-developed Devil May Cry series and adore English developer Ninja Theory, I had absolutely no interest in this new DmC until I saw this video. And to think all it took was the world crumbling apart. The fighting gameplay video we posted earlier this month did nothing for me, mainly because…
By Mike Fahey Published December 8, 2011 -
The Adventures of Tintin and the Poor to Passable Review Scores
One of the most popular comic strips in Europe is now a major motion picture, and where there is a major motion picture based on a comic strip, there is a video game tie-in. Generally they aren’t very good. Can Tintin save the day? The Adventures of Tintin: The Secret of the Unicorn tells the…
By Mike Fahey Published December 7, 2011 -
Now Microsoft Wants to Stop You Taking Them to Court [Update]
It’s one of 2011’s more troubling, if less sexy developments: that of major publishers and platform holders finding ways to stop customers taking them to court if something goes wrong with their product or service. Sony was the first company to introduce a “no sue” clause as part of its terms of service in September,…
By Luke Plunkett Published December 7, 2011 -
Xbox Live Service Buckling Under Weight of Finally Welcomes New Dashboard [Update]
After a slight delay, the new Xbox Dashboard has begun rolling out to 360 owners around the world. Or, well, it would be, if Xbox Live wasn’t down for many of them. So be patient! Those of us at Kotaku still awake can’t connect to Xbox Live at all, and Microsoft’s support website carries a…
By Luke Plunkett Published December 7, 2011 -
Home Invasion Robbery Happens During Xbox Live Match
At 2 a.m. Tuesday morning, two criminals kicked in the door of an unidentified Pittsburgh man’s home while he was playing an Xbox 360 game online. They then pistol-whipped the homeowner and threatened a woman who was also in the house at gunpoint. However, the victim was able to alert the person he was playing…
By Evan Narcisse Published December 6, 2011 -
You’ll Be Able to Get Your Threeway On With Trine 2 On Steam This Wednesday, Consoles Coming in Two Weeks
Frozenbyte’s long-brewing puzzle/platormer sequel finally getting release dates on various platforms, with the PC and Mac versions first out the gate. They’ll be available on Steam on December 7, followed by a North American PSN release on December 20 and worldwide Xbox Live Arcade availability on December 21. There’s no still no firm date for…
By Evan Narcisse Published December 5, 2011 -
This New Trailer for Rayman Origins Covers the Fundamentals in Pretty, Funny Fashion
Apparently, the powers-that-be at Ubisoft know that the visual splendor of their latest gorgeously rendered platformer can be straight-up confusing. That’s the only raison d’etre I can figure behind the video above. The clip details gameplay goals so basic that you’d have to be a drooling idiot not to get them. To be fair, there…
By Evan Narcisse Published December 5, 2011 -
Remember “One of the Worst” Japanese Xbox Games with a Kick-Ass Figure
At the turn of the century, From Software, the studio behind Armored Core and Dark Souls, released mecha game Murakumo: Renegade Mech Pursuit on the original Xbox. As Wiki pointed out, people hated it when it was released in 2003. Now, almost a decade later, a 1/48 scale “A.R.K. Cloud Breaker” is being released. It…
By Brian Ashcraft Published December 5, 2011 -
The Xbox 360’s FIFA Phishing Continues Unabated
Since October, we’ve heard anecdotal accounts of Xbox Live members finding suspicious purchases on their credit cards and learning their accounts had been recovered to another machine. Now it’s happened to a games writer—just this past week. Dan Crawley of VentureBeat provides a detailed rundown of exactly what happened, and in the process asks some…
By Owen Good Published December 4, 2011 -
Take a Trip to Ultimate Marvel vs. Capcom‘s Weird ‘Reverse World’
This glitch, found in Ultimate Marvel vs. Capcom 3, has apparently been known or observed before; now there’s a tutorial for how to enter the game’s “Reverse World,” in which all combatants are silhouetted and all inputs are reversed. It’s preceded by a switching (and locking) of the camera to its Z-axis, meaning left and…
By Owen Good Published December 4, 2011 -
The Lockout’s End Brings Peace to NBA 2K‘s Holiday Season
In Los Angeles six months ago, Erick Boenisch gave me my first look at NBA 2K12. I think I watched about a quarter of play in it, with no additional commentary or guidance. He just wanted me to see that it was a good-looking game, and indeed it was. My first question had nothing to…
By Owen Good Published December 3, 2011 -
“Nearly Decapitated” Gamer’s Collection, Consoles Being Investigated by Police
Nearly two weeks after the brutal murder of Oregon man David Grubbs (pictured), in which he was “nearly decapitated”, local police have decided to start going through the victim’s video games to see if there are any clues to help them catch his killer. Despite the fact there are 15 detectives working the case, there…
By Luke Plunkett Published December 2, 2011
