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Kingdoms of Amalur MMO: Gallery Two
By Owen Good Published August 25, 2012 -
Kingdoms of Amalur MMO: Gallery One
By Owen Good Published August 25, 2012 -
Happy Wars is Xbox Live’s First Free-to-Play Game
Last year there was a lot of rumbling about Xbox Live someday offering free-to-play video games. Well, that day is coming soon. Happy Wars, by ToyLogic, will be available for free to all Xbox Live Goldmembers this fall. The game promises “large scale multiplayer action” that supports up to 30 players in a single battle.…
By Owen Good Published August 25, 2012 -
The Moneysaver: Guild and Gridiron
Two big releases highlight the coming week, one of which, Guild Wars 2, is offering early access to those who preordered the game, beginning today. If you didn’t and want to get in on the action, you can grab it for $12 to $14 off, depending on which version you want. Madden NFL also offers…
By Owen Good Published August 25, 2012 -
A Correction to Our Black Ops Zombies Post
Earlier today, Kotaku published an item attributed to someone incorrectly identified as the community manager for Black Ops: Declassified. He is not, and does not represent Activision or the developer in any official capacity.
By Owen Good Published August 25, 2012 -
The Best of Kotaku, This Week
Welcome to the Best of Kotaku, where I round up all of this week’s best content. I sure do feature a lot of Mario in these Best of round-ups. That just speaks to how iconic Mario remains, that so much art is based off of him and his games. Well, here’s Mario mashed up with…
By Tina Amini Published August 25, 2012 -
Well, One Guy Kept His Job at OnLive
That would be the CEO, Steve Perlman. More than 200 other employees were summarily dismissed when the cloud-gaming service caved in last week, though a corporate statement said half would be hired back, and others offered consulting gigs. That doesn’t exactly shut down speculation that this “rebooting” of the company was meant to vaporize employees’…
By Owen Good Published August 24, 2012 -
Guy Shows Snake Who’s Boss By Revenge-Biting It To Death
Generally the off-topic goes to an interesting story that maybe doesn’t have anything directly to do with games. But this one, about a guy in Nepal biting a snake to death after it bit him, seems sort of video-gamey, no? Guy shows SNAKE who’s BOSS by biting it to DEATH? (Okay the last one is…
By Kirk Hamilton Published August 24, 2012 -
Nintendo Wants to Celebrate Kirby’s Birthday With Chewing Gum
Kirby’s 20th birthday is this year, and Nintendo plans to observe it with a stunt at PAX Prime on Sept. 1. They’re trying to get more than 304 people together in the same place to collectively blow chewing-gum bubbles, which would set a Guinness World Record. Given how solicitous Guinness is of video game companies…
By Owen Good Published August 24, 2012 -
The Official Guild Wars 2 Mouse and Headset are Freaking Adorable
Guild Wars 2 launches in the wee hours of the morning tomorrow, and I am almost completely prepared. I’ve got my collector’s edition. I’ve got my caffeine. I’ve got SteelSeries’ gorgeous mouse and headset combo. Let me tell you about those last two before performing an emergency formatting of my hard drive and then attempt…
By Mike Fahey Published August 24, 2012 -
How To Turn Fantasy Football Into An RPG
Lots of people make jokes about how fantasy football is an RPG for jocks and blah blah blah. It’s really not. It’s more like a complex version of roulette. But hey, Bill Hanstock over at SBNation has put together a hilarious article that imagines fantasy football as an actual fantasy game. Here’s a basic summary:…
By Jason Schreier Published August 24, 2012 -
President Obama Isn’t In Madden‘s Championship Scene—But He’s Still On For NBA 2K13
One feature I was keen to check on in Madden NFL 13 was its treatment of the Super Bowl postgame. The past two years have included a trip to the virtual White House, complete with an in-game President Obama, for the winning team. That doesn’t happen in Madden 13 The reasons are very understandable. One,…
By Owen Good Published August 24, 2012 -
Madden NFL 13 Delivers the Ultimate Throwback Look: No Facemasks
Creating my player in Madden NFL 13, I was startled and confused by the new helmet options. There was the Riddell TK, and the Wilson F2000. Neither had a facemask. You could put a modern-day visor on them, in clear plastic, smoke or dark, but still there was nothing standing between Brian Urlacher’s forearm and…
By Owen Good Published August 24, 2012 -
Sleeping Dogs Recognizes A Good Photographer When It Sees One
I mean, just look at that. The angle, the lighting, the composition. Beautiful. Someone hire this man as a full-time photographer. Bonus is he can beat the shit out of anyone you ask him to. Yes I am [Reddit]
By Tina Amini Published August 24, 2012 -
Check Out These Clips From The Robot Chicken Guys’ New, Lucas-Approved Star Wars Parody
File this one under: “What the hell do I even do with this information?” The guys behind Robot Chicken (including Joker himself, Seth Green) are making a new animated show called Star Wars Detours that will mercilessly, if lovingly, mock Star Wars. George Lucas has even given them his stamp of approval. Is this terrible?…
By Kirk Hamilton Published August 24, 2012 -
We Have Giant Screens. Make Games With Giant Fonts.
In this, the final episode of Speak Up on Kotaku before we move over to TAY, commenter Nevest wants developers to know they can use bigger fonts already, dammit. OK, I’ve gotta ask…what the hell is up with developers still using the tiniest text possible in their games? Even with an HDTV, connected through an…
featuring Nevest Published August 24, 2012 -
Check Out This Week in Gaming Apps Before the Flesh-Hungry Moles Devour Us All
One of our writers has been deathly afraid of moles all of his life. He says one of this week’s Gaming Apps ‘o the Day cured him of that fear. I say no so fast. One does not simply brush aside a fear for Earth’s diamond-clawed tunnel rats. He can find brief solace in Hello…
By Mike Fahey Published August 24, 2012 -
Researchers Make a Video Game for Fish, Because Serious Science Can Be Very Silly Sometimes
Somehow it just seems inevitable, really. There have been virtual worlds for mice and iPad games for cats So sure, why not: science has now taken video games to sleep with the fishies. The BBC reports that a team of researchers from Princeton University designed a video game to use to research behavior patterns in…
By Kate Cox Published August 24, 2012