-
Ultima Is Going Free-To-Play. And It Just Might Work.
The last new Ultima game to see daylight was Lord of Ultima, a browser strategy game more or less totally unrelated to the venerable Ultima series that so many PC gamers have loved for thirty years. Fans were disappointed, hoping instead for an actual new Ultima adventure that would take advantage of modern technology to…
By Kate Cox Published July 12, 2012 -
Don’t Expect Call of Duty-Like Games from Nintendo
When you think of “Nintendo”, you think of plumbers. You think of princesses. You think of fluffy clouds and lush green grass. You do not think of 13 year-olds waiting to pop caps in you. Here’s how Nintendo honcho Satoru Iwata explained it to The Independent: “…we also have titles like Mario Kart that are…
By Brian Ashcraft Published July 12, 2012 -
Just When You Thought Yo Gabba Gabba! Couldn’t Get Any Cooler
My first purchase at San Diego Comic-Con 2012 was not an expensive action figure, a sexy statue or a pretty pony. It was a simple set of six buttons based on a children’s television show. And they are so cool. I mean hell, it says it right there on the packaging: I am cooler than…
By Mike Fahey Published July 12, 2012 -
This New Borderlands 2 Trailer Trades Wub Wub For Lion King
The newest trailer for Borderlands 2 emphasizes the first-person, role-playing game’s sillier side. But even while sporting a South African-bred song that later moved on to The Lion King licensing, the action-packed trailer manages to showcase just how exciting combat can be in Gearbox’s upcoming sequel. This is partially due to some fancy assassin moves…
By Tina Amini Published July 12, 2012 -
This Sega Arcade Is Ridiculously Over the Top
Sega’s Tokyo Joypolis is not Sega’s best arcade. That does not matter. What it is, however, is Sega’s biggest spectacle. It’s less a game center and more a video game inspired theme park. Still, for a hyperbolic arcade experience, few can compete. And as of this week, Tokyo Joypolis has a new coat of paint.…
By Brian Ashcraft Published July 12, 2012 -
I’m in Love With the Sexiest Woman at San Diego Comic-Con
So Sideshow Collectibles’ half-scale Catwoman statue isn’t technically alive. I’ve dated worse. She’s not available for preorder. She’ll likely cost you or me an arm and a leg once she is up for sale, but when you’re dealing with Batman’s finicky female counterpart, a certain amount of financial loss is to be expected. You pay…
By Mike Fahey Published July 12, 2012 -
Video Games Remind Us That Cigarettes Will Kill You
Ukrainian designer German Ljutaev has come up with this design that uses traditional video game imagery like life hearts and drops them on a cigarette. The further down the cigarette you smoke, the more hearts you burn though until you hit the inevitable “CONTINUE?” screen. It’s cute, but yet, urgh, so morbid at the same…
By Luke Plunkett Published July 12, 2012 -
BioWare is Making a New Ultima RPG. I’m Serious.
Not content with digging up the corpse of classic RPG series Ultima once, EA – who now hold the rights to the franchise – are doing it all over again. The publisher has tonight announced Ultima Forever, a cross-platform, free-to-play RPG that’s being developed by BioWare and which will be published under EA’s Play 4…
By Luke Plunkett Published July 12, 2012 -
FarmVille Guys Publishing a Serious, Hardcore Game, With Swords and Monsters and Stuff
If I say the word “Zynga” to you, you probably think stories of shoddy work practices, of ruthless non-games like FarmVille, or allegations that they essentially rip other people’s games off So it’s understandable that the social games juggernaut is looking to broaden its horizons a little, and move into more serious territory. That’s why…
By Luke Plunkett Published July 12, 2012 -
When X-Com Meets Star Trek, Wonderful Things Happen
Star Command has long been my most-anticipated iOS game. It may now also be one of my most-anticipated PC games, especially since this planned bigger edition will feature more content. Get past the corny intro and there’s a ton of gameplay footage to sift through. STAR COMMAND: Kickstart Part 2 – The PC/Mac Space Adventure…
By Luke Plunkett Published July 12, 2012 -
A Beautiful Mech Commemorates the Greatest Robot Movie of All Time
If you haven’t seen 1990’s Robot Jox, well, stop reading. Go get a copy. Because it’s just about the best thing ever. A combination of Cold War politics and stop-motion giant mech combat, it told the story of a future in which international disputes were settled not with wars, but with gladiatorial battles between…giant mechs.…
By Luke Plunkett Published July 12, 2012 -
A Wonderful Interview With a Disabled Japanese Gamer Flown Out to the World’s Biggest Fighting Game Tournament
In one of the most touching stories of the year, the fighting game readers of community website Shoryuken banded together to help disabled Japanese gamer Osamu Ichikawa get to this year’s EVO tournament in Las Vegas. Ichikawa, who suffers from cerebral palsy, only just got to play Street Fighter in an arcade for the first…
By Luke Plunkett Published July 12, 2012 -
Become an Aperture Test Subject With Your Very Own Portal Jumpsuit
Toy company NECA, who recently released an official replica Portal gun, is letting people kick their Aperture fantasies up a notch with an entire licensed outfit Going on sale soon will be a pair of long socks fashioned to look like the game’s Long Fall Boots and, for those who really like to get in…
By Luke Plunkett Published July 12, 2012 -
What Kind of Man Sells Over $1,000,000 Worth of Rare Video Games? This Kind of Man.
A few days ago, an eBay auction offering thousands of video games was listed at over $1.2 million. An obscene figure, but when you consider it included the complete catalogues of every game released on the NES, SNES, N64, GameCube, Virtual Boy, Master System, Genesis, Saturn and Dreamcast (just to name a few), it seemed…
By Luke Plunkett Published July 12, 2012 -
The Calvinball Theory of Building a Mythological World
Hi Kotaku, and welcome to the evening Off Topic post. You know Calvinball, right? It’s the game that Calvin and his tiger Hobbes would play in Bill Waterson’s genius comic Calvin and Hobbes. The whole point of Calvinball was that there are no rules other than the ones that have been made up in the…
By Kirk Hamilton Published July 11, 2012 -
Need For Speed Flick Gets a Hot Date
They’re already talking about February 2014 as the release window for Need For Speed the movie, which tells you everything you need to know about this venture, even 18 months away. Movies released in late winter, specifically February, are fucking terrible. Critics expect them to be fucking terrible. Their makers expect them to be fucking…
By Owen Good Published July 11, 2012 -
How The Internet Deals With EA
I really enjoyed these comics, published today by the hilarious folks over at Dorkly. No matter how you feel about video game publisher Electronic Arts these days, hopefully you can appreciate the ribbing. Enjoy: Head over to Dorkly for the rest! The Internet’s Guide to Dealing With EA [Dorkly]
By Jason Schreier Published July 11, 2012 -
Cyborg And Nightwing Join The Cast Of Injustice
The latest two additions to NeatherRealm’s upcoming Justice League fighting game Injustice: Gods Among Us will be Cyborg and Nightwing. Kotaku‘s Evan Narcisse is on the show floor at San Diego Comic-Con, where he chatted with NeatherRealm’s Ed Boon. Evan will have more more info on Injustice soon.
By Kirk Hamilton Published July 11, 2012 -
Watch The Mental Meltdown Of A Leaderboard-Beating Dyad Run
Dyad is the kind of game that’s tough to talk about—you kinda have to play it to get it. That said, watching a level play out gives a decent sense of the whole disorienting, often exhilarating experience. Here, Chris Person blasts through one of the early levels and puts on a pretty impressive show, earning…
By Kirk Hamilton Published July 11, 2012 -
Who Needs a Dragon Shout When You Have a Rapping Bard?
There’s nothing quite like a bard in a tavern, strumming his medieval proto-guitar of choice (here a mandolin, there a lute, sometimes a harp) and humming dulcet tones. Then there’s this bard. He’s a little more 21st century than those other minstrels and troubadours. As he says: “You see, I bear some rare amazing information…
By Kate Cox Published July 11, 2012