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Princess Mononoke’s Game That Never Was
On the one hand, I’m kind of glad there was never a Princess Mononoke video game. As much as I love the film, a proper game just couldn’t really work. Or….could it? Because on the other hand, I look at this image, and my heart swells. If Super Star Wars could get away with butchering…
By Luke Plunkett Published July 6, 2012 -
Game of Thrones on Commodore 64 is so Crunchy it Makes my Teeth Hurt
It’s the fake intro and menu system for a C64 adaptation of Game of Thrones that lures you into this clip, but once there, it’s the music that really kicks your ass. As any chiptune or C64 nut will tell you, the system was capable of some of the crunchiest effects the 1980s could muster,…
By Luke Plunkett Published July 6, 2012 -
Oh God, This PC Casemod is Bleeding to Death
Oh, I like this one. There’s no garish colour schemes, no pulsating lights that would look more at home in a Fast & the Furious movie than in some dude’s computer. Just a concept, and the smarts to keep the canvas blank so the concept can carry the show. Its German builder, Jogibaer, makes just…
By Luke Plunkett Published July 6, 2012 -
Nintendo Shows off a New 3DS Colour That is VERY PINK
Nintendo is bringing two all-new 3DS colours to the Hong Kong and Taiwan markets when the handheld officially launches there in September. One is “Cerulean Blue”, while the other is “Shimmer Pink”. While there are already blue and pink models available elsewhere, “Cerulean” looks a lot brighter than the current “Aqua”, while “Shimmer” is a…
By Luke Plunkett Published July 6, 2012 -
Meet the First Ever Region-Locked PS3 Game [Update]
The upcoming PS3 and Xbox 360 release of fighting game Persona 4 Arena is, in North America at least, taking the rare and terrible move of being completely region-locked. While the PS3 is usually entirely region-free, as are many Xbox 360 games these days (since on Microsoft’s platform it’s a decision left open to the…
By Luke Plunkett Published July 6, 2012 -
Why Didn’t Anyone Tell Me His Dark Materials Was Amazing?
Well, I mean, okay, other than the billion people who have told me His Dark Materials is amazing. This is mostly on me—I’d heard that Philip Pullman’s fantasy trilogy was good, and had been meaning to read it for a long time. Plus, pretty much the entire world has already gone and said that these…
By Kirk Hamilton Published July 5, 2012 -
Tracing The Musical Saga Of Mass Effect
Remember when this is what Mass Effect sounded like? There was a time when the story had a fairly straightforward theme, using electronic and orchestral sounds to draw us into a sweeping space opera with dark tones around the edges. Back then, of course, it was a more straightforward story. It was a theme in…
By Kate Cox Published July 5, 2012 -
A Listener’s Guide to the Music of Kids on the Slope
And so with one last musical interlude, Shinichirō Watanabe’s marvelous anime Kids on the Slope concluded its 12-episode run. Kids was something truly special—a nostalgic, dream-like tribute to friendship, love, and the mysterious power of music. And oh, what music! I’ve already written at length about my unabashed love of this series. If anything, my…
By Kirk Hamilton Published July 5, 2012 -
A Team Fortress Musical Worthy of Valve
Of the many, many splendid films we’ve seen made with Valve’s new Source Filmmaker tools, this one is my favorite yet. YouTuber burningfajitasalt (nice!) has put together this video to accompany Ken Ashcorp’s lovely song “Just One More Hat,” a musical tribute to the many hats of Team Fortress 2. In the video, the scout…
By Kirk Hamilton Published July 5, 2012 -
From Kingdom Hearts to Super Mario RPG: The Yoko Shimomura Mixtape
One of the best parts about doing a weekly mixtape is hearing suggestions from readers on which composer to cover next (PS: keep ’em coming). Out of all the suggestions, nobody has been more requested than Yoko Shimomura. So this week on the Kotaku Mix Tape, we celebrate one of gaming’s most moving composers. Even…
By Chris Person Published July 5, 2012 -
Kotaku Melodic Starts Now
Greetings, readers and listeners, and welcome to another week’s Kotaku Melodic. We’ve got some great music for you, so sit back, turn up your speakers, and enjoy the tunes. As always, for more about Kotaku Melodic and all of our past posts, check out the Kotaku Melodic main page
By Kirk Hamilton Published July 5, 2012 -
I’d Freak Out if You Kept Getting Up After A Hundred Shots to the Chest, Too
So in a game like, say, Uncharted, we’ve all lamented those nameless henchmen or mini-bosses that seem to take a ridiculous number of shots to kill. “I shot you,” we’ll yell. “I shot you like twelve times! In the head! Why won’t you die?!” But imagine how much worse it is on their side! They…
By Kate Cox Published July 5, 2012 -
Hey, Dead Space‘s Dismembered Hand Makes a Great Night Light
Some folks see a scary movie or play a scary game and proceed to purge all that terror out their minds immediately. A game as scary as the original Dead Space made me want to void my bowels many times over. I breathed easy once my time with the game was done. For other people,…
By Evan Narcisse Published July 5, 2012 -
EA Sports Practically Begging for South Alabama’s Forgiveness Now
Whoever screwed up—whether EA Sports or some paper-pusher at the NCAA—the University of South Alabama will not be in NCAA Football 13 during the school’s debut year in major college football. While USA is one of 124 schools, and its alumni base is comparatively much, much smaller, this kind of exclusion is terrible PR in…
By Owen Good Published July 5, 2012 -
Your Best Bets for Starting a No-Name Dynasty in NCAA 13‘s First Week
There are many reasons to pick up NCAA Football the day it releases, and the next edition arrives on Tuesday. The rosters, however, are not one of them. For hardcore players, the first week is often spent tinkering with secondary modes while waiting for the roster editing community to complete a full and accurate naming…
By Owen Good Published July 5, 2012 -
He Says the PlayStation Vita is Already Dead
In today’s mournful edition of Speak Up on Kotaku, commenter aw3str1k3r, early adopter and believer in Sony’s latest handheld gaming system, commits his purchase to an early grave. The Playstation Vita is dead. I say this as an early adopter of the handheld. I feel like the system has already been abandoned. Sony made that…
Featuring aw3str1k3r Published July 5, 2012 -
How the Spider-Man Game Picks Up on the Spider-Man Movie’s Missing Threads
Spoiler alert: If you haven’t seen or played the new Amazing Spider-Man movie or game yet, don’t read any further. Seriously. Remember all those The Amazing Spider-Man promos? The ones that teased something mysterious lay in Peter Parker’s past, specifically the fates of his long-dead parents? It sure seemed like the newest movie reboot of…
By Evan Narcisse Published July 5, 2012 -
You Must See These Stunning Photos Of Game of Thrones Set In Minecraft
This is truly unreal. By now of course you’ve seen Kotaku‘s coverage of this tremendous project, which we’ve shown you several times before. But it’s hard not to be stunned by these new glamor shots from the Game of Thrones Minecraft project. You could almost call it… A Feast For Eyes. No? Okay, I’m just…
By Jason Schreier Published July 5, 2012 -
You Can Pick Up In-Game Health At a Real-World Pharmacy in Robert Bowling’s New Game
If you needed first-aid supplies, you’d probably go to your local pharmacy or drugstore, right? It only makes sense. And when you’re playing a character in a video game, if that character needs first-aid supplies, you tend to loot them from a hospital or pharmacy. It makes a post-apocalyptic kind of sense. Of course, there…
By Kate Cox Published July 5, 2012