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SimCity Social Is Not Exactly Sim City, But It Is Very Social
“Kate,” Mike Fahey announced proudly to Kotaku’s group chat, “I just made birds poop on your city.” I switched tabs to look and lo and behold, yes he had. Waves of seagulls appeared, dropping their ugly white bombs all across my otherwise-happy little hamlet. The war was on. I immediately went to Mike’s town and…
By Kate Cox Published June 25, 2012 -
Mass Effect 3 Extended Ending DLC Available for Download Very Early Tomorrow Morning
When do you get to download and try out the new! improved! endings to Mass Effect 3? It depends what platform you’re on. According to a series of tweets from producer Michael Gamble, the DLC will likely be available in the early morning (around 5:00 a.m. Eastern time) for Xbox users, sometime in the afternoon…
By Kate Cox Published June 25, 2012 -
This Teleporting Stealth Adventure Hardly Looks Like a ‘Student Game’
Teleportation is one of the cooler powers available to video game characters—as we learned from EA’s Warp, zooming through walls (and into scientists) can be a satisfying, empowering thing to do. Blink, a student-made game by a team of USC and Gnomon students, looks to explore stealth via teleportation in a 3D, Portal-like setting. Looks…
By Kirk Hamilton Published June 25, 2012 -
I Can’t Stop Staring at This Amazing Pac-Man 3D Street Art
This street painting by artist Leon Herr like it’s floating off the street, just like an extremely awesome augmented reality demo. Even when your brain knows that it’s just lines on the street it still seems like it must be a projection from a giant lens lurking off to the side somewhere. You can check…
By Evan Narcisse Published June 25, 2012 -
Did Journey Blow Its Ending?
ThatGameCompany’s Journey was an immaculately constructed game; one that felt like it didn’t have an ounce of fat on it. From beginning to end, not a single experience was repeated. But how about that ending? (If you’ve yet to finish Journey, read no further.) From freezing ice to soaring mountaintops in seconds. But was it…
By Kirk Hamilton Published June 25, 2012 -
The Most Profitable Final Fantasy Game is the One Players are Still Paying For
In case anyone was wondering how ten-year-old Final Fantasy XI scored a brand new expansion pack while you’re still waiting for a Final Fantasy VII remake, consider which one makes Square Enix the most money. According to a picture-filled account of this weekend’s Vana Fest 2012 event at Famitsu (translated by Andriasang), Square Enix CEO…
By Mike Fahey Published June 25, 2012 -
I Found Mass Effect 3’s Best Ending
I’ve never been one for goodbyes. Sometimes goodbyes feel like a formality—I’ve known a person long enough that bidding them adieu is just mechanical, automatic, like saying “hello” or asking someone how they are, even if I don’t actually care. The sentimental ones, those screw with me. It’s like I have just one final moment…
By Patricia Hernandez Published June 25, 2012 -
Two of the Men Behind LulzSec Attacks on Nintendo and Sony Plead Guilty
Two of the members of LulzSec behind last year’s attacks on other gaming websites, have plead guilty in a British court today. The Telegraph reports that Ryan Cleary and Jake Davis plead guilty to multiple charges of “conspiracy to do an unauthorized act or acts with intent to impair.” Davis is also facing charges in…
By Kate Cox Published June 25, 2012 -
Far Cry 3 Delayed from September to December
You’ll have to wait a little longer to trip out with Ubisoft’s drug-addled first-person shooter. The publisher’s just announced that Far Cry 3—previously scheduled for September 4th and 6th in the U.S. and Europe—will be delayed to December 4th and November 29th, respectively. Here’s an in-depth look at the game in action.
By Evan Narcisse Published June 25, 2012 -
Pft, And They Said Watching TV Doesn’t Impact Your Actions
If this DayZ video proves anything, it’s that watching TV most certainly impacts your actions. At least your virtual, inconsequential ones, anyway. [spoiler]Remember that scene in The Walking Dead where Shane shoots Otis to escape the zombies chasing them?[end spoiler] This betrayal in a round of Arma II mod, DayZ, is pretty much the same…
By Tina Amini Published June 25, 2012 -
This Man’s Making a Game About His Native Iran. So, Of Course, They Branded Him a Spy.
What does it take to be accused of espionage? For Navid Khonsari, all he had to do was start making a game about his homeland. If you’ve been waiting to hear more about 1979—the game that Khonsari’s been developing about the socio-cultural turmoil surrounding the Iranian Revolution—you may have noticed that things have been quiet…
By Evan Narcisse Published June 25, 2012 -
Team Fortress 2‘s Meet the Pyro Will Debut on Wednesday, New ‘Doomsday’ Mode Added
Team Fortress 2 fans will finally “Meet the Pyro” in “less than three days,” according to the official blog for Valve’s popular multiplayer game. (A countdown clock seems to place the debut at 2pm ET this Wednesday.) This may tie into Valve’s tease last week that it was teaming up with the Cartoon Network’s Adult…
By Stephen Totilo Published June 25, 2012 -
I Have No Idea What’s Going On In This Game, But I’m Fascinated
This stop-motion horror game is downright creepy. It reminds me a lot of Limbo, given this somewhat vague description from the student project: Candle is an experimental stop motion survival horror game. In Candle you play as a puppet boy made from wood, cloth and entrails. Trapped underground, you must tunnel your way out, all…
By Tina Amini Published June 25, 2012 -
Ten Dots. Five Colors. Okay Puzzle Game, You’ve Got Me.
Flow is a simple game. But it’s one of the most enjoyable games I’ve played in recent memory. Simple, I think, is good. In Flow, there are ten dots, two of each color (blue, red, yellow, orange, and green). The goal is to connect them so that all of them can be connected in the…
By Brian Ashcraft Published June 25, 2012 -
This Fall’s Portable Epic Mickey is Partially Inspired by Suikoden
One of this fall’s Nintendo 3DS games of note that isn’t made by Nintendo is Epic Mickey: Power of Illusion, a sidecrolling throwback to an old Genesis game, and a game that’s got some unusual things going for it. It’s a callback to the1990 Sega Genesis Mickey Mouse game, Castle of Illusion, which development team…
By Stephen Totilo Published June 25, 2012 -
Talk Amongst Yourselves
Welcome to Kotaku’s official forum, known affectionately as Talk Amongst Yourselves. This is the place where we gather on a daily basis to discuss all things video game and existential. Want to talk about new games, old games, games that aren’t even out yet? Knock yourselves out! Why do I call Pan1da7 a TAYpic maestro?…
By Evan Narcisse Published June 25, 2012 -
First We Fix 3D, Then We Get Our Holodeck
As demonstrated by the sharp decline in people giving a damn over the last two years, 3D isn’t quite the transcendent experience everyone wanted it to be, but with minds like Sharp’s 3D expert Jonathan Mather on the case it could lead to the true revolution in entertainment: holographic 3D. Mather, a research supervisor in…
By Mike Fahey Published June 25, 2012 -
The Wii U’s Power Problem
Nintendo’s next console, the Wii U, will run into the same problem its predecessors did. Namely, it will be unable to run popular video games designed for other major gaming consoles by its second or third year of existence, according to people familiar with the capabilities of the late-2012 console. “After the next generation of…
By Stephen Totilo Published June 25, 2012 -
I Bought Facebook Credits This Weekend, and I am (Mostly) Not Ashamed
Until yesterday I prided myself on the fact that I never spent a single cent on Facebook’s fake game money. Now that pride is gone, but the cause was just: I used real money to kick someone’s ass. It almost sounds cool when I put it that way. Not so much when I expound. I…
By Mike Fahey Published June 25, 2012