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One Indie Developer Walked Away from Zynga’s $210 Million Acquisition of OMGPOP
Zynga’s absorbed a lot of companies in the last two years, but few experienced the sudden shift in fortunes that OMGPOP did over the last few days. Within two months, the studio saw their Draw Something become a breakout hit, which lead their getting snapped up by the social game giant. A recent New York…
By Evan Narcisse Published March 27, 2012 -
Preorders Begin for Old School Dungeon Crawler The Legend of Grimrock
The first-person grid-based PC dungeon crawler rises again on April 11, when indie developer Almost Human releases The Legend of Grimrock on Steam and GOG.com. Act now and it’s far cheaper than it should be. You might recall The Legend of Grimrock from a story I posted about the developers changing the game to accommodate…
By Mike Fahey Published March 27, 2012 -
In BioShock: Infinite, This Siren Will Raise the Dead
In the above video, Irrational Games introduces the Siren—a creepy baddie who is able to raise the dead. In the above clip, BioShock: Infinite‘s creators talk about the character and briefly show game footage of her. Blink and you’ll miss it. BioShock: Infinite is slated for release on Oct. 16.
By Brian Ashcraft Published March 27, 2012 -
Nearly-Nude Men are Selling Nintendo 3DS Games
If our gripping gameplay footage of the title from last year’s Gamescom wasn’t enough, here’s an advertisement for the upcoming Farming Simulator 2012 for the Nintendo 3DS. Not that I looked that closely at the pic, but it does creep me out a little that his red underpants seem to be Photoshopped on. UPDATE –…
By Luke Plunkett Published March 27, 2012 -
The Saddest, Loneliest Screenshots in the World
Video games are meant to be fun. Social networks are supposed to bring us together with friends. Sadly, not everything goes according to plan. Screenshots of Despair exists to catalogue the more depressing side of the modern internet: empty friends lists, nobody sharing anything, the fact you have won absolutely nothing Click through for a…
By Luke Plunkett Published March 27, 2012 -
Batshit Crazy Fake Star Wars Figures are Cooler Than Real Ones
In the late 1980s, a line of bootleg Star Wars figures was released in Turkey called Uzay. What’s so great about these figures isn’t the fact they’re horrible copies of the originals because, given the time, the toys themselves weren’t that bad. What makes them so great is the packaging. It’s just bananas. The Imperial…
By Luke Plunkett Published March 27, 2012 -
This Gears of War Gun is Terrifyingly Real
Prop-builder and artist Ryan Palser, whose Portal turret wowed the internet last year, returns with a replica Gears of War weapon so real you’d think you could play a minigame just to reload it quicker. It’s a Digger Launcher from the third game in the series, and Palser worked on it alongside his wife Dena.…
By Luke Plunkett Published March 27, 2012 -
Wii U “On Par” With 360, PS3 (So Far) Says Darksiders Developer
While Nintendo has yet to release the full specs for its upcoming Wii U, you can guess by its launch lineup that its capabilities are probably in line with the Xbox 360 and PS3, something Vigil Games are now backing up. “So far the [Wii U] hardware’s been on par with what we have with…
By Luke Plunkett Published March 27, 2012 -
Jumping the Mega Shark
Greetings, Kotaku readers, and welcome to Monday’s open thread. We’ve got some fun stuff for you, gathered from around the internet. Enjoy: The ultimate Lego duel – Wow. The things people get up to with toys these days. “The Film Noir Roots of Cowboy Bebop” – An excellent piece by L.B. Jeffries, as always. Facebook…
By Kirk Hamilton Published March 26, 2012 -
There are Pirates in Assassin’s Creed III (Well, Sort of)
The Revolutionary War setting of Assassin’s Creed III means that, tricorn hats aside, there’s little tying the game to another of people’s favourite historical periods, the age of pirates. That hasn’t stopped Ubisoft from bringing the two together anyway. Announcing the game’s fancy collector’s editions, curiously available in Europe, Australasia, Asia and the Middle East,…
By Luke Plunkett Published March 26, 2012 -
Reportedly Suicidal Player Laughed at, Then Trolled at EVE Online Gathering [Update]
At EVE Online’s recent FanFest gathering, a panel got real unsavoury real fast when senior EVE players began not only mocking another player reportedly displaying suicidal tendencies, but encouraged others to do the same. During a panel last Thursday, one moderated by a CCP employee (the developers of the game), a presentation/Q&A gets awkward when…
By Luke Plunkett Published March 26, 2012 -
Robot Helicopters Can’t Deliver Your Tacos, Says Bummer Scientist
Last week, I saw something that sounded amazing. Like a dream come true. A dream called… TacoCopter “Flying Robots Deliver Tacos To Your Location,” said the website. It seemed to be too good to be true. It was almost certainly a hoax or prank. But it was also too irresistible not to get at least…
By Kirk Hamilton Published March 26, 2012 -
A Hundred Ways to Look at Gaming’s Most Iconic Character
The thing about legendary icons is, in a sense they serve as a cipher. A character who’s been around for 25 or 30 years is going to to be reimagined and reinterpreted nearly as many times as there are fans to see him. So it goes with Mario, Nintendo legend, who has been featured in…
By Kate Cox Published March 26, 2012 -
5 Ways a Hunger Games Video Game Could Work, Killer Kids and All
Sooner or later, we’re going to get a video game based on The Hunger Games. No film can be as popular as this one, raking in just under $155 Million opening weekend, and not bring a huge amount of tie-in products in its wake, video games included. As KPCC’s Matthew DeBord notes, there are a…
By Kirk Hamilton Published March 26, 2012 -
Report: Namco Bandai Files U.S. Trademarks for RPG Tales of Xillia
The Japanese role-playing game Tales of Xillia could be jetting across the ocean at some point in the near future. Gaming site Siliconera reports that it has found a U.S. trademark for the recent Tales game, which developer Namco Bandai released for PlayStation 3 last fall in Japan. Earlier this year, Namco Bandai brought both…
By Jason Schreier Published March 26, 2012 -
Zelda Games Are Taking Longer and Longer to Get to the Point
I found Tevis Thomson’s lengthy critique chronicling the decline and fall of the Legend of Zelda franchise to be very convincing. That doesn’t quite diminish my enjoyment of more recent Zelda games, but then, I’m no Zelda super-fan. But it was hard to argue with his points about how the series has changed and in…
By Kirk Hamilton Published March 26, 2012 -
Baldur’s Gate iPad Will Support Multiplayer, Cost Less Than $10
The enhanced iPad version of classic role-playing game Baldur’s Gate, slated for release this summer, won’t cost you more than $10. Also, it will support multiplayer. An enhanced edition of Baldur’s Gate II: Shadows of Amn is in the works for iPad later this year as well. This is all according to Cameron Tofer, COO…
By Jason Schreier Published March 26, 2012 -
I Messed Up My Video Game Kickstarter. Now, I’m Fixing It.
Three weeks ago, we launched a Kickstarter page for our project, “Crowdsourced Hardcore Tactical Shooter.” With a week to go, we have reached, as of this writing, just over $70,000 dollars of our $200,000 goal, putting us at 35% funded. If we stay at our current rate, we won’t get funded. So what did we…
Christian Allen Published March 26, 2012 -
A Tribute To Bert Sugar, Who Gave Me My Start
My father knew a guy who knew Bert Sugar. That’s how I wound up working for Bert, as a high school intern and then in my first job as a professional reporter. He was my first editor, my first mentor, my first journalism role model. He passed away yesterday at age 75 Back when I…
By Stephen Totilo Published March 26, 2012