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‘Dawnguard’ Trademark Filed, May Point to Skyrim Expansion
No plans for a downloadable expansion for The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim have been announced yet, but a trademark filing spied at the end of February is believed to tip off its name or part of it anyway: Dawnguard. ZeniMax Media, the parent company of Bethesda Games, filed the trademark; “downloadable software” is listed in…
By Owen Good Published March 23, 2012 -
What If Final Fantasy VII‘s Villain Were a Lady?
Don’t let that long hair and fine features fool you; Final Fantasy VII‘s Sephiroth is definitely a dude. Crystal Graziano is definitely not. The cosplayer recently tried her hand (sword?) at Sephiroth. The result, above, is Lady Sephiroth. And it so works. OnPaperWings [DeviantArt] (Top photo: BigWhiteBazooka)
By Brian Ashcraft Published March 23, 2012 -
Draw Something & Kate Winslet’s Chest Won an Academy Award in 1998, You Know
In this little-known, deleted sequence from James Cameron’s boat-sinking classic, Leonardo DiCaprio tries out a large, prototype version of iPhone hit Draw Something. “Draw Something like one of your French women”, she’s purring. Titanic Draw Something [College Humor]
By Luke Plunkett Published March 23, 2012 -
Pre-Order Your Portal Gun. Right Now!
Fears of that Portal Gun replica gun being on infinite hold are hopefully vanished to infinity! Starting today, collectible toy maker NECA is kicking off pre-orders for its replica Aperture Science Handheld Portable Device. So far, the following retailers have “approved allotments” that they will receive at the end of next month: Rockin Robot, Think…
By Brian Ashcraft Published March 22, 2012 -
Would Somebody Please Put This Guy’s Music In a Video Game? [Update]
Above the words you’re reading right now, you will find the music video for the song “Drugs,” as rapped by Kadillak Kaz, SnoopyBlue, Big2DaBoy and Cakeboi Sav. Why isn’t this song in a video game? Why isn’t any song by Kadillak Kaz in a video game? I mean, exactly how many times does a man…
By Stephen Totilo Published March 22, 2012 -
Somewhere There Is a Crime Happening
Hello, Kotaku! Welcome to your Thursday evening open thread. Have you had a good week? I’ve been quite sick, but I’m better now. Here, as always, are some things from around the internet for you to enjoy and maybe talk about. Celebrities read tweets about themselves – Ha. A Cool NPR story on fostering creativity…
By Kirk Hamilton Published March 22, 2012 -
Seattle’s Space Needle Was Turned Into a Giant Angry Birds Slingshot
The future of manned space flight may be uncertain—private, federal, aliens?— but somehow or another, the Angry Birds have vowed to escape Earth’s gravity. The beginning of their journey started appropriately enough at the Space Needle in Seattle, where development studio Rovio had a giant version of their rotund redbird tethered to the iconic building.…
By Evan Narcisse Published March 22, 2012 -
How Fifteen Seconds of Music Hooked Me for Five Years
It was a crappy, gray, rainy day in January, 2005. I was in New York visiting my then-boyfriend, on my the week of break left before my final semester of grad school started back home in Boston. Although I had the luxury of a student schedule, he had to go to work, leaving me to…
By Kate Cox Published March 22, 2012 -
Mario Meets Morrissey, At Long Last
Look, I know that 8-bit covers of pop tunes are not a new thing. But all the same, I liked this cover of The Smiths’ “This Charming Man” done by Soundclouder Lazyitis. I don’t know why I liked it! I’m not even a huge Smiths fan. The melody tone is fairly irritating. It just… worked…
By Kirk Hamilton Published March 22, 2012 -
The Kotaku Mixtape Vol. 3: Jazz in Games
Bombastic, orchestral soundtracks are great and all, but they’re not always what’s called for in a game. Sometimes you need something a bit more laid back – a bit more cool. Sometimes you just need a little jazz. Today on the Kotaku Mix Tape, we’re listening to some of the best jazz that gaming has…
By Chris Person Published March 22, 2012 -
Frat Rock Never Sounded So Ethereally Beautiful
I love Boston’s “More Than a Feeling,” mainly because it is such a solid Rock Band jam. It’s a fun song, full of crazy-high male vocals, epic guitarmonies, and a big singalong chorus. (And yeah, okay, it’s not entirely fair to call this anthemic tune “Frat Rock.”) At any rate, I’ve never heard it like…
By Kirk Hamilton Published March 22, 2012 -
The Rise of the New Music Games
Since well before Kotaku Melodic, I’ve been writing about and keeping an eye on musical video games. Whenever I talk about “music games,” people tend to think of the same kinds of things—plastic musical instrument peripherals and dance pads, Rock Band, Guitar Hero and Dance Dance Revolution. But actually, most of the music games I’ve…
By Kirk Hamilton Published March 22, 2012 -
Spacehog: The Glam-Grunge Band That Should’ve Been Huge (And Still Might Be!)
“This band is pretty much David Bowie meets Queen. The lead singer has a massive voice, the songs are dramatic anthems about sex, drugs, and outer space. It’s all mixed in with killer guitar riffs and insanely catchy chorus hooks.” Sounds like an amazing band, right? The kind of band that should be famous, with…
By Kirk Hamilton Published March 22, 2012 -
See Six More Gorgeous Views of Assassin’s Creed III
Another six screenshots for Assassin’s Creed III have hit the Internet. The screenshots depict Connor on his American adventures and while it’s tough to tell which of these are pre-renders and which (if any) are gameplay, the visual clues they offer tip off what you should expect from the game. In two of them, Connor…
By Owen Good Published March 22, 2012 -
Cut It Out, Journey Soundtrack. You’re Making Me Embarrass Myself
Argh! Cut it out, Journey soundtrack! I’m trying to look cool here, and you keep giving me goosebumps and making me stare wistfully into the middle distance! For a nice relaxing bit of listening at the start of tonight’s Kotaku Melodic, I thought I’d share one of my favorite of composer Austin Wintory’s pieces from…
By Kirk Hamilton Published March 22, 2012 -
Mass Effect 3‘s Musical Secret
I finished Mass Effect 3 last weekend. It was a real rollercoaster ride, especially the back half—stuff sure does get intense in there, doesn’t it? Don’t worry, I won’t post any spoilers here, nor will I talk about the much–discussed ending The music of Mass Effect packed more of an emotional wallop than I was…
By Kirk Hamilton Published March 22, 2012 -
Kotaku Melodic Starts Here
And now begins Kotaku Melodic, your weekly date with the world of music, video games, and video game music. Grab your headphones and turn up your speakers, we’ve got some good stuff for you to listen to today! Don’t forget to tip your waiter or waitress.
By Kirk Hamilton Published March 22, 2012 -
It Takes a Pretty Big Boss Monster to Face Down Darksiders II‘s Death
In this adorably gory trailer for THQ’s Darksiders II, our hero Death finally runs into a creature he can’t take out with a single savage slash. We’re going to need a bigger scythe. Ah springtime, when young men and women’s hearts are filled with Death and dismemberment. Darksiders II hits retail on June 26. Shortly…
By Mike Fahey Published March 22, 2012 -
Barry Sanders Advances in the NIT of Cover Contests
News and notes from around the world of sports video gaming: • If the Madden cover contest is like the NCAA Tournament, does that make the vote-off for NCAA Football 13 the NIT? Oh, yeah, that’s going on, too …. In the vote-off, Desmond Howard has advanced to face Herschel Walker, and Doug Flutie advanced…
By Owen Good Published March 22, 2012 -
Bo Jackson, Hero of Tecmo Bowl, Has Never Played The Game
Bo Jackson, two-sport all star and Tecmo Bowl hero, has never actually played the video game in which he dominates, he revealed today on ESPN’s Sports Center. I don’t know how Jackson has resisted playing the 1989 Nintendo football game, which turned him into something of a cheat code. You could beast up and down…
By Jason Schreier Published March 22, 2012