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Video Games’ Strangest Disappointment: When the Ref Doesn’t Screw You
This Saturday was about as throwing-things livid I’ve been over a sports contest in a decade. The last time I was this angry was in 2003, when Jorge Posada doubled off of Pedro Martinez to tie the seventh game of the American League Championship Series. I kicked a trashcan across the newsroom of the Rocky…
By Owen Good Published March 15, 2012 -
An Earthquake Doomed His Church, So He Rebuilt It In Minecraft
When game developer Chris Yee heard that Christchurch Cathedral was set to be demolished, he decided to rebuild it. In a video game. The cathedral, which was partially destroyed in an earthquake that hit the New Zealand city of Christchurch on February 22, was then slated for demolition. To commemorate it, Yee decided to rebuild…
By Jason Schreier Published March 15, 2012 -
From RPM Racing to Diablo III: A Timeline of Blizzard’s No-Rush Release Schedule
With the long-awaited Diablo III due out in May some 12 years after the release of Diablo II, we decided to take a look back at the release history of the company that puts out a new game “When it’s done.” Aside for the Warcraft franchise, which has seen pretty regular releases since 2002, Blizzard’s…
By Mike Fahey Published March 15, 2012 -
New Ratchet & Clank Collection Thankfully Omits The Bad One.
You’ll be able to buy a Ratchet & Clank Collection for PlayStation 3 this fall. It collects the first three games in the series, all wonderful, all from the PS2. It omits the fourth PS2 Ratchet, the armored-hero multilplayer-centric, more badass Deadlocked. We would like to commend Sony and Ratchet creators Insomniac for their good…
By Stephen Totilo Published March 15, 2012 -
In This Hilarious Dystopian Future, Gang Wars Are Fought With Dance Dance Revolution
Welcome to The FP, Bitch! At least, I’m assuming that at some point someone in this movie will utter that line. As they do, you will be welcomed to The FP, a new and absolutely ridiculous movie from Drafthouse Films, which comes out tomorrow in theaters nationwide. Above, you can watch the first ten minutes…
By Kirk Hamilton Published March 15, 2012 -
Talk About Making the Tough Choices in Mass Effect 3 at Kotaku Game Club!
Welcome back to the Kotaku Game Club‘s discussion of Mass Effect 3. We’ll be covering the middle portion of the game’s campaign today, picking up where left off last week, after the mission on the Turian Moon of Menae, and looking at everything through the mission on Thessia. It’s a lot of material, but some…
By Mike Epstein Published March 15, 2012 -
Microsoft: New Xbox Won’t Be Shown at This Year’s E3
Microsoft’s saying that the successor to the Xbox 360 won’t be the star of the show at 2012’s Electronic Entertainment Expo. Speculation had been rising that Microsoft would be the next major platform player to show the successor to their current hardware. Rumors reportedly have the console code-named Durango , claim that it won’t be…
By Evan Narcisse Published March 15, 2012 -
Baldur’s Gate: Enhanced Edition Announced, Server Explodes [Update]
The mysterious Baldur’s Gate countdown has ended with the bang of servers exploding, but not before an email arrived announcing something called Baldur’s Gate: Enhanced Edition for release this summer. The servers at BaldursGate.comare down, but I think I’ve got a pretty good idea of what the upcoming release entails. Officially licensed by Wizards of…
By Mike Fahey Published March 15, 2012 -
Why Are Game Developer Bonuses Based On Review Scores?
Last night, Obsidian’s Chris Avellone tweeted an interesting detail about his roleplaying game Fallout: New Vegas “[Fallout: New Vegas] was a straight payment, no royalties,” he said in response to a fan question about the game’s financial success. “Only a bonus if we got an 85+ on Metacritic, which we didn’t.” Metacritic, an aggregation website…
By Jason Schreier Published March 15, 2012 -
Skyrim’s Newest Update Makes Views to a Kill Much More Awesome
You’re still playing Skyrim. With content from the game’s Creation Kit making the game more weird and grand on a daily basis, why wouldn’t you be? But maybe you’re a bit tired of how all your finishing blows looks the same. Worry no more, Dovahkiin! The 1.5 update’s live on Steam now and will include…
By Evan Narcisse Published March 15, 2012 -
The Faces Behind the Voices of Mass Effect 3
Like radio, film, and theater companies going back hundreds of years, BioWare games often have a very familiar voice cast from one production to the next. A Dragon Age II player can’t help but hear Varric’s dry tones from the Male Trooper in Star Wars: The Old Republic, nor can a Mass Effect fan miss…
By Kate Cox Published March 15, 2012 -
Ice-T Likes Mass Effect 3 But Doesn’t “Give a F**k About the Stories”
Everybody knows that rapper/actor/Coco-lover Ice-T is a vocal video game enthusiast, right? Checking in on the game series that he’s shouted out over the last few years—Call of Duty, Medal of Honor, Gears of War—it’s probably safe to say that Ice-T’s a fan of shooters, especially competitive ones. So it’s a bit surprising that the…
By Evan Narcisse Published March 15, 2012 -
Fired Kane & Lynch Reviewer Gets the Last Laugh, 5 Years Later
Game reviewer Jeff Gerstmann, who parted ways with GameSpot five years ago after publisher Eidos took issue with his review of Kane & Lynch, has returned to his old stomping grounds. GameSpot parent company CBS purchased Gerstmann’s website, GiantBomb, today. GiantBomb will still exist as an autonomous publication. [Justin.TV]
By Jason Schreier Published March 15, 2012 -
There Was Going to Be A Mass Effect First Person Shooter
BioWare’s Montreal studio was developing a competitive first-person shooter called Mass Effect Team Assault in 2010 before transforming that effort into the third-person multiplayer mode in Mass Effect 3, according to a new behind-the-scenes iPad app created by gaming journalist Geoff Keighley. “The goal was simple,” Keighley reports in The Final Hours of Mass Effect…
By Stephen Totilo Published March 15, 2012 -
WTPT: Who Would Win In A Live Action Fight, Jun or Vega?
In a follow up to last week’s Street Fighter X Tekken video is a new martial artist’s live-action take on the fighting game characters. This time we see Tekken‘s Jun up against Street Fighter‘s Vega. I was hoping for more of Vega’s, um, enthusiasm in the video, but it’s still well suited to the drama…
By Tina Amini Published March 15, 2012 -
If Air Force One Crashed In Southern California, It Might Look Like This
No bodies. Just wreckage. This is Air Force One, crashed in Southern California as seen in this week’s new Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 map Black Box. Playable on Xbox 360 and, eventually, PlayStation 3 and PC.
By Stephen Totilo Published March 15, 2012 -
Fight Soot With Cuteness in Pebble Universe
I’m a sucker for cute games. The sounds, the characters, the music, the art. But a cute game coupled with thoughtful gameplay? We have a winner, folks. Pebble Universe is an iOS game (sorry Android users) with all of the above necessary ingredients. In Pebble Universe, the race of adorable pebble creatures is soon to…
By Tina Amini Published March 15, 2012 -
A Stunningly Cinematic Reason to Be Excited About Max Payne 3
Not having played a Max Payne game in years, I’d forgotten why I enjoyed the original entries in Rockstar’s third-person shooter series so much. Then this cinematic and special effects trailer for Max Payne 3 reminded me; it’s not about the story, but how the story is told. This unique mixture of Hollywood magic and…
By Mike Fahey Published March 15, 2012 -
Angry Birds, the Chinese Pop Song
Liu Dong, or “Jocelin” as she calls herself in English, is making the transition from search engine staffer to Chinese popstar! Her debut tune should sound familiar: It’s apparently a love song called “Angry Birds” (愤怒的小鸟). The song debuted on Chinese search engine Baidu’s music streaming service, Baidu Ting. Jocelin works in human resources at…
By Brian Ashcraft Published March 15, 2012