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Fallout Could’ve Been About Time-Traveling, Dinosaurs, and Monkey Murder
The original Fallout was a gamble that paid off big-time; it set in place a tone, gameplay philosophy and fiction that is still going strong today. Fallout games are best known for their evocative, funny, dark and violent post-apocalyptic world. But it could have been another kind of game entirely. In a Fallout post-mortem at…
By Kirk Hamilton Published March 8, 2012 -
How To Make Terrific Video Game Tree. A Video Demonstration
If you want to make trees in video games, you can grab a program called SpeedTree and get to growing, pruning and playing god. This is what game developers do, including apparently the makers of Batman: Arkham City, whose game had trees I forgot about. This is the kind of tech they’re showing at the…
By Stephen Totilo Published March 8, 2012 -
Why Apple’s New iPad Won’t Win Over the Xbox Gamer
Apple’s next iPad is a tremendously powerful device. It boasts a gorgeous screen and some pretty impressive hardware. One prominent game developer even bragged that its specs trump those of the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 gaming consoles “People are always talking about blurring the line between handheld and console,” Chillingo co-head and director Chris…
By Jason Schreier Published March 8, 2012 -
Software Designs Its Own Video Games For Humans to Play
Prototype game Space Station Invaders doesn’t look like anything special. It’s blocky, a bit clumsy, and derivative. Far from groundbreaking to look at or to play. However, its design is anything but ordinary. The point of Space Station Invaders isn’t so much the game itself, but its designer: an AI program called Angelina The New…
By Kate Cox Published March 8, 2012 -
Please Let This Be The Thing That Gives Us Great Video Game Clothing And Hair
Clothes often look horrible in video games. People look like they have their suits and dresses painted on their bodies. Or their capes clip right through their arms. Terrible. And hair… long hair almost never works. So you get all these games that won’t let you give your character long hair. Thank goodness we’ve got…
By Stephen Totilo Published March 8, 2012 -
No Beta Planned for Halo 4
Unlike its predecessors, upcoming Xbox 360 shooter Halo 4 will not have a beta, 343 Industries revealed on its blog today. “Splitting resources to manage and build a beta is not on our schedule,” the developer wrote. [The Halo Bulletin]
By Jason Schreier Published March 8, 2012 -
WTPT: Evil Ryu Emerges in this Street Fighter X Tekken Short Film
Thousand Pounds Action Company is known for their martial arts choreography and film productions. Much of their work is inspired by anime and video games. Their latest production, “Street Fighter: The Devil Within,” is a short film where Ryu struggles with Satsui no Hadou, or “surge of murderous intent.” You can tell because there’s a…
By Tina Amini Published March 8, 2012 -
Animated Star Wars: The Old Republic Makes Hilarious Light of Unpredictable Dialogue
Have you ever played a BioWare game where a dialogue option you chose resulted in a completely unexpected response? I certainly have. In fact, I distinctly recall cursing into the night, “Dammit, that’s not what I meant to say!” So has Redditor TerminalMontage, who made this hilarious and cute video on his experiences playing through…
By Tina Amini Published March 8, 2012 -
Mix Drinks, Battle Slimes, And Cook Dragons in Adventure Bar Story
The best way to describe Adventure Bar Story, out today for iPhone, iPad, and iPod Touch, might be “Final Fantasy meets Animal Crossing.” Though this new simulation-roleplaying game can’t boast the narrative depth of the former or the meticulous attention to detail of the latter, it’s still a charming adventure with a fantastic soundtrack and…
By Jason Schreier Published March 8, 2012 -
From Metal Gear Solid to Portal 2, Every Video Game Sounds Better in German
Why would you ever want to play a video game in a language you don’t understand? Once you hear Half-Life‘s G-Man, Metal Gear‘s Psycho Mantis, and Portal 2‘s Space Sphere speaking German you’ll understand completely. Our German-speaking audience might be scratching their heads right now, wondering what the big deal is. Well, the big deal…
By Mike Fahey Published March 8, 2012 -
GDC Notebook: Day 3: The Death of Consoles And/Or Their Rebirth
By Wednesday, the Game Developers Conference is really happening. It ramps up slowly every year. You get your mobile games panels and your social gaming talks on Monday and Tuesday. Indie developers dream and inspire for crowds of their peers. Then comes Wednesday and things get smashingly busy. Big-name game developers start pulling in crowds.…
By Stephen Totilo Published March 8, 2012 -
Your Nit-Picky, Paranoid Playstyle Teaches Civilization‘s Creator How to Make Games
For as long as there’ve been video games, there’ve been attempts to classify the various types of people who play them. It’s a bit of a parlor game that reveals bits of human behavior. What do you call the person who tries to parse a game’s inner workings? Legendary designer Sid Meier’s coined his own…
By Evan Narcisse Published March 8, 2012 -
Video Games Are a Harsh Mistress to Players with OCD
Presented with a vast array of collectibles and achievements, most gamers have no problem skipping the items and accolades and moving on. Gamers with obsessive-compulsive disorder, on the other hand… I’ll just let commenter Daemon_Gildas explain in today’s Speak Up on Kotaku. God, I fucking hate being a gamer with OCD. I just finished Super…
By Mike Fahey Published March 8, 2012 -
First Angry Birds Space Gameplay Footage Debuts from Orbit
The newest entry into the Angry Birds franchise really, really means it about being in space. The launch announcement for Angry Birds Space came today from the International Space Station, in orbit above Earth. In the video above, NASA astronaut Don Petit explains some of the physics of how angry birds can launch an assault…
By Kate Cox Published March 8, 2012 -
Talk Amongst Yourselves
When the last enemy gives his life for whatever pointless cause he was defending, we’ll push the bodies aside to make room for a little video game discussion in Kotaku‘s official forum, Talk Amongst Yourselves. Snufkin seems to think that his mashup of this month’s TAY art and Skyrim was a bad idea. I don’t…
By Mike Fahey Published March 8, 2012 -
Fighting, Revenge, and a Double Dose of Fun!? It’s Nintendo Download Time
Two fighting games, a PopCap puzzler, and a minigolf game that’s trying way too hard to catch your attention? There’s only one place such a diverse lineup could thrive. No WiiWare this week? What am I to do? I already own The King of Fighters ’97 in various forms, so the Virtual Console version holds…
By Mike Fahey Published March 8, 2012 -
Ultima Online, EverQuest and World of Warcraft Earn Their Place in the MMO Hall of Fame
The MMO Hall of Fame was created to recognize massively multiplayer online games from 1996 on up for bringing “years of excitement to millions of fans”. Which games made it into the inaugural class of 2012? Those first three come as absolutely no surprise to anyone. Ultima Online put MMOs on the map. EverQuest took…
By Mike Fahey Published March 8, 2012 -
From Skyrim to Lollipop Chainsaw, This Lady Does It All
Earlier this week, Kotaku attended an event for upcoming zombie game Lollipop Chainsaw. At the event, the game’s heroine, Juliet, was there in the flesh. You might know her better as cosplayer Jessica Nigri. The 21 year-old Nigri has a been cosplaying since the 2009 Comic Con. Whether it be Skyrim, Gears of War, or…
By Brian Ashcraft Published March 8, 2012