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Classic Halo Map “Blood Gulch” Re-Created in Minecraft
Aah, such fond memories of Blood Gulch. It was easily the most enjoyable CTF map in the original Halo, and it’s never been far from Halo players’ hearts; it’s even playable in Halo: Reach YouTube user HitmarkerVS agrees, and has gone so far as to immortalize the classic map in Minecraft. Lookin’ good, HitmarkerVS. You…
By Kirk Hamilton Published August 15, 2011 -
If you Squint, these Four DOTA Games All Look the Same
I’m sure that, like snowflakes or explanations for the finale of Lost, no two DOTA games are alike. But when a non-DOTA player like me sees a pair of group shots of DOTA games, I can’t help but wonder about the range of visual variation in one of gaming’s hottest genres. These shots show, clockwise,…
By Stephen Totilo Published August 15, 2011 -
I Just Wanted to Let My Brother Know there’s a New Elevator Action on the Way
When I was young and couldn’t really stop my older brother from playing whatever he wanted to play next on our cousin’s Nintendo, my brother liked to play Elevator Action. If we went to our cousins’ house for the holidays, he went to the basement to fire up that game. I wanted to play other…
By Stephen Totilo Published August 15, 2011 -
New Wii U Controller Patent Shows Magnetic Sensor and Flash Memory
New patent documents for the Wii U’s controller reveal all manner of bells and whistles, including a couple that we hadn’t heard about. Sure, it’s got a screen; of course it’s got a camera. It’s got an accelerometer, too, whoop-dee-do. But it’s also got flash memory, though how much memory has yet to be revealed.…
By Kirk Hamilton Published August 15, 2011 -
Rick Perry’s Idea of American Ingenuity is a Canadian Video Game
Governor and Republican presidential hopeful Rick Perry is as wholesome and American as they come. He believes in hard work, patriotism, faith in god, and good old American ingenuity, even if we have to import it from Canada. Rick Perry’s first web video since joining the presidential race is mostly as generic a political ad…
By Mike Fahey Published August 15, 2011 -
Let’s Get Ready For Gamescom!
Gamers from around the world descend upon Cologne, Germany this week for the world’s largest public celebration of gaming, and Kotaku will be bringing you live coverage starting tomorrow and lasting until the last Euro-cosplayer washes the color from their hair. Festivities kick off tomorrow with a series of pre-show press events thrown by the…
By Mike Fahey Published August 15, 2011 -
Stealth Gameplay Isn’t Enough: Give Me the Thrill of the Hunt
I finally finished Crytek’s Crysis 2 last week and surprised myself by immediately firing up a new game and starting it over from the beginning. Sure, Crysis 2 is a slick, well-made first-person shooter, but it’s fairly unremarkable on the surface. So why, when I had so many other games I could (or should) be…
By Kirk Hamilton Published August 15, 2011 -
If Bioshock Infinite Encourages Cosplay Like This, I’m All For It
Russian cosplayer Ormeli offers her take on Bioshock Infinite‘s “Elizabeth”, the emotive sidekick that accompanies you throughout your adventure in a time-rent floating city. It’s a little bit Alice in Wonderland, a little bit Alice in Wonderland at the adult costume shop. Either way: bring on the Lizbots! Elizabeth Cosplay [Flickr via Reddit]
By Joel Johnson Published August 15, 2011 -
Galaga and Germany Are Calling!
Ms. Galaga – Spotted this Galaga Ms. Pac-Man machine right outside the gate for my flight to London. The spirit of video gaming is calling me. These Orangutans Play with iPads Orangutans, it turns out, love the iPad and its games just as much as some humans do. A budding program at the Milwaukee County…
By Brian Crecente Published August 15, 2011 -
This is How Spider-Man: Edge of Time Does Mary Jane
Clark Kent’s Kryptonian cousin Laura Vandervoort crosses the DC / Marvel line this October in Spider-Man: Edge of Time, trading her Supergirl undies for the damsel-in-distress role of Mary Jane Watson. It’s nice to see Laura cast as a more down-to-earth character for once. The problem with possessing otherworldly beautiful is you soon get typecast…
By Mike Fahey Published August 15, 2011 -
This is Definitely the First Real DOTA 2 Trailer
Were those real DOTA 2 screenshots we saw earlier today? Maybe. Is this a real trailer for the game, released by Valve today? Definitely. DOTA 2: Valve’s most Blizzardy game ever? The game will make its public debut at Gamescom 2011 in Germany this week as part of a 16-player $1 million tournament called The…
By Stephen Totilo Published August 15, 2011 -
Upcoming Adventure Game To The Moon Will Be One Part Eternal Sunshine, One Part Chrono Trigger, Three Parts Raw Emotion
“When a video game can make us cry,” the saying goes, “that is when we will know that games are art.” But what if a video game trailer can make us cry? Test the strength of your stoic resolve by watching the painfully nostalgic trailer for Kan Gao’s upcoming indie adventure game To The Moon.…
By Kirk Hamilton Published August 15, 2011 -
Toy Soldiers: Cold War is the Perfect Game for our Stupidest War. And I Can Prove it in this Video.
Great wars deserve great video games. Or something. Maybe that’s true. Maybe it isn’t. But I do know that the Cold War—a war of cheesy movies, ridiculous potential world-ending brinksmanship and, oh yeah, the meddling in the affairs of most of the nations on this earth—deserves an absurd video game. It gets one in the…
By Stephen Totilo Published August 15, 2011 -
New Deus Ex Ad Features Mechanical Evolution, Gives Us Indie Heavyweights [Update]
The smartest and strongest may not always survive, but it never hurts to have some wall busting fists. Adam Jensen goes through his cybernetic transformation in the newest commercial for Deus Ex: Human Revolution That music in the background is performed by Susanna Waiche of The Dirty Projectors and Kenseth Thibideau of Pinback, who recently…
By Max Abrams Published August 15, 2011 -
Seven Minutes in Hard Reset‘s Cyberpunk Shooter Heaven
Earlier this month I took a good hard look at Hard Reset, the upcoming single-player shooter coming out next month from Polish developer Flying Wild Hog, telling you all about my favorite parts of the game. Now I can show you. Thanks to Hard Reset‘s experimentally short public relations campaign, only a week and a…
By Mike Fahey Published August 15, 2011 -
The Latest Video From Extra Credits Takes On the Massively Multiplayer RTS
The informative video series Extra Credits is back on YouTube, and in their latest episode, they take on the concept of the MMORTS—the massively multiplayer real-time strategy game. (Though at no point in the video do they refer to the genre as “Memortis,” even though that is a pretty sweet name, and way easier to…
By Kirk Hamilton Published August 15, 2011 -
Planetside 2 Keeping Friendly Fire, Adding Offline Skill Training
Planetside 2, the massively multiplayer first-person shooter with persistent warfare between three competing factions, is shaping up to be a pleasantly hardcore experience, if a presentation by the team is anything to go by. FPSGuru.com spoke to Sony Online Entertainment’s John Smedley and Matt Higby, who described Planetside 2’s dynamic, gameplay-affecting warfare, multiple planets, skills…
By Joel Johnson Published August 15, 2011 -
Gears of War 3 Campaign is Trickier, Less Linear and Better-Written than its Predecessors
Being neither pirates nor attendees of the most recent Gears of War preview event, we haven’t played the campaign for Gears of War 3 Thank goodness Gears executive producer Rod Fergusson Tweets out links to interviews people do with him and impressions they publish about his stuff. That helped me learn a few things about…
By Stephen Totilo Published August 15, 2011 -
DOTA 2 Experts Believe These are Leaked DOTA 2 Screenshots
In 48 hours, we’ll know exactly what Valve’s DOTA 2 looks like, thanks to the kick-off of a million-dollar tournament for the new game in Germany. But maybe we’re looking at it right now. A batch of purportedly leaked DOTA 2 screenshots are now circulating through the web, most of them via dota2.cn, all of…
By Stephen Totilo Published August 15, 2011 -
Kotaku Presents Two New Tracks from Jonathan Coulton’s Upcoming Album “Artificial Heart”
It’s our singular honor to be the first to present two live cuts from the massively talented, massively bearded troubadour Jonathan Coulton‘s upcoming album “Artificial Heart”. You may know Jonathan from his fan favorite songs “Skullcrusher Mountain”, “re: Your Brains”, “Code Monkey”, or—very likely around these parts—”Still Alive (GLaDOS’s Song)” and “Want You Gone (Love…
By Joel Johnson Published August 15, 2011