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Spider-Man Dies, I Think, but, hey, Warren Spector’s Writing DuckTales and there’s a Phoenix Wright Manga
There are new comics in the comics shops every Wednesday, but some of those comics are not worth your money. As always, I have recommendations about which comics—physical ones and digital ones—you should consider buying. You’re welcome! Plus, I’ve got a list of all the new video-game-related comics out this week. Comics You Should Consider…
By Stephen Totilo Published June 22, 2011 -
Facing a Season with No NFL, Madden‘s Ultimate Team Looks to the Legends
In any discussion of the greatest video game athletes, the Michael Vick of Madden NFL 2004 always makes the cut, and is usually the most recent name on the list. In the eight years since his appearance, sports simulations have fine-tuned their realism, closing the era of logic-defying performances by the likes of Griffey, Roenick,…
By Owen Good Published June 22, 2011 -
Grad-u-ation Time, Come on!
FALLOUT NEW YORK | A picture of the Fallout Shelter sign in my son’s now former elementary school. (Photo by Brian Crecente) 1-Bit Ninja is a Sublime Paper Mario, Super Mario Mash-Up At first blush 1-bit Ninja looks like another iPhone game knock-off, but spend ten seconds with the game and you’ll dismiss that notion.…
By Brian Crecente Published June 22, 2011 -
Valve Likes What It Sees in Nintendo’s Wii U
Could Valve’s future games finally come to a Nintendo platform? Thanks to the Wii U, a system that appears at least as powerful as an Xbox 360 or PlayStation 3, it sounds like that’s a very real possibility. Gabe Newell, president and co-founder of the studio that makes Team Fortress, Half-Life, Portal and Left 4…
By Michael McWhertor Published June 22, 2011 -
Violent Video Games Contribute to Dropping Crime Rate, Study Suggests
As it turns out, all that warning that violence in video games is bad for your brain may be…well…wrong. According to a recent paper based on studies at the University of Texas,”Overall, violent video games lead to decreases in violent crime.” The paper was referenced in an article by the BBC which examines the drop…
By Jen Schiller Published June 22, 2011 -
Report: Someone’s Buying PopCap Games for a Cool Billion [Update]
The makers of Peggle, Plants vs. Zombies and Bejeweled are reportedly in the process of being snapped up by someone with very, very deep pockets. The rumored mystery buyer may be paying more than $1 billion USD for the right to PopCap’s brand of casual, commercially successful fun. TechCrunch names a few possible buyers in…
By Michael McWhertor Published June 22, 2011 -
Silent Hill: Downpour Doesn’t Need Pyramid Heads to be Scary
I liked what one of the developers of the next, creepy Silent Hill recently had to say about guns. His team’s new game will have guns, but not the way most games have guns. “We’re treating the gun like the gun in The Road by Cormac McCarthy,” Brian Gomez, Silent Hill: Downpour‘s design director said,…
By Stephen Totilo Published June 22, 2011 -
You Might Enjoy This Story if You’re On an HTML5 Browser
Game development platform GameSalad is tossing something new into the mix with HTML5. With the move to HTML5 developers can now move their games beyond iOS and onto other platforms such as the ever-popular web browser. According to GameSalad, HTML5 offers the largest possible audience, working with all popular web browsers, and will offer developers…
By Sam Winstrom Published June 22, 2011 -
Beyond Good & Evil HD (Finally) Comes to the PS3 Next Week
Better late than never, the PSN release of Beyond Good & Evil HD, previously scheduled for May, will grace the PlayStation Store next Tuesday, June 28 in North America for $9.99 USD. Here’s Kotaku’s take on the XBLA version. [PlayStation.blog]
By Michael McWhertor Published June 22, 2011 -
Gabe Newell is Bringing Portal 2 to the Classroom
During his talk at the Games for Change festival today, Valve chief Gabe Newell mentioned that the company has begun working with schools to build a curriculum based on Portal 2. Check out our liveblog of the event for more.
By Mike Epstein Published June 22, 2011 -
Anarchy Reigns Is an Attempt To Revive the Brawler… Good Luck!
Fighting games came back. Adventure games came back. Can brawlers come back? Sega’s early-2012 game Anarchy Reigns is a modern-day rarity, a game built for one or more players to punch and kick their way through. The Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 title from Platinum Games is a brawler, which makes it a throwback to…
By Stephen Totilo Published June 22, 2011 -
Another Look at Call of Duty: Black Ops ‘Annihilation’ in Action
The third downloadable add-on for Call of Duty: Black Ops, “Annihilation,” hits next week (for Xbox 360, that is), bringing with it four new maps and one new zombie-slaughtering “experience.” Want to see? Watch that video. You’ll get a new peek at those maps—Hangar 18, set in a highly classified military base of Area 51;…
By Michael McWhertor Published June 22, 2011 -
Japanese Government Debuts Maps for Otaku
Japan’s National Tourism Organization has released a two-sided map that will revolutionize Otaku Tourism. The first side details each region in Japan, leading fans to major anime/manga hotspots, and the other details pilgrimages to harder to find locations. [Forevergeek]
By Jen Schiller Published June 22, 2011 -
These Big Video Games Won’t Be Out Until 2012
Hopefully you are not on the edge of your seat waiting for the next Tomb Raider. Warning: even if you are an Olympic athlete, you should consider inhaling and exhaling a few times between now and the release of Mass Effect 3. Never mind their 2011 hype. They’re next year’s games. As we’ve done before,…
By Stephen Totilo Published June 22, 2011 -
See Xbox 360’s Kinect-Enabled Advertising in Action
This video gives us a unique opportunity to see behind the wall that one would hope separates entertainment from advertising. I’m not saying there is anything terribly wrong with adding new functionality to the advertising that pops up on an Xbox 360 console. I just hate how this video makes it feel like the console…
By Brian Crecente Published June 22, 2011 -
A Day in the Life of Shadows of the Damned
The Internet, Twitter in particular, seems to be heads-over-heels in love with Shadows of the Damned This video explains a little of the reason behind that. Come on, those Spanish lesson’s aren’t just great, they’re liable to get you killed in some places.
By Brian Crecente Published June 22, 2011 -
Control a Drill Robot, Space Squirrel, or Jetpack Kitty in this Xbox Indie Game Rundown
Every couple of weeks, we recommend some of the best games on the Xbox Live Indie channel. These are the games on the fringe of the Xbox 360 platform, made by regular folks and indie dreamers. They’re peer-reviewed, not Microsoft-approved and thankfully they’re not all about talking to pretty girls or posing your Xbox Avatar.…
By Jen Schiller Published June 22, 2011 -
Dead or Alive: Dimensions Gets Mature in Australia
After being pulled to get reclassified, Dead or Alive: Dimensions isn’t rated MA+15 (a rating that caused outrage in Australia), but is now rated Mature (a rating that hopefully…won’t?). Yep, the game was bumped up one rating. [Kotaku Australia]
By Brian Ashcraft Published June 22, 2011 -
How To Rule Supreme at Gears of War 3‘s Horde Mode
Here’s a quick look at the upgrades coming to Gears of War 3‘s Horde mode 2.0. Narrated by COG dispatcher-turned-soldier, Anya Stroud, the video briefs you on the new features they’ll find in the upgrade’s cooperative mode. Think of it as Gears‘ horde mode with a bit of tower defense built in for good measure.
By Brian Crecente Published June 22, 2011