-
Japanese Dev Legend Goes from Riches to Rags
He developed some of the most successful, ground-breaking games ever. But today, game designer Yoshiki Okamoto’s personal blog has vanished from the internet. Rumors say so did he. Back in the early 1980s, Okamoto developed inventive shooters like Time Pilot and Gyruss for Konami. After joining Capcom, he worked on titles like 1942 and Forgotten…
By Brian Ashcraft Published June 2, 2011 -
If You Could Bone One Animal Crossing Character, Who Would it be?
Gross question, right? Or perhaps just…stupid? Perhaps, but this is video games and this is the internet, meaning that more than one person has thought about having sex with an Animal Crossing character, and those people have got together. Auntie Pixelante has combed the depths of a certain niche porn mecca, found everything there is…
By Luke Plunkett Published June 2, 2011 -
These Girls Will Rock Your Brains Out
Late last week, Capcom held a typical and somewhat ho-hum press conference for Resident Evil: The Mercenaries 3D in Tokyo. The bright spot was when heavy metal band Aldious took the stage. Unfortunately, they weren’t they’re to play music, but games. The members dig video games and were there to check out the game’s co-op…
By Brian Ashcraft Published June 2, 2011 -
Starhawk’s Multiplayer Looks Like Space Madness
Starhawk has transforming jet fighters, and real-time strategy-esque base building, and also, lots of killing. If that sounds like fun, well, it looks like fun too. I saw some people when the game was first unveiled reckon it looked like Battlefield: Macross. I’m nodding my head in agreement (and anticipation) with that, and doing so…
By Luke Plunkett Published June 2, 2011 -
The PlayStation Network Is Back in Action
As promised, and after over a month of downtime following attacks by hackers, Sony’s PlayStation Network is now back up and running. This means that not only can players engage in multiplayer, but you can finally once again access things like the PlayStation Store as well. We’ve been able to access the Store in both…
By Luke Plunkett Published June 2, 2011 -
Wow, Somebody Built (Another) Real Portal 2 Robot
Atlas, one of Portal 2’s co-operative testing robots, is making the jump from the monitor screen to the real world, courtesy of some amazing work at Technically Magic. The guys at TM, specialists in props and costumes for ads and music videos and the like, built the little guy from scratch for a GameStop competition.…
By Luke Plunkett Published June 2, 2011 -
PSN to be “Fully Restored” by the End of the Day
Sony just sent out a quick update letting customers know that “all PlayStation Network services” should be back up and running by the end of today, June 2. That’s for everywhere except Japan, Hong Kong and Korea, that is. [Sony]
By Luke Plunkett Published June 2, 2011 -
Those Who Preordered Duke Nukem Forever Get First Dibs on DLC
The “First Access Club,” i.e. those who preordered the game from 2K and Gearbox (or bough the Borderlands GOTY edition) will get “the very first Duke Nukem Forever multiplayer downloadable add-on for free!” So, the lack of specifics means maybe it isn’t a map, but probably a skin or a weapon of some kind. Duke…
By Owen Good Published June 1, 2011 -
Coming In Hot
Folks, we’re already at the hump of this week, so let’s get tonight’s show on the road. This is an open thread, where you can discuss matters video game related or not. For example, would anyone care to offer an informed opinion about what these thousand of teeny tiny insects that seem to have taken…
By Michael McWhertor Published June 1, 2011 -
These are the Big Sports Games of E3 2011, We Think
Because of the assurance—death, taxes and Madden—that they come out every year, sports video games aren’t typically the biggest newsmakers at E3. For diehard fans, however, it is often the first time their favorite series gets a gameplay demonstration. We’ll be there to see all of these, the biggest sports games of E3 2011. This…
By Owen Good Published June 1, 2011 -
What has Two Thumbs and an Ocarina? This Guy
The plastic ocarina that Nintendo’s sending around with The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time 3D is quite the coveted piece of swag. Until we got ours, only French journalists and Australian customers were on the chosen list of recipients. Does the thing actually work? Joel Johnson put it to the test. You may not…
By Owen Good Published June 1, 2011 -
When Online Gaming Goes Wrong, You Don’t Need to Get SWAT Involved
A disagreement over an Xbox Live Indie game has resulted in what may be the ultimate grief, with one gamer sending a SWAT team to another gamer’s home after phoning in a bogus murder-suicide 911 call. It all happened over a game of FortressCraft, the Minecraft-“inspired” world-building game for the Xbox Live Indies channel, according…
By Michael McWhertor Published June 1, 2011 -
Who are all these weird new mutants in X-Men: First Class?
The first X-Men films introduced us to marquee mutants like Wolverine and Storm. For the 1960s prequel X-Men: First Class, Kick-Ass director Matthew Vaughn has dug deep into X-Men lore and plucked out some of the comic’s most obscure mutants. You may be familiar with the returning characters (Magneto, Professor X, Mystique, and Beast), but…
By Annalee Newitz Published June 1, 2011 -
Will Mass Effect 3 Really Be ‘Better With Kinect’?
Looks like Commander Shepard may be taking Microsoft’s motion controller into battle in Mass Effect 3. How do we know? Because the box art for the Xbox 360 version of the game claims this Mass Effect will be “better” with Kinect. That heretofore unseen artwork was uploaded to EA’s online store earlier today, then swapped…
By Michael McWhertor Published June 1, 2011 -
Dr. Strange Underwater, Dave McKean’s Return, Sonic‘s Road to ‘Genesis’ and Other Welcome Surprises
New comics show up in comics stores (and on many of your favorite portable devices) every Wednesday. But which ones are worth buying? As always, I have some suggestions. Comics You Should Consider Buying (from comics shops) Celluloid I wish I could tell you if this $35 book was good. I don’t know, because I…
By Stephen Totilo Published June 1, 2011 -
OK, We Get It
Aliens Vs. Nerf Guns | A Colonial Marines gun shipped to our offices today. (Photo by Crecente. The Modern Warfare 3 Files: Team Perks, No Nukes, New Killstreaks It’s a fair guess that Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 will follow in the footsteps of last year’s Call of Duty: Black Ops, shattering sales records…
By Brian Crecente Published June 1, 2011 -
Get A Taste of Saints Row: The Third‘s Power With Its First CG Trailer
Volition’s sometimes beautiful, but thoroughly twisted purple fantasy Saints Row: The Third is coming to the PlayStation 3, PC and Xbox 360 later this year. We’ll have gameplay impressions soon. But for now, all we have is a trailer. This is purely a vibe-setting look at Saints Row: The Third, devoid of giant purple dong…
By Michael McWhertor Published June 1, 2011 -
Link Vs. Ganon, An Old-School Fight Reimagined to Frightening Scale
Link faces the original Legend of Zelda boss Ganon and gets an upgraded style while doing so by Eric Proctor. The Final Boss by Eric Proctor / TsaoShin (deviantART) (Twitter) Need your daily fill of geek eye candy? If so, head over to Justin Page’s Rampaged Reality and get your fix. Republished with permission. The…
By Michael McWhertor Published June 1, 2011 -
How a Hockey Journeyman Became One of Video Games’ Early Superstars
Bo Jackson. Jeremy Roenick. Even casual players know what those two mean to games like Tecmo Bowl and NHL ’94. But Cliff Ronning? Old-school sports game cognoscenti remember he was NHL 93‘s fastest player, with an overall rating well north of what you’d expect for a 25-goal scorer. Ronning finally revealed why today on a…
By Owen Good Published June 1, 2011