-
Osama’s Compound Now a Virtual Commando Training Ground
TAMPA, Fla. – To passersby, T.J., a fit 20-something, is running around a red felt carpet about half the size of a basketball court inside a convention center. In his mind, he’s wearing a full set of body armor, his face obscured by a ski mask with a death’s head silkscreened on it. And he’s…
Spencer Ackerman Published May 18, 2011 -
Microsoft Says Xbox 360 Disc Read Problems Caused by an Older Update
Yesterday, Kotaku Australia reported that a software update for the Xbox 360 was causing some consoles to stop reading game discs, which Microsoft was addressing in the form of all-new replacement Xbox 360s and free Xbox Live subscriptions. The original report believed that the issue was related to the forthcoming software update for Xbox 360…
By Michael McWhertor Published May 18, 2011 -
Oh How Serious Sam‘s Headless Kamikaze Has Grown
Lacking any meat above the neckline and hands replaced with ticking time bombs, the headless kamikaze of Serious Sam fame has come a long way over the past decade. Developer Croteam took a break from developing the next game in the SS series, Serious Sam 3: BFE, to show off the new look for one…
By Mike Fahey Published May 18, 2011 -
The Difference Between L.A. Noire and Grand Theft Auto
I enjoy L.A. Noire. I enjoy it for reasons that have nothing to do with why I enjoyed Grand Theft Auto IV. Despite superficial similarities, two games are barely alike, which I’ve carefully explained before But when I put L.A. Noire in the hands of someone who loves GTA, guess what he tried to do…
By Stephen Totilo Published May 18, 2011 -
The PlayStation Network Inevitably Fails in PSN Protector
If Dutch game designer Kenney Vleugels’ Flash interpretation of the PlayStation Network security system were anywhere near accurate, PSN would have been down for the count years ago. PSN Protector is a tower defense variant based on Sony’s recent troubles keeping the PlayStation Network hacker-free. Hack attacks styled after the PlayStation controller buttons attack from…
By Mike Fahey Published May 18, 2011 -
Sorry, There Will Be No Valve Games at E3 2011
Hoping for the continuing adventures of Gordon Freeman and the long-awaited revelation of Half-Life 2: Episode Three at this year’s E3? Well, hope a little less today. Valve has said it’s not bringing any games to this year’s expo. “Lots of folks have mailed asking about appointment times with Valve,” reads an e-mail from the…
By Michael McWhertor Published May 18, 2011 -
7th-Graders Make a Paper-Mache Video Game You Can’t Play
Elisabeth Willis is my kind of art teacher. She’s encouraging her students to create their own video game characters in real life. Her 7th grade class assignment was so popular this spring that she’s already been asked to put together a panel for the National Art Educators Association—and she’s not even a full-time teacher yet.…
By Joel Johnson Published May 18, 2011 -
The Witcher 2 is Blurry in All the Right Places
Amidst all of the nudity and subtle gags lurking in CD Projekt Red’s latest PC role-playing adventure, the aspect of The Witcher 2: Assassins of Kings that has impressed me the most so far is how blurry it is. I’m not talking muddy graphics, but rather the purposeful motion blur effect seen when the camera…
By Mike Fahey Published May 18, 2011 -
City of Heroes Dragged Kicking and Screaming Into the Steampunk Age
Steampunk: it’s everywhere you want to be, especially if the place you want to be is Paragon City circa June 1, 2011, when the City of Heroes Steampunk pack goes live. Are you sick of Steampunk yet? There’ll be nowhere in the City of Heroes or City of Villains to escape it come the first…
By Mike Fahey Published May 18, 2011 -
Why are watermelons exploding in China?
Watermelons are bursting at the seams in farms throughout southeastern China, and no one is quite sure what’s causing it. Is it chemicals? Freak weather conditions? Or maybe it’s just time to prepare for a full-on attack of the watermelons. So far, the exploding watermelons have been localized around Danyang City in China’s Jiangsui province.…
By Alasdair Wilkins Published May 18, 2011 -
Monster Hunter Stalks the Mighty iPhone
The race to bag the biggest game of all gets small in Japan this June, when Capcom launches Monster Hunter Dynamic Fighting, the furiously popular franchises first foray onto the iPhone. Taking a cue from Epic’s one-on-one fighter Infinity Blade, Monster Hunter Dynamic Fighting sees players facing off mano-e-monstoro against some of biggest, baddest monsters…
By Mike Fahey Published May 18, 2011 -
We Took a Field Trip to the Minecraft School
A couple of weeks ago, my colleague Matt Toder and I visited a second-grade class that is being taught—mostly during school hours—how to play Minecraft. We’d heard about it and read about it. We had to see it. It’s real. And the kids, well, they’re learning in ways we sure wish we could have when…
By Stephen Totilo Published May 18, 2011 -
Some College Kids Get to Play Portal for Class Credit
“Enduring Questions” is a mandatory class for freshmen at Wabash College. The syllabus? Gilgamesh, Aristotle, Goffman, Donne…and Portal. That’s because it’s taught by Michael “Brainy Gamer” Abbot, profiled in this piece by Patrick Klepek that’s certainly worth reading on Giant Bomb When it came time to talk about the experience, there were surprising responses. Who…
By Joel Johnson Published May 18, 2011 -
Think L.A. Noire Has Impressive Facial Animations? Check This Out
It’s true that work that Team Bondi has done animating the faces of real life actors in Rockstar’s L.A. Noire is nothing short of astounding, but Janimation’s facial recognition technology creates virtual faces so real you can almost smell their stinking breath. Kotaku reader and Janimation employee Trevor Hykes passed along this incredibly impressive technology…
By Mike Fahey Published May 18, 2011 -
Resident Evil Movie Director Spends Days Watching Other People Play Resident Evil
How does director Paul W.S. Anderson keep coming up for ideas for new entries in the Resident Evil film franchise? According to his wife, series star Milla Jovovich, “professional video game players” do his research for him. Paul Anderson doesn’t have time to play through the Resident Evil games himself. He’s far too busy doing…
By Mike Fahey Published May 18, 2011 -
Resistance 3 is Now the Leading Contender for Box Art of the Year
The PlayStation 3-exclusive Resistance 3 will be up against many other first-person shooters this fall. Maybe some of those games will be better, maybe not. But can they possibly have better box-art? The R3 box art was designed by British artist Olly Moss. It reminds us that, as with Crysis 2 and a certain upcoming…
By Stephen Totilo Published May 18, 2011 -
Do You Enjoy Reading Your Video Game Dialog?
In today’s episode of Speak Up on Kotaku, commenter Korio8 wonders if anyone else prefers subtitles in their video games, even if they can hear every spoken word perfectly. Do most of you people have the subtitles turned on when gaming? It has become my habit to watch movies or play games with subtitles since…
By Mike Fahey Published May 18, 2011 -
Report: Sony PlayStation Network Password Reset Page Exploited, Customer Accounts Potentially Compromised
According to reports on Nyleveia.com, Eurogamer, and NeoGAF, Sony’s PlayStation Network password reset system-the one just put in place after the PSN hack-has been compromised, allowing hackers to change a PSN password if they know your email and date of birth. Exactly the sort of information that was released in the original hack. Sony has…
By Joel Johnson Published May 18, 2011
