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Kotaku ‘Shop Contest: Find Velocity Girl
An offhand remark in Luke’s look back at the early vision for Xbox Live Marketplace brings us this week’s challenge: Who was Velocity Girl, and what the hell does she look like? “We must get the internet masses to draw a mock-up of Velocity Girl,” said The Sentient Meat. “Sounds like a photoshop challenge to…
By Owen Good -
Weekend Talk Amongst Yourselves
This is Kotaku’s official open forum. Here you may discuss whatever comes to mind about video games. Well, go ahead, discuss something! I’m waiting! Kidding aside, thanks to reader jungletoad for today’s image. Submit your image to #TAYpics (Read this thread for directions on how to do a TAYpic.)
By Owen Good -
Space Invaders, Played with Kinect
From France comes the latest Kinect mod – fully playable Space Invaders, whose control scheme turns the 1978 Taito classic into an exergaming ordeal. Extend left arm, move left. Extend right arm, move right. OK, but you have to extend both to fire. That means, even if you’re a perfect shot, you’re doing 55 jumping…
By Owen Good -
Kotaku ‘Shop Contest : Give This Guy His Game Winners
My absence last weekend created a bit of a stir. Never fear, we’re here to award the winners of the ‘Shop Contest of Feb. 6, featuring everyone’s favorite Darth Maul impersonator from the Hoosier state, Ricky Lee Kalichun. Since it’s been two weeks, we’ll bring you up to date on the ballad of Ricky Lee.…
By Owen Good -
Here’s Doom — Running on a Graphing Calculator
Here, folks, is gaming on the original handheld – a calculator. While you’re still snickering over spelling out BOOBLESS and HELL upside down on yours, some guy’s gone and run Doom – real Doom – on a Texas Instruments Nspire. The admin of the TI calculator enthusiast site (i.e. – gang o’ nerds) Omnimaga got…
By Owen Good -
Why the NFL’s Labor Strife Might Be the Best Thing That Happened to Madden
Even if a lockout doesn’t happen – even if the dispute between owners and players is solved tomorrow – the labor unrest in the National Football League will have ramifications reaching well into the future – for video games. This week, EA Sports and the NFL altered the terms of their notorious exclusive arrangement, which…
By Owen Good -
Hey, Whatever Happened to Marcus, the PSP Mascot?
A Sony executive recently declared that Marcus Rivers, the smartass ‘tween flack for the PSP who debuted at E3 last year, delivered “positive sales effects,” for the handheld. Near as I can tell, that’s the first anyone’s heard of the little twerp in more than four months. Marcus still anchors the front of Sony’s official…
By Owen Good -
Box Scores: Finns in the Finals
“Sports games are really the best RPGs,” writes reader ACES11, who inserted into the NHL a Finnish Elite League team that hasn’t won squat in 45 years, drafted smartly and played well, and made it to Game 7 of the Stanley Cup Finals against Montreal. Playing NHL 11’s dynasty mode, ACES11 took Saiman Pallo, of…
By Owen Good -
Bulletstorm Once had Campaign Co-Op, but It “Broke Down” the Game
As an irreverent, dick-joking romp filled with guns and bloodshed, Bulletstorm would seem to be a natural for cooperative play in the game’s main campaign. It actually was much less than a perfect fit, said Epic Games’ design boss. A cooperative campaign mode “was in there at one point and it actually worked,” Cliff Bleszinski…
By Owen Good -
The Moneysaver: Does Barry Manilow Know You Raid His Wardrobe?
That’s the last time, Bender. That the last time you ever make me look bad in front of those kids, you hear me? I make $31,000 a year and I have a home and I’m not about to throw it all away on some punk like you. Here’s something I didn’t know. Molly Ringwald and…
By Owen Good -
The T-Virus Makes for a Charming Specimen
Resident Evil T-Virus charm. “The vial is about 1 and a quarter inches long … filled with my special, homemade, crystal clear goo, which has a few tiny real bubbles suspended in them to give the charm a more futuristic look to it. It has a double helix design embedded inside that almost seems to…
By Owen Good -
Bulletstorm’s PC Demo’s on the Way — After it Releases
Bulletstorm got a pre-release demo on the Xbox 360 and PS3. “In other news, PC gamers are grumpy about this,” Epic Games’ Cliff Bleszinski tweeted last month. Well, Bulletstorm will get a PC demo, but after its release. In other news, PC gamers are probably grumpy about this. Epic’s Mark Rein tweeted that the Bulletstorm…
By Owen Good -
Gamer Budgets Increase, but Tilt More Toward Mobile
Did you spend less on games last year? More on mobile purchases? Ratings research firm Nielsen said gamers shifted their budgets into mobile app purchases and “other leisure activities,” mirroring the widely-bemoaned sales decline seen last year. Curiously, the whole-dollar figure gamers put toward games purchases remained somewhat flat, even if its slice of the…
By Owen Good
