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One Of The PC’s Toughest Games Just Got A Lot Simpler
Dwarf Fortress is one of the most complex and rewarding games on the PC. Problem is, it’s also ugly as sin and nigh on inaccessible to most gamers. This new game seeks to change this. It’s called Survivors of Ragnarok, and it exists solely to take the core experience of Dwarf Fortress and transplant it…
By Luke Plunkett Published February 18, 2011 -
First Details About This Year’s Tokyo Game Show
This year’s TGS will run from September 15 to 18, with the first two days being closed to the general public. Like last year, there will be a Tougeki Fighting Tournament and a cosplay area. Attendance is expected to be 190,000.
By Brian Ashcraft Published February 18, 2011 -
Make Your Old PC Games Look Brand New
If you’re a PC gamer, and your favourite titles are a few years old, they may be starting to show signs of ageing. What you need to spruce them up, then, is the ENB Series of mods by Boris Vorontsov. Some of you may already be using them in games like Oblivion, Deus Ex and…
By Luke Plunkett Published February 18, 2011 -
Ex-Soldier Brutally Beat Boy Over Game Deletion
In April 2009, a soldier beat an 8-year-old boy so severely that his intestines burst. The child is hooked up to a machine that feeds him nutrients and collects his waste. All this over a deleted Grand Theft Auto IV game file. “We originally got the call from the hospital that a child had fallen…
By Brian Ashcraft Published February 18, 2011 -
A Very Awkward Encounter With A Man In A Skirt
On January 23, Akihabara once again opened its pedestrian mall. Otaku (“geeks”) hit the streets to stroll and shop. Yet, men in schoolgirl skirts were not welcomed. This is what Akihabara’s come to, apparently. While pedestrians are welcomed when the main drag is closed to traffic on Sunday, “performances” are now prohibited by the local…
By Brian Ashcraft Published February 18, 2011 -
There’s Something Cool In The 3DS’ Box (Aside From The 3DS)
Included with every 3DS sold will be six cards. They may look like plain paper cards, but they’re actually “augmented reality” devices, which when detected by the 3DS’ camera come to life on the handheld’s top screen. We’ve shown you what the question block card looks like, but that’s just one card. There are five…
By Luke Plunkett Published February 18, 2011 -
How Custom Firmware Can Put Your PS3 At Risk
What you’re about to read is far from a wide-ranging concern. But it does highlight one legitimate reason Sony has for going after PS3 users installing their own custom firmware on their PlayStation 3 consoles. A report on Ars Technica, showcasing some digging at the edge’s of the PlayStation Network performed by a team of…
By Luke Plunkett Published February 18, 2011 -
Quiet, All Of You…We’re Approaching Jurassic Park’s Debut Trailer
Telltale’s Jurassic Park game has broken cover, with this debut trailer showing that it at least has rain, electric fences and dinosaurs in it! The game will be a bit of a change for Telltale. Normally developers of straight-up adventure games, this one has more action to it, as you’d expect (and hope) from a…
By Luke Plunkett Published February 18, 2011 -
MLB 11 The Show Is Ready for Its Closeup
Baseball fans will fetishize any detail. This year, MLB 2K11 will make the real-life broadcast camera angles of all 30 major league parks the default view in its game. MLB 11 The Show will, too, and add even more customization. Last year I tried to match the camera view of actual major league games in…
By Owen Good Published February 17, 2011 -
Does Seeing the Dead Island Trailer In Reverse Make It Any Less Traumatic?
Actually, this recut by IGN probably makes the story even worse. At least in the original, we know the little girl dies, and the focus then becomes the struggle. Here, the payoff of that struggle is a child’s death. Is this too depressing? Check out G4TV’s reverse chronology set to zany saxophone and slapstick sound…
By Owen Good Published February 17, 2011 -
A Time of Junk Yard Dog and Leaping Lanny Poffo
Happy Thursday, Kotaku readers. We’re almost done with this workweek, so let’s celebrate how far we’ve come with some togetherness. I guess I’m saying… let us cling together. I really need to finish playing that game… Anyway, I was thinking about my wrestling days, way back when. Both when I was still interested in professional…
By Michael McWhertor Published February 17, 2011 -
A Western Trilogy Arrives Too Soon for Those Caught in Drug Violence
“Call of Juarez” wasn’t a provocative title, when it referred to the Mexican border town during the Old West. As the modern-day scene of more than 3,000 murders in the past year, it’s a touchier subject. “Call of Juarez: The Cartel” will be the third offering in the Ubisoft series, and it brings the tale…
By Owen Good Published February 17, 2011 -
Minecraft Note Blocks Cover Bohemian Rhapsody — All of It
Not only does this note-block ballad of “Bohemian Rhapsody” span (nearly) a virtuoso five minutes in Minecraft, it’s hardly this artist’s first production. He’s also turned in covers of Mega Man and Super Smash Bros themes. Says YouTube user jae100jj, he created the cobblestone ground and torches using the mcedit tool, but everything else “(note…
By Owen Good Published February 17, 2011 -
Starfront: Collision Does A Great StarCraft II Impression On iPhone
Gameloft brings StarCraft II—or at least the closest thing to it—to the iPhone with Starfront: Collision, a sci-fi real-time strategy game that works surprisingly well in such a tiny space. Should Blizzard be worried? Maybe it should simply be flattered, for Starfront: Collision is blatant in what it borrows from StarCraft. There are three races,…
By Michael McWhertor Published February 17, 2011 -
Your Final Pre-Lockout Madden Roster Arrives Tomorrow
The last roster update for Madden NFL 11 hits sometime tomorrow, boosting Super Bowl MVP Aaron Rodgers to the coveted 99 OVR rating. This could be the roster Madden NFL 12 plays with if next season is interrupted by a lockout. The 2011 draft class and any free agent moves – that is, players becoming…
By Owen Good Published February 17, 2011 -
See This? This is My Diamond Boomstick.
Combining zombies and Minecraft crafts one hell of a video, as Corridor Digital demonstrates here in the splendidly done “The Last Minecart.” Some outstanding editing and special effects – not to mention a well-sprayed sweaty brow during the crafting sequence – make this one award-worthy, if I knew what award or which festival would be…
By Owen Good Published February 17, 2011 -
Real Life Mario Kart Would Really Look Like This
There’s a new contender in the battle for real world Mario Kart action, Rémi Gaillard. Master video makers Freddie Wong and friends have taken their special effects laden know-how to the track, the most realistic looking Mario Kart-meets-real life video yet. Even if you’re creeped out by floating Freddie as a Lakitu—Aaaahhh!! Those realistic eyes!!—stick…
By Michael McWhertor Published February 17, 2011 -
The Glass Is Half Full of Portal 2, Half Full Of Facebook Games
We had stories that would make PC gamers happy today, and stories that made PC gamers mad. Plus a double-dose for fans of boxing and a single shot for aficionados of medieval torture devices. All that and a heavenly body. That’s a good mix. If This Is How PC Gaming Will Live, Maybe It Should…
By Stephen Totilo Published February 17, 2011 -
There’s More Left 4 Dead Coming To Left 4 Dead 2
Valve has revealed the next batch of downloadable content coming to Left 4 Dead 2. There’s something old—maps from the original Left 4 Dead—and something new—a campaign called “Cold Stream”—coming for owners of Left 4 Dead 2. The official Left 4 Dead blog writes that the three remaining campaigns from the first game, Blood Harvest,…
By Michael McWhertor Published February 17, 2011 -
No More Gimped Lyrics When You’re All-In with an M
It’s an appropriate opening for a song placed in a game that begins in prison. “You know you fucked up, right?” begins “The Loser Wins,” by Atmosphere. In another sports game, this would have to be blanked out, or just not used. Not so with Fight Night Champion, which chose to be EA Sports’ first…
By Owen Good Published February 17, 2011