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In This Game, You’ll Want To Cross The Streams
In Magicka, you don’t just shoot fire or ice at things. You can combine them with electricity then shoot everything on the screen. Including your friends. And yourself. It’s the surprise PC hit of the year (so far, anyway!), and while it’s had a litany of technical problems, it’s also a lot of fun. If…
By Luke Plunkett Published February 4, 2011 -
Why The 3DS Is Like An Ice Cream Sandwich
You know how you have the ice cream part that goes in the middle and the cookie parts that stick out? The 3DS is designed like that, but for a very good reason. The original DS was pretty easy to open and close. The DS Lite, however, was not. When shut, it clammed up. And…
By Brian Ashcraft Published February 4, 2011 -
And You Thought YOU Were Excited About Elder Scrolls V
There’s a new Elder Scrolls game coming! That’s enough to get most fans of the series excited, but not this guy. He gets really excited. Excited enough to go questing It’s the work of web animation darling Harry Partridge (of Saturday Morning Watchmen fame), who normally focuses on things other than gaming. The way he…
By Luke Plunkett Published February 4, 2011 -
When The Going Gets Weird, The Weird Make Fighting Games
Don’t think of upcoming fighting crossovers as Street Fighter x Tekken (or vice-versa), but rather, one unhinged game producer against another. Kotaku first reported on the Twitter antics of Street Fighter producer Yoshinori Ono and Tekken producer Katsuhiro Harada last summer. Since then, things have escalated as evident by the baseball bat and knives Ono…
By Brian Ashcraft Published February 4, 2011 -
Bet You Couldn’t Play Fallout With Your Chin
This is Gareth. He’s playing through the early stages of Fallout: New Vegas on the PC. Why are we watching him? Because he can play it without using his hands. Gareth, who through disability does not have the use of his hands, is able to customise a game’s controls to the degree that he can…
By Luke Plunkett Published February 4, 2011 -
Would You Do A Game After Spending Five Seconds With It?
Gearbox Software’s Randy Pitchford does a delightful job of explaining the need for a game to “hook” the player. It can be heard on the latest instalment of the always-excellent Irrational Interviews podcast
By Luke Plunkett Published February 4, 2011 -
A Boy Screams As He Is Locked In An Invisible Prison
Griefing. The act of undermining another’s online gaming experience. It’s usually a dirty word, one associated with cretins and assholes. Yet when applied to the right target, it can also be associated with great things. This is Garry’s Mod. It’s a PC “game” based on Valve’s Source Engine, and lets people run around just…doing stuff…
By Luke Plunkett Published February 4, 2011 -
Battlefield 3 Trailer Shows Leap in Destruction, Fall Release
Yesterday afternoon, Kotaku reported that Battlefield creators DICE would be releasing the game’s first trailer. That trailer, apparently, is already online, supposedly leaking tonight. Images of the multi-player military shooter were revealed in the latest Game Informer. The game has the same visual vibe of Battlefield: Bad Company 2, but with decimated environments. As mentioned…
By Brian Ashcraft Published February 4, 2011 -
Hang Out In Nerd Paradise (With Maids!)
Akihabara. The mere mention of it conjures images of retro game shops, arcades, aisles of manga and maids, yes, maids. Wouldn’t it be great to visit them? Like, right now? If you live in Tokyo, that’s a clinch. But for the rest of the world, visiting Akihabara isn’t so easy. Enter Akihabara 360 Map, Google…
By Brian Ashcraft Published February 4, 2011 -
Guile, You Would Be Perfect On The Simpsons
Simpsons fan artist Dean Fraser revisits the world of Street Fighter to show us a man whose haircut would actually fit right in on the animated series. Impressive! As impressive at is, however, we know as well as you that Guile’s theme not only goes with everything, but makes everything better. Even Guile. [Street Fighter:…
By Luke Plunkett Published February 4, 2011 -
Ship “Wreck” Maroons Video Game Launch
Upcoming PC title Two Worlds II was supposed to launch in the UK tomorrow. That launch has been pushed back to the end of February, however, after the freighter carrying all the games had a little trouble “We just received the container from China with the Collector’s Edition and other components and they are wrecked,”…
By Luke Plunkett Published February 4, 2011 -
2010’s Most Popular Xbox Live Titles
Halo: Reach finished second to Call of Duty: Black Ops among the 2010 video game releases played most on Xbox Live. The annual rankings dropped yesterday courtesy of Xbox Live community guru Larry “Major Nelson” Hyrb. In downloadable titles, LIMBO trailed Dead Rising 2: Case Zero, and Baby Maker Extreme was the top Indie game.…
By Owen Good Published February 3, 2011 -
UFC Undisputed Takes a Swing at Facebook
THQ adds its UFC Undisputed to the list of licensed console sports titles with a Facebook game adaptation, wheeling out a microtransaction-supported venture that focuses on training and leveling-up your created fighter. UFC Undisputed Fight Nation doesn’t feature arcade action, but performs more like a sports management sim. In this case, you name a performer…
By Owen Good Published February 3, 2011 -
Tonight, We Roguelike!
Hey, Kotakus! While some of us are plumbing the depths of blocky dungeons, the rest of you can join us in off-topic conversation. Or you can discuss your love of the roguelike. I’ll be playing the recently Mac-ified Desktop Dungeons, trying to break this Bejeweled 3 habit, while also finding the time cook dinner and…
By Michael McWhertor Published February 3, 2011 -
A Peek at the Primordial Scrawlings of Game Developers
The idea for a video game must begin in someone’s mind. From there, its first expression isn’t necessarily digital. Notebooks and paper napkins often carry the first scrawls of the next big hit. One person is chronicling them. Gamestorm, a Tumblr blog established this week, is collecting and displaying submissions from game developers, either of…
By Owen Good Published February 3, 2011 -
GameStorm Images
“Here is the first brainstorming sheet for Codex, my RPG project, from February 2009. I did a lot of this in the early morning while still in my pajamas, if I remember correctly. I was in the US at the time, so the paper size doesn’t match any of my other sketches.” – Agnes Heyer,…
By Owen Good Published February 3, 2011
