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Blizzard Toys, Once Exclusive, Now Available For Regular Humans

Blizzard’s “n00bz Marines”, collectible figures that were once only available to attendees of Blizzcon events, are now available for everybody to purchase via the company’s online store. Taking the standard form of a Starcraft Marine and adopting the disproportionate simplicity of vinyl figures like Munnys, there are four available: three based on World of Warcraft…

StarCraft II: Wings of Liberty: Once More Into The Campaign

While the rest of you are enjoying multiplayer scraps in Blizzard’s StarCraft II beta, we recently had an opportunity to go hands-on (again) with the single-player side of StarCraft II: Wings of Liberty. What has changed since last year? Plenty. This time, Blizzard showcased three new spoiler-laden missions from the game’s single-player portion, set about…

New StarCraft II Screens

Let’s X-Ray An iPad

We’ve already seen an Apple iPad taken apart, but we haven’t seen one x-rayed. Until now. The iPad is not on sale in Japan yet. One orthopedic surgeon from Fukuoka got his hands on an iPad and did what anyone with an x-ray machine would do. He…x-rayed it. No iPad was hurt in the process.…

Heavy Rain Actor Hanging Out With Madonna’s Ex

Motion capture actors might be gaming’s unsung heroes. Film director Guy Ritchie (Sherlock Holmes) might have something to sing about, though. British model Jacqui Ainsley did the motion capture for character Madison Paige in PS3 psychological thriller Heavy Rain. As video game website CVG points out, the picture up top is what Ainsley actually looks…

Madden 11’s Debut Trailer Is Both Simple & Quick

Here you go, your first look at EA Sport’s latest footballing juggernaut, Madden 11. It is, we are being told, simpler, quicker and deeper. Whether this is a triumph in sports gaming remains to be seen. It’s certainly a triumph in bullet point marketing, though. Has EA’s ad team been playing a little too much…

The World’s Fastest Robot Takes On The Nintendo Wii (And Humanity)

This is neither an episode of Astro Boy, nor is it a sequel to Robot Jox; instead, it is a real event, where the world’s fastest robot went up against a Nintendo Wii Remote. The Quattro, a sorting arm developed by Adept, was recently crowned “World’s Fastest Robot”. It’s used to, well, sort things. And…

Xbox 360: 40 Million Sold

Earlier today, Microsoft released its latest set of financial earnings, and amidst the boring stuff was a sales figure you might be interested in: the Xbox 360 has now sold over 40 million units. Launching in late 2005, that has the Xbox 360 selling at just under 10 million consoles a year. Good news for…

Seven Jump Ship To Form Modern Warfare Developer’s New Studio

It was only a matter of time. Having recently established a new studio to get away from former bosses Activision, Modern Warfare creators Vince Zampella and Jason West have wasted no time recruiting seven of their former Infinity Ward colleagues. Those seven are: – Todd Alderman, lead designer on Modern Warfare 2 – Mackey McCandlish,…

Kotaku Off-Topic: Meat, The Final Frontier

Remember that one episode where Captain Kirk had to fight the man-bratwurst, and made his own horseradish sauce out of naturally occurring materials on an alien planet? Man, that was awesome. Does it get any better than a replica of the starship Enterprise made of meat? What about a shoe made out of meat? Or…

Cultivated Play: Farmville

[This essay was given as a talk at SUNY Buffalo, 28 January 2010, the day after Howard Zinn’s death. I have left the text unaltered, to better reflect the spirit of the talk.] “I’m worried that students will take their obedient place in society and look to become successful cogs in the wheel – let…

Remember to Register Your Ratings for Next Year’s Madden Rookies

The first round of the NFL Draft is by now winding down, but remember that EA Sports’ ratings guru Donny Moore is considering community feedback when he sets attributes for this year’s rookie class in Madden NFL 11. Donny Moore, the studio’s ratings guru, posts his projected ratings in the position’s relevant as each pick…

A Little Background On Marvel Vs. Capcom 3’s Backgrounds And Settings

During our weekly Kotaku Talk Radio podcast, Marvel’s Chris Baker talked about the settings, stages, and fan service we can expect from next year’s Marvel Vs. Capcom 3. No more generic backdrops? Can it be true? It’s definitely true. While the previous two entries in the Marvel Vs. Capcom series gave us more characters than…

Rise and Fire! New Madden Vid Teases … Gus Johnson?

Gus Johnson’s unpredictable intensity has made him an ironic favorite of many. The CBS broadcaster has done some voice over work for a Madden video, raising hopes we’ll hear him losing his shit as the game’s new play-by-play man. The video in question is on this Facebook page teasing Drew Brees’ selection as the Madden…

Critiquing Neighborhood 3: Requisition of Doom

Reader Geist002 took the time to check out a school play about video game addiction in East Brunswick, New Jersey. Here’s his take on Neighborhood 3: Requisition of Doom: Okay, I went and saw this play earlier tonight. My general critique: For a high-school play, it was fairly well done, all things considering. And note:…

Best Wishes Bridge Tecmo-Itagaki Rift

In February, Tecmo Koei and renowned designer Tomonobu Itagaki settled a lawsuit arising from their nasty split in 2008. The two are back on social terms, with Tecmo’s boss sending congratulations to Itagaki’s new studio, and the studio posting it. “Congratulations on establishing a new company,” Kakihara Yasuharu, the new chairman of Koei Tecmo holdings,…

Ghost Trick Brings Ace Attorney Aesthetic to the Afterlife

The man behind Capcom’s oddly addictive Ace Attorney games has a new DS title up his sleeve that has you possessing objects to manipulate and trick your way through plot-heavy puzzles. Ghost Trick Phantom Detective kicks off with the main character dying. Moments later, fortunately for him and the player, he returns as a ghost…

Supreme Court Decision On Whether To Hear Violent Video Game Case Expected Soon

The United States Supreme Court may decide whether to hear a landmark case affecting the sale of violent video games as early as next week, the California Attorney General’s office told Kotaku today. Before the highest court in the country is the decision whether to hear arguments regarding California’s legal battle against the video game…

Free-to-Play Football Sim Signs Another Big Name

Today’s football news isn’t entirely about Madden or the NFL Draft. Quick Hit Football, a free-to-play, browser-based football simulator, picked up Patriots wide receiver Randy Moss to appear in-game for Quick Hit’s second season. Quick Hit, whom I’ve written about a few times before, can’t use the entire roster of active NFL players or any…

Walks and Swordplay

To: Ash From: Crecente Re: How I Lost 8 Kilograms Yeah, walks are fantastic, especially in the wild. We did daily walks in the bush when we were visiting Trish’s parents in Australia’s Blue Mountains last winter. I love it. But, it didn’t help me lose an ounce. You know what did? Vomitting… violently… for…