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Heavy Rain’s First Nine Minutes Hit The Shower, Down Some OJ
Late next month, psychological thriller Heavy Rain will be released. The game’s first nine minutes have popped up on YouTube. So if you don’t want the first nine spoiled, don’t watch. But if you are keen to see SIXAXIS motion controls *finally* used to shake orange juice or towel off a naked man in a…
By Brian Ashcraft Published January 25, 2010 -
2010 Music, 1992 Graphics
French electronic artist Danger’s upcoming EP, titled "09/17 2007", will be out later this month. To tease it, he’s using 16-bit-themed game intros. Which are amazing. Makes you wish developers (*cough* Capcom *cough* ) would leave the 80’s 8-bit stuff be, and get their hands dirty on some 16-bit homages. Like a new-old Streets of…
By Luke Plunkett Published January 25, 2010 -
New Super Mario Bros. Wii Over 10 Million Served
New Super Mario Bros. Wii has already propelled itself past Super Mario Galaxy. That’s not all, though. In the eight weeks since the title has been released, Super Mario Bros. Wii has reached the ten million units sold mark. The game has sold over 3 million copies in Japan, more than 4.5 million in North…
By Brian Ashcraft Published January 25, 2010 -
Get Mass Effect 2’s DLC For Free (Free!) [Update]
Somebody at Microsoft has flipped a switch a little early, as most of Mass Effect 2’s downloadable content is already available. Available for free. For everyone. The GameStop-exclusive DLC, the stuff supposedly reserved for people picking up the game’s special edition, much of it is available for download right now on Xbox Live (note: you’ll…
By Luke Plunkett Published January 25, 2010 -
Dead Or Alive Paradise, A Trailer Comparison
Tecmo is taking a break from Dead or Alive fighting games and releasing another Dead or Alive beach game. You know, girls with impossible curves in impossible swimsuits. The last Dead or Alive beach game, Dead or Alive: Xtreme 2, was released in late 2006. Like the upcoming DoA: Paradise, the game featured girls on…
By Brian Ashcraft Published January 25, 2010 -
Mass Effect 2 Has Some Fancy Disc-Swapping Action (Update)
Like many sprawling role-playing games, Mass Effect 2 is coming on two discs. Unlike other two-disc affairs, however, it’s taking a different approach when it comes to swapping said discs. Normally (this of course only applies to the 360 version of the game), you swap a disc halfway through a game. Or, if there’s four…
By Luke Plunkett Published January 25, 2010 -
Nothing Says Dragon Quest VI Ad Like Cosplay
There is a long proud history of cosplaying live-action Dragon Quest television ads. This latest ad for the Dragon Quest VI Nintendo DS remake follows that traditional. How fitting. Dragon Quest VI, originally released on the Super Famicom in December 1995, will be released on the Nintendo DS on January 28 in Japan.
By Brian Ashcraft Published January 25, 2010 -
NSFW: Game Voice Actress Does Pin-Up Modeling, Retires From Pin-Up Modeling
Chiaki Takahashi, who voices Litchi Faye Ling in BlazBlue and character Azusa Miura in Namco’s THE iDOLM@STER, is not just a voice actress. She is also a pin-up model. No, make that, she was a pin-up model. She is also 32 years old. Pin-up mags she’s done in the past listed her at 23 years-old.…
By Brian Ashcraft Published January 25, 2010 -
Who Can Capcom Fight Next?
You know, reading that list of “lost” Tatsunoko vs Capcom characters the other day got me thinking: there’s plenty of room out there for more Capcom vs XXXX games. Yes, 2D (or 2.5D, really) fighting games are – Street Fighter aside – a niche market, but get the gameplay and characters right and they’re still…
By Luke Plunkett Published January 25, 2010 -
Going To The Super Bowl Sure Beats Being Eaten By Pac-Man
New Orleans’ Tracy Porter was one of the stars of yesterday’s NFC Championship game between the Saints and the Vikings, making a key late interception off a Brett Favre pass. His secret? It was all in the haircut. While you obviously couldn’t see it on the field under his helmet, Fox’s sideline cameras picked it…
By Luke Plunkett Published January 25, 2010 -
Reaching Level 80 In World of Warcraft
Bill Gates is now on Twitter? Did you know that? Is he following you? Is he? That, and more from gaming’s Twitterati. Felicia Day of The Guild fame lives up to her…guild fame. They do now. Rock Band developer Harmonix launched a new website, which soon crashed, and the studio recommended either freaking out or…
By Brian Ashcraft Published January 25, 2010 -
Jackpot Trivia
To: Luke From: Owen By far the highlight of my week back in the Bay Area came Tuesday night at Beckett’s pub in Berkeley. My team of six – three of us from Columbia, so suck on that, Cal – cleaned up the weekly trivia contest and took the jackpot. I’m happy to report that…
By Owen Good Published January 24, 2010 -
Mass Effect 2’s Sex Scenes Already Revealed [Update]
Looks like someone with an early copy of Mass Effect 2 has skipped straight to the money shots, digging up four steamy-yet-clothed scenes involving male Shepard and three of his office conquests. Update: The blog Empire State Gamer found these originally. Commenter ItotheCtotheE found three of ’em up on YouTube. The one above is probably…
By Owen Good Published January 24, 2010 -
Nomura: Still No FFVII Remake, but Maybe Cloud Cameos
Square Enix designer Tetsuya Nomura reiterated the no-plans watch for a Final Fantasy VII remake any time soon, although it would take much more than the nuanced way he said it to put to rest the speculation on this game. In the current Famitsu, Nomura, who designed the game’s much-beloved characters, says: Fans are looking…
By Owen Good Published January 24, 2010 -
Week in Games: MAG Effect
The first big release week of 2010 arrives with Mass Effect 2, MAG, Tatsunoko vs. Capcom and even some Phoenix Wright and No More Heroes thrown in. That gives you major console exclusives on the 360, PS3 and Wii all on Super Tuesday, with Blood Bowl (likewise a 360/PC exclusive) thrown in. This week’s count:…
By Owen Good Published January 24, 2010 -
Kotaku Off Topic: Weekend Invasion
Let’s all relax with a weekend edition of Kotaku Off Topic, in which non-video game related things and video game related things may be discussed. Things like Avatar, which is both on and off topic. Now, I haven’t seen Avatar yet—maybe tomorrow—but apparently a lot of people have. Have you? What I did see this…
By Michael McWhertor Published January 24, 2010 -
Kotaku’s Top 5 List of Top 10 Lists
Each week throws off several new video game lists ranging from the humorous to the trivial. What’s better? A list of those. Here’s a roundup of the rundowns out there. •Microsoft’s Top Ten Milestones of the Past Decade [The Kartel] A rather credible assessment of how Microsoft evolved from new entrant with a money-losing console…
By Owen Good Published January 24, 2010 -
BioShock 2 Score will be Available Digitally
Garry Schyman, who composed the award-winning score for the first BioShock, returns to duty in BioShock 2, and word is that you won’t need to buy the special edition just to get your hands on the soundtrack. Citing “a recent conversation with Schyman,” Gametunes.net says the Bioshock 2 album will be sold via iTunes and…
By Owen Good Published January 24, 2010 -
Hey Kids, Now You Can Ride Sonic (the Rollercoaster)
You’ll have to visit the Alton Towers Resort in the U.K., but Sega Europe has inked an “exclusive video game rights” deal with the amusement park, which includes a “ride and stay experience.” Can we please have more double entendres? The ride will be called “Sonic Spinball,” and it will be an updated version of…
By Owen Good Published January 24, 2010 -
Product or Media? The Intersection of Games and Design
A director of design and an avowed “hardcore ludologist” ponders why the well constructed games he nominates do so poorly in design competitions, engaging a debate over whether games are a media or designed objects. But they’re both, he says. Matt Jones of the London-based design consultancy BERG, has unsuccessfuly nominated console games like Left…
By Owen Good Published January 24, 2010