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IGN Kicks Off Fund Drive for Haiti Relief
A life-size Lancer replica and an original painting from Bungie are among items IGN will auction next week in a 12-hour “webathon” to raise money for relief efforts in Haiti. The fund raiser will be held beginning at noon U.S. Eastern/9 a.m. Pacific on Wednesday, and includes contributions from industry luminaries moved to help the…
By Owen Good Published January 22, 2010 -
The Best Video Game Costume & Character Design Of 2009
Not having played every game on every platform, I was hesitant to issue genre/platform awards for my “Best Of” individual editor picks. Instead, I opted for one aspect of games that rarely gets award-level attention—costume and character design. For my picks, I went not for the best graphics, story or gameplay innovation, instead focusing on…
By Michael McWhertor Published January 22, 2010 -
I Guess He’d Already Completed “Violation of Probation”
Guess what game Michael Ray Ekes was playing when the fuzz came to arrest him for stealing a car. Hint: It wasn’t “Possession of Burglary Tools with Intent to Use,” although he was also wanted for that. The Tampa Tribune had a big ol’ time informing us Ekes, 30, was playing hisself some Grand Theft…
By Owen Good Published January 22, 2010 -
Will Crysis 2 Be Able To Render New York City Like This?
The recently revealed New York City setting for Crysis 2 was met with just a touch of disappointment. “What of the open environments?!” commenters cried. Well, if Crysis 2 uses this tech, I don’t think openness will be an issue. Reader Jay tipped us off to this “Structure Procedural System” tech demo, which can generate…
By Michael McWhertor Published January 22, 2010 -
Mega Man 10 Achievements are Typically Unreasonable
Cheevers looking for a quick 200 Gamerscore should steer clear of Mega Man 10, because the achievements it offers will be, per the usual, hard won. Of 12, all but three or four seem impossible to me. And the top payoff, “Mr. Perfect” – beat the whole game without taking any damage – delivers a…
By Owen Good Published January 22, 2010 -
Mixed Mutts
To: Ash From: Crecente Re: Hey, I Got A Magic Mouse I think we finally figured out what Ginger, our recently adopted 6-month-old puppy is. She appears to be a dachshund-rat terrier mix. There’s a whole kennel club dedicated to all of these strange dog crossbreeds. It’s pretty cool. My favorite pic (above) is of…
By Brian Crecente Published January 22, 2010 -
Rock Band Messin’ With A Sonofabitch Next Week
MTV Games and Harmonix are bringing cowbell classic “Hair of the Dog” from Nazareth to Rock Band next week alongside a batch of classic and arena rock from Hawkwind, Motörhead, Blue Öyster Cult and more. Rock Band and Rock Band 2 owners can enjoy seven new tracks and double the umlauts starting on January 26…
By Michael McWhertor Published January 22, 2010 -
The Best iPhone Games of 2009
While it’s a bit peculiar to give GOTYs for a single mobile device, none had as robust a library of games offering as Apple’s iPhone and iPod Touch did in 2009. There are almost too many out there to offer an authoritative comparison of them all. But here are the ones I enjoyed – and…
By Owen Good Published January 22, 2010 -
Samurai Shodown Sen Coming To Europe
Rising Star Games has snapped up publishing rights to SNK Playmore‘s fourth 3D installment of Samurai Shodown, releasing it in Europe this spring as Samurai Shodown Sen. Already released in Japan as Samurai Spirits Sen, the latest 3D installment of the classic series was supposed to hit North America sometime last November, last we had…
By Mike Fahey Published January 22, 2010 -
What Are You Playing This Weekend?
“Say, isn’t that BioShock?” you may be rhetorically asking. “Why, yes it is,” I would respond, for that will be the game I’ll be playing through this weekend, a three-day weekend for me. “Why are you playing BioShock one this weekend?” you’re probably not asking, but might upon reading that a copy of BioShock 2…
By Michael McWhertor Published January 22, 2010 -
SOE Raises $25,000 For Haiti
Sony Online Entertainment rallied its players in support of earthquake-ravaged Haiti last weekend, leveraging the allure of exclusive in-game items to raise $25,000. MMO players are as charitable as they are in-game exclusive crazy, as SOE proved over the weekend. From January 15th to the 18th, players of EverQuest, EverQuest II, and Free Realms were…
By Mike Fahey Published January 22, 2010 -
Review Round-Up: Dark Void, Dark Void And Other Stuff
All the games we reviewed in the past week were not called Dark Void. Just two of them. VVVVVV Micro-review: AAAAAAH!!! In which Michael McWhertor “got at least two of the jokes.” Castlevania: The Adventure ReBirth Micro-Review: Something M2 Whipped Up In which Mike Fahey objects to the game’s use of giant eyeballs. Pocket God…
By Stephen Totilo Published January 22, 2010 -
Dead or Alive Paradise Brings Bikinis Galore To North America This Spring
Tecmo Koei is bringing the bikini-collecting, mini-game-playing thrills of Dead or Alive Paradise to North American PSP owners, loosely dating the fighting game spin-off for “Spring 2010.” If you haven’t been keeping up, Tecmo’s eye candy laden activity collection for the PlayStation Portable is like Dead or Alive without the fighting or Y chromosomes, like…
By Michael McWhertor Published January 22, 2010 -
Vandal Hearts: Flames Of Judgment In Motion
Vandal Hearts: Flames of Judgment is now available on Xbox Live Arcade and the PlayStation Network, and here’s a peek at what it looks like in action. If you’re looking for a downloadable turn-based tactical action role-playing game for the PlayStation 3 or Xbox 360, then look no further than Vandal Hearts: Flames of Judgment.…
By Mike Fahey Published January 22, 2010 -
Why They Went With A Soundalike For Portable Ezio
Is there a fundamental difference between the character voices we expect to hear from a 2D game and a 3D game? The makers of the Assassin’s Creed II DS game thought so. As a final curiosity regarding the Assassin’s Creed II Discovery for iPhone that we’ve been covering this week, I had to share the…
By Stephen Totilo Published January 22, 2010 -
Assassin’s Creed II’s “Battle of Forli” Taken Out Next Week
Ubisoft has put a price and firm date on Kotaku Game of the Year contender Assassin’s Creed II’s first batch of downloadable content. The “Battle of Forli” DLC will arrive January 28. It can be yours for 320 Microsoft Points on the Xbox 360 or $3.99 USD/3.99€ for the PlayStation 3, depending on which version…
By Michael McWhertor Published January 22, 2010 -
GameStop Launches Mass Effect 2 And MAG At Midnight
Video game retailer GameStop has deemed both Mass Effect 2 and Sony’s MAG worthy of keeping its employees up past midnight to get them into gamers’ hands. More than 2,500 GameStop stores will be opening late on Monday night to dole out preordered copies of Mass Effect 2 and MAG to eager fans, with certain…
By Mike Fahey Published January 22, 2010 -
Battlefield Bad Company 2’s Single-Player Will Be A More Serious Matter
We already knew that EA believes March’s Battlefield Bad Company 2 poses a threat to Activision’s Modern Warfare series. In terms of multiplayer, they’ve made the case. For single player, they’re finally getting specific. Here’s the game’s new single-player trailer (again): Developers from EA’s DICE studio, longtime makers of the Battlefield series, told Geoff Keighley…
By Stephen Totilo Published January 22, 2010 -
The Great Tablet Debate: Join Totilo on Fox News’ Strategy Room
Our very own Stephen Totilo is live NOW on Fox News’ Strategy Room talking about the rumored Apple Tablet. Yes, there’s chat about gaming on the device, but they’re also talking about magazines and other apps on the device. Other folks on the show include Robert Scoble, Michael Gartenberg, and Lance Ulanoff. Check it out.…
By Brian Crecente Published January 22, 2010 -
Uncharted 2 Costumes & Characters
Back to The Best Video Game Costume & Character Design Of 2009 Back to The Best Video Game Costume & Character Design Of 2009 Back to The Best Video Game Costume & Character Design Of 2009 Back to The Best Video Game Costume & Character Design Of 2009 Back to The Best Video Game Costume…
By Michael McWhertor Published January 22, 2010