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Review Round-Up: Sticks, Might & Magic, Silent Hill And More

We reviewed a fight stick and a flight stick this week, plus the latest in some beloved franchises. Other stuff too. Check out our weekly round-up of everything we reviewed. Rock Band Wireless Wooden Fender Stratocaster Review: No Turning Back In which Michael Fahey is slightly embarrassed for other people. Might & Magic: Clash of…

Day Note Puzzle Fun Counting Challenge

To: Luke Smith From; Totilo re: Driving On the Right Side Of The Road If there’s one thing people say to me every day, it’s not “Why doesn’t Kotaku make games?’ But if they did say that, I’d respond that, at least today, we’ve done this. We’ve made a game for you to play. Yoo…

Final Fantasy (The Band) Has A New, Less Trademark Infringing Name

Perhaps, in your internet travels for Final Fantasy the video game related content or violin-driven indie music, you’ve come across Final Fantasy the band. If you have, and become a fan of the artist, call them Final Fantasy no more. The band—which is largely a solo act—will change its name to Owen Pallett next year.…

Mass Effect 2 Provides 10 More Screens

Do we know this game looks good? Yes. Do we still want to see more? You bet. BioWare dropped another 10 screens of Mass Effect 2 today. We’ve put ’em all in a gallery for you.

Gawker Media Seeking Comments Interns

Kaila Hale-Stern, the comments czar of Gawker Media (hey, that’s our parent company!) is seeking the few, the proud, the potential comments interns. Preferably located in New York City. Info below: Gawker Media seeks a few brave interns to work in comments and serve our beloved communities. The interns will work on behind-the-scenes administrative tasks…

New Nier Trailer Will Make You Its Bitch

You may already be aware of the foul-mouthed nature of Nier’s skimpily dressed sidekick Kaine, but this new “trailer” for the Cavia-developed disaster-in-the-making should make it clear. Pull your head out of your goddamn ass and listen for yourself. Look, I’m not sure if Cavia has some sort of dirt on Square Enix, but I’m…

A Surprise Education

Where many video games have you hone your reaction time and eye-hand coordination to excel, a mastery of spelling and a deep vocabulary are key to succeeding in Jeremiah Slaczka’s DS title. But despite the seemingly obvious educational bent of Slaczka’s game, Scribblenauts’ potential to teach through fun didn’t dawn on the game makers until…

High Moon Clears Up All This Gears of War Talk About Transformers

Images of the upcoming Transformers: War for Cybertron have stoked chatter that it will draw heavily on Gears of War motifs. Transformers World 2005 got a talk with Matt Tieger of High Moon Studios and put the question to him. I think a lot of that comes from the fact that we are using the…

NHL 2K’s Absence from Take-Two Report May Mean Its End

Take-Two’s quarterly report yesterday included a list of “key titles announced to date for the remainder of fiscal 2010.” It didn’t include NHL 2K11, which some are taking as the death of that franchise. The list did mention MLB 2K10 and NBA 2K11, so we know this isn’t just a sports thing. Comments from 2K…

First Heavy Rain Chronicles Episode Is Yours Free (If You Pre-order)

If you’ve already made up your mind to buy Heavy Rain for the PlayStation 3 next year, what harm could possibly come from pre-ordering? None! But there will be one benefit—free access to the first Heavy Rain Chronicles. The first of these episodic downloads is Heavy Rain: Chronicle One – The Taxidermist, a self-contained story…

Fear Eddie Riggs’ Mighty Facial Hair

Here’s a look at what you’re missing if you’ve not yet picked up the Hammer of Infinite Fate DLC for Brutal Legend. As you can see, the Mountain Man skin for Eddie Riggs isn’t quite as impressive as one would have hoped, but it certainly does add a beard, wherteas the other two costumes mainly…

One Developer’s Reaction To A Graphic Aliens Vs Predator Screenshot

Yesterday Kotaku ran a graphic screenshot from the upcoming Aliens Vs. Predator game. Past the old arguments about whether gaming violence is imitated emerged a conversation about aesthetics, taste and limits. All sides made strong points. One developer e-mailed me. This developer is not working on Aliens Vs. Predator but asked to stay anonymous as…

Wii Dominance Continues In Japan, PS3 Dominance Due Shortly

Continued strong sales of New Super Mario Bros. Wii means continued strong sales of the Wii. In fact, this week’s sales are much better than the week prior, putting the Wii atop the Media Create chart with 135,000-plus sales. Anticipation for Final Fantasy XIII also means a big boost for the PlayStation 3, which moved…

GameStop Keen To Return Your Unused Reserve Credits

GameStop is calling all of their customers with unused reserved game credits, offering them a chance to redeem them for gift certificates towards fine GameStop merchandise. I first heard about the push to give customers back their unused $5 deposits a few weeks back, when a GameStop manager mentioned that calls would be going out…

What Are You Playing This Weekend?

What *is* that crazy mishmashed mess of rectangles you see? Why, it’s the entirety of my video game agenda for this weekend and the following week, Might & Magic: Clash of Heroes and The Legend of Zelda: Spirit Tracks. That’s right, it’s the holiday season, which for me means traveling cross country. The only video…

2010: The Year of Better PC Games?

PC gaming – will it finally die in 2010? No. C’mon, stop already with that. Sure, 2009 had its ups and downs, PC gaming is very much alive and maybe looking healthier than ever in 2010. Blizzard will, we hope, stick to its early 2010 release date for StarCraft II: Wings of Liberty, the first…

You’re A Gamer In 2010…What Will You Do?

You aren’t some kid holding controllers from different systems posing for stock photos. You’re a real gamer. You piss pixels and bleed polygons, and ultimately the fate of gaming in 2010 is up to you. What will you do? You’ve been a game publisher, retailer, and developer, but we’ve save the best (and perhaps the…

Dementium II Preview: A Metroid With Dread

They’re mixing Metroid with Resident Evil again, and gamers who want to play an M-rated game like that on the DS just might have to give the makers of Dementium II some thanks. During subway rides and at home for the past couple of days, I’ve been stealing some time to play a preview build…

Shiren The Wanderer: Don’t Call It A Roguelike

Atlus’ upcoming Wii RPG Shiren the Wanderer has all the trappings of a roguelike dungeon crawler, but Atlus notes key differences that set it apart from other roguelike games. For instance, it’s much easier. I participated in an online demo for Shiren the Wanderer yesterday, with Atlus playing through the game while the company’s PR…

Pay $1194 To Dress Like Modern Warfare 2’s Soap MacTavish

The good people at Complex have cross-referenced Modern Warfare 2 with real-life fashion catalogs and determined how much it would cost to dress like some of the game’s stars. Our very own Michael McWhertor says it would be cheaper to join the military, but he surely knows that time = money. Some of us don’t…