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Week in Games: Calm Before the Storm
No big releases this week as publishers wrapped up their case for Black Friday last week. The key titles are DLC – Borderlands’ Zombie Island of Dr. Ned on Tuesday, and Madden NFL Arcade on Tuesday and Wednesday. Not to be overlooked, Tekken 6 also arrives for PSP on Tuesday. This week’s count: Nine for…
By Owen Good -
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. •Eight Reasons Why Fanboys Deserve Some Respect [GamesRadar] Despite doing nothing to earn it? Well, GamesRadar is merciful, even to the lowest of the low,…
By Owen Good -
Swiss Study Documents War Crimes Committed in 19 Games
Two Swiss organizations have examined 19 games (including “Metal Gear Soldier 4”) for their compliance with/flouting of International Humanitarian Law (IHL), and while their intent is serious, the way they hold these games to IRL IHL gets a little wacky. The study, “Playing By the Rules” was undertaken by Pro Juventute, a Swiss children’s rights…
By Owen Good -
‘Modern Warfare 2 in 60 Seconds’ is 1:15 Long
Not a speed-run, but this Zero Punctuation-style rundown of Modern Warfare 2 provides a Cliffs Notes to the story for those who bought the game just for the multiplayer. For those who bought it for the singleplayer, bigtime spoiler alert. That means don’t press play if you don’t want all the story highlights, plot twists,…
By Owen Good -
Microsoft Responds to Class Action Claim Against Xbox Live Bannings
Microsoft’s response to a law firm’s attempt to round up Xbox Live users smashed by the recent mass-banning reminds everyone that the service’s TOS allow it to hammer pirates, anytime, anywhere, so STFU. Well, not literally STFU, but one imagines that’s heavily implied with this kind of boilerplate, uttered by a Microsofot spokesperson on Friday…
By Owen Good -
Weekend Talk Amongst Yourselves
You know what would be really awesome? Dadaist Assassin’s Creed II. But before Ubisoft starts animating Ezio ramming someone’s head into a urinal, let’s calm down and have a civil conversation in Kotaku’s Official Open Thread. Confused about commenting on Kotaku? Read our FAQ.
By Owen Good -
Valve Rolls Out Patch for Left 4 Dead 2
The PC version of Left 4 Dead 2 has been patched. Just fire up Steam and it’ll fix and update a slew of issues. Got a bug? Maybe it’s covered in this, check the jump for more. Highlights of the fix include: • Fixed performance problem when rendering lots of decals, notably when fighting tanks…
By Owen Good -
Noby Noby Boy Makes it to Jupiter
Hooray! Noby Noby Girl, apparently abetted by another Lucky Week adding a multiplier to reported scores, has managed to encircle Jupiter, and deliver new worlds for Noby Noby Boy (and you) to explore. The video below shows Boy discovering the Bespin-y qualities of this new environment, unlocked thanks to the collective efforts of Noby Noby…
By Owen Good -
New Super Mario Bros. Wii Glitch Discovers Fountain of Coins, Youth
So far, it’s not known how if this glitch is repeatable or what circumstances would force it, but, dang, that box is barfing infinite coins and, thus, infinite lives, in New Super Mario Bros. Wii. New Super Mario Bros. Wii Glitch Causes Infinite Coins/Lives [Go Nintendo]
By Owen Good -
Rebellion Vows Dedicated Servers for Alien vs. Predator
You might recall last month that David Brickley, a Rebellion senior producer, was asked directly, three times, to confirm dedicated server support in Alien vs. Predator, and wouldn’t say yes or no. The studio’s chief now officially confirms its presence. Speaking to GamesIndustry.biz, Jason Kingsley, the CEO, said: Despite rumours, Rebellion has always been planning…
By Owen Good -
Open Your Browser and Close Your Eyes and BioWare Will Give You a Big Surprise
Well, you might want to open your eyes, too. Sometime “next week,” a surprise will go up on the official Mass Effect 2 web site. Whatever could it be? Well, it was also called “the coming surprise,” and, you know, ew. Alright, that was lifted out of context for a cheap laugh. Here’s the verbatim…
By Owen Good -
After a Trying Week, Saboteur Goes Gold
Pandemic Studios, scene of deep job losses and the effective closure of the studio earlier this week, pumped out one final piece of happy news – The Saboteur has gone to gold master – with an apropos and semi-ironic signoff. Says Mathew Everett, the Pandemic Community Manager, in a message on Saturday afternoon: I am…
By Owen Good -
NFL Head of Refs Runs Replay with 360 Controller
Every week Mike Pereira, the NFL’s chief of officiating goes over some of the league’s more controversial calls and, as hawkeyed reader Matt M. spotted, he does so with the aid of an Xbox 360 controller. Actually, it’s likely an Xbox 360 Controller for Windows – I doubt they’re using a console to display the…
By Owen Good -
No PC DLC for RE5, Says Capcom
Capcom’s announcement of a DLC bonanza on Wednesday conspicuously excluded PC versions and dates. That’s because the company doesn’t intend to release it for the PC. For now, anyway. G4 spoke to a company rep who confirmed that lack of dates for PC versions was no accident. “No plans for PC at this point,” said…
By Owen Good -
Microsoft Tesla Owner Records Sounds for Project Gotham Racing?
A Microsoft exec who also owns a Tesla Roadster writes that he provided recordings of his car for both the Forza and Project Gotham Racing teams, which some take as further confirmation of PGR 5. Tom Burt, who owns #203 of the all-electric sports car made by the Silicon Valley company, wrote on Tesla’s “Customer…
By Owen Good -
The One About the Guy Who Married a Video Game
This week a church in Guam pronounced a man and his copy of dating sim Love Plus husband and, well, wife, and the happy couple will be hosting a reception in Japan that you are cordially invited to view tomorrow. The unnamed man took his DS and the game to Guam where he said vows…
By Owen Good -
Morale Booster Connects Troops with NFLers on Xbox Live
Members of the Super Bowl champion Pittsburgh Steelers engaged U.S. soldiers stationed in Iraq in a Guitar Hero battle, which would have been a heart-warming story if brickheaded quarterback Ben Roethlisberger hadn’t called the game “Rock Band” on the teevee. Well, alright, maybe it’s a heartwarming story anyway. The jamfest was put together by Pro…
By Owen Good -
Cooperative Multiplayer with the Devil You Don’t Know
New Super Mario Bros. Wii released a week ago, and even its lighthearted cartoon environment and four-player cooperative mode still manage to bring out the worst in multiplayer behavior – if you don’t know your partner, that is. “Being granted the opportunity to be friends or adversaries, games allow us to act out the worst…
By Owen Good -
The NIMF is No More
The National Institute on the Media and the Family – whose annual report cards were more fair and reasonable than such an Orwellian name might imply – will close at the end of 2009 after 14 years of watchdoggery. The closure is apparently tied to the end of funding from a primary NIMF source, Fairview…
By Owen Good