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The Meta-Narrative That Pulls Back the Curtain for All Games
Was GLaDOS, the artificial intelligence in 2007’s critically acclaimed Portal, in fact a game designer? And if so, what does our relationship to the computer, and its abuse of our trust, say about the other games we play? Guido Pellegrini at Playtime Magazine raises that point, among many others, in examining not just the meta-narrative…
By Owen Good Published November 7, 2009 -
Valve’s Multiplayer Calculus: (360 = PC) > PS3
More provocative tidbits continue to trickle out of Valve, with the Left 4 Dead 2 project lead saying that game won’t be coming to PS3 because the console’s multiplayer community isn’t on par with PC and the Xbox 360. “Right now don’t not buy it on the 360 because you think it’s coming out on…
By Owen Good Published November 7, 2009 -
NCAA Football, and the Science of Subjectivity
With true-to-life fidelity, my most recent season simulation in NCAA Football 10 found Boise State losing a trap game late in the season and, as the token BCS Buster from a minor conference, paying for it dearly in the polls. Having gone undefeated through 10 games, the Broncos (not a user-controlled team in this dynasty)…
By Owen Good Published November 7, 2009 -
Weekend Coupons: Prelude to a Black Friday
Walmart kicked off the morning lineup craze three weeks early with its Saturday-only electronics sale. Crecente was there at 7:30 a.m. down there to file a live report, if by “live report” one means, “buy a Blu-Ray player.” Hardware • Today is the one-day only special in which you can grab an Xbox 360 Arcade…
By Owen Good Published November 7, 2009 -
Kotaku Originals: Dog Gone
The old dog-ate-my-controller excuse got a guy out of a 5,000 Microsoft Point purchase, plus Gamertag immortality for the scape-pooch, in the No. 1 story of a news-packed week delivered by your humble editors. Top Stories Microsoft Refunds Dog Shopping Spree, Grants K9 Gamertag Rumor Rumor: Kane & Lynch 2 Has A Very NSFW Level…
By Owen Good Published November 7, 2009 -
Finally, Brandish 2
In 1995, a sequel to Brandish, an obscure RPG, was released on the SNES in Japan. Now, 14 years later, we finally get it in English. A team of fans have cobbled together an unofficial translation of the game. Which is just great for the 7 people outside Japan that actually give a shit. For…
By Luke Plunkett Published November 7, 2009 -
A Week In Comments
Modern Warfare 2 PC Multiplayer Capped At 9v9 Comment by: Leanid Nominated by: deanbmmv I’m sad to see how apathetic and little sympathy many console gamers have. PC gaming is more important than a lot of console gamers, and people in the industry today, give it credit for. PC gaming was the backbone of Western…
By Brian Ashcraft Published November 7, 2009 -
Nintendo Won’t Commit To A 2010 Zelda
During an interview on GameTrailers TV yesterday, Nintendo of America’s Reggie Fils-Aime was quizzed on whether we’d see Zelda on the Wii next year. His response? Hedge-betting. “We haven’t committed to Zelda in 2010” he told GTTV host Geoff Keighley. Which will obviously upset those keen enough to hope for Zelda in 2010, but also…
By Luke Plunkett Published November 7, 2009 -
Why Do You Think Some Games Are Hard?
Hello, you. Yes you. Let’s talk. Here’s how it works: We ask a question, you answer it. Simple and no strings attached! This isn’t some marketing survey or whatever. It’s an emotional investment in you. Yes, we’re interested in knowing you, Kotaku reader person. You probably know oodles about us – more than you even…
By Brian Ashcraft Published November 7, 2009 -
Rock Band 3 Will Teach You How To Play Proper Music
In an interview with the Chicago Tribune, Dhani Harrison – son of former Beatle George Harrison – has revealed that he’s not only working on Rock Band 3, but that it’s going to take the series in a new direction. The fact he mentions a third Rock Band should surprise only those who wake up…
By Luke Plunkett Published November 6, 2009 -
Tales Of Vesperia Is Wii Bound?!
Popular Japanese voice actor Rikiya Koyama appears to have leaked the news that Namco Bandai role-playing-game Tales of Vesperia is Wii-bound. Ooops! On his official blog, the actor writes, “Tales of Vesperia is coming out on one thing after another: Xbox 360, then PS3, and now upcoming, goes on sale even on the Wii. More…
By Brian Ashcraft Published November 6, 2009 -
What It’s Like To Live Where Games Are Criminalized
Twenty-six year-old gamer Guido Núñez-Mujica lives in Venezula, where the government has passed a new law that in effect criminalizes video games. “These games are a cherished part of my life,” Núñez-Mujica writes over at website Boing Boing, “they helped to shape my young mind, they gave me challenges and vastly improved my English, opening…
By Brian Ashcraft Published November 6, 2009 -
Trials Dev Pirated Its Own Game to Drive Interest
RedLynx, the developer of the well received downloadable title Trials, said that it seeded pirate torrent sites with neutered copies of the game in order to stoke interest in the title. According to GamesIndustry.biz, Tero Virtala, the RedLynx CEO, said that the pirated version his team sent out did not include leaderboard support, which Virtala…
By Owen Good Published November 6, 2009 -
God Of War PS2 vs God Of War PS3
The upcoming God of War Collection for the PS3 boasts remastered editions of two of the PS2’s finest games. But just how remastered are they? Bitmob sat down, screengrabber at the ready, and found out, posting a ton of shots directly comparing the two versions. As you can see, the PS2 version looks a little,…
By Luke Plunkett Published November 6, 2009 -
Germany’s Censored L4D2 Runs Faster
Australia isn’t the only nation receiving a powercleaned version of Left 4 Dead 2. Germany, no doubt because of the killerspiele hysteria, has a similarly sanitized demo. But guess what, it also runs 40 percent faster. PC Games Hardware benchmarked both the uncut Left 4 Dead 2 and the censored German demo using to a…
By Owen Good Published November 6, 2009 -
Rumor: Kane & Lynch 2 Has A Very NSFW Level
Eidos sequel to the 2007’s Kane & Lynch: Dead Men, likely titled Kane & Lynch 2: Dog Days and likely teased in this fascinating but brief video, may be giving your eyeballs more Kane and Lynch than you bargained for. According to a potentially spoiler-filled e-mail—yes, spoiler alert in effect!—from a regularly reliable tipster, Messrs.…
By Michael McWhertor Published November 6, 2009 -
Calling Preview: Ju-on, Take Two
Halloween might be long gone for 2009, but Japanese horror is fashionable all year round. Or at least Hudson hopes to make it so with Calling. As the name suggests, there’s an awful lot of cell phone usage in the horror/adventure game. During a demo given to games journalists by the Japanese director, a poor…
By AJ Glasser Published November 6, 2009 -
PC Version of Dragon Age Patched, Explained
The PC version of Dragon Age: Origins got a 1.01 patch not 72 hours after release; lead designer Mike Laidlaw jumped onto BioWare’s forums to explain its necessity. First, the changes, according to BioWare: • Fixed potential corruption of character statistics • Fixed portrait appearance sliders when importing a character from the downloadable Character Creator…
By Owen Good Published November 6, 2009 -
Rooms Preview: Sliding Under The Fun Fence
If the puzzles of the Professor Layton games and the moody, noir setting of 2005’s Hotel Dusk could somehow mate and produce offspring, Rooms would be it. In this moody puzzle game, players take the role of a mysterious person invited to a mysterious birthday party in a mysterious building. Sensing a theme here? What…
By AJ Glasser Published November 6, 2009 -
Smash TV “Will Rise Again” Says Co-Creator
Midway’s seminal twin-stick shooter Smash TV, the bloody, futuristic game show arcade game of yore, may be getting a proper update from Midway. And the guy saying that’s in a position to know. Mark Turmell, programmer on the original Smash TV and its spin-off Total Carnage, says on the RetroGaming with Racketboy podcast that Midway,…
By Michael McWhertor Published November 6, 2009