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Kotaku Originals: Slim Goodbody

No doubt about it, this was Sony’s week, as the PS3 Slim’s arrival dominated the news out of Gamescom – one of three expositions on two continents where we have or had writers in the past week. Totilo went to QuakeCon, Fahey’s now at BlizzCon, and though Gamescom is wrapping up in Cologne, by no…

James Cameron’s Avatar: The Game Impressions Of Mass Slaughter

James Cameron’s Avatar is getting a video game adaptation courtesy of Ubisoft, complete with movie appropriate stereoscopic 3D, should you have a TV that supports such a thing. For those without, expect stock third-person shooter action meets alien genocide. In Avatar, you’ll play as an RDA soldier, essentially tasked with killing every indigenous life form…

Gallery: Gamescom’s Sony Hall

It’s not really Sony’s hall, it just feels that way. If you want to check out all of the things that Sony has set up at their mammoth Gamescom booth here in Cologne, hit up this gallery. Otherwise check-out everything else stuffed into the hall, from Ubisoft and Nerf to Def Jam Rapstar.

Halo ODST’s Firefight Rally Point

The almost pit-like Rally Point map of Halo 3: ODST‘s firefight mode fills the smallish level with a never-ending stream of enemies and at least one Wraith tank. The level had its first outing at Cologne’s Gamescom this week, drawing crowds to Microsoft’s booth to spend ten minutes each with the game in a four-person…

Def Jam Rapstar Takes The Street Corner Battle Online

The core gameplay most Def Jam Rapstar owners will experience isn’t much different from what Singstar or Lips offers. It’s the community aspects of Rapstar that could change the way the rap game is played. At Gamescom today, we got our second demo of Def Jam Rapstar, with 4mm Games‘ Jamie King and Def Jam‘s…

Gallery: The Wonders of Gamescom’s Hall 6

This week’s Gamescom is still going strong in Cologne, Germany with the massive Kolnmesse opening its doors to shoulder-to-shoulder crowds Saturday morning. The show is actually spread out over four massive public halls, each packed with booths from a number of game developers. Here’s a look at Hall 6, home of Blizzard, Activision, Electronic Arts,…

BlizzCon 2009 Day One Ends

The first day of BlizzCon 2009 comes to an end, and the flamethrowing space marines are heading to sleep, but the action continues tomorrow! Join us (err, me) tomorrow for more from BlizzCon 2009, including highlights from the costume contest, cosplay, some more cosplay, people in costumes, people dressed as other things, and I’m pretty…

Gran Turismo 5 Gameplay Footage

Say what you will about Gran Turismo’s sterility, its punishing difficulty, nobody can argue that the games always look rather nice. Gran Turismo 5 looks set to continue this tradition. Click to view Gran Turismo 5 at IGN.com

A Week In Comments

If The PS3 Is A Formula 1 Racer, What Is Xbox 360? The Wii? Comment by: Spritz Nominated by: Curse_Lily Who wants to drive a Ferrari that has a 50/50 chance of its brakes failing? Gamescom Booth Blitz: The Old Republic Comment by: Yossarian Nominated by: Showmeyomoves! [Gamescon opens to a wild mob of Star…

Sega Park Opens In Dubai

The SEGA Republic – a nine-ride, 150-game amusement park – has officially been opened in Dubai Mall, roughly 18 months after it was first announced. The rides – with names like Spin Gear, Sonic Hopper, Halfpipe Canyon, Storm-G and Initial D4 Limited – are all just standard fun park fare, only with Sega characters stuck…

Alrighty, Who’s Buying A PS3 Slim?

Friday, friday, friday. It’s Friday! 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…

Cabela’s Gets The Wii Light Gun Just Right

As distasteful as you may find Cabela’s Big Buck Hunt – or indeed the people who play it – you’ve got admit there’s something shamefully satisfying about the game’s plastic peripherals. So it’s nice to see that with the game making its way to the 360, PS3 and Wii next month, special attention has been…

Rough Valkyria Chronicles 2 Character Art Inks Its Way Out

SEGA has posted a handful of rough character art for Valkyria Chronicles 2. We love rough character art. It’s so… rough. In the gallery are illustrations of lead characters Avan, Jerry, and Cosette. Valkyria Chronicles 2 has been announced for the PSP and will be out in Japan this winter. It is set two years…

Game Movie Writer Pleads Guilty To Vehicular Manslaughter

Roger Avary, who won an Oscar for Pulp Fiction, has pleaded guilty to DUI and vehicular manslaughter for a deadly crash in 2008 that left his friend dead and his wife in critical condition. The filmmaker penned the Silent Hill script and was slated to make a big-screen version of Wolfenstein. In January 2008, Avary…

How Team Fortress 2 Maps Are Made

Balance is a crucial thing for Valve when it comes to Team Fortress. Get a map wrong and there’ll be emails, petitions…hell to pay. Thankfully, most maps get it right! Here’s how they’re made! Valve have released a couple of videos showing the evolution of a Team Fortress 2 map (Viaduct), from planning to completion,…

Battleswarm: Field of Honor Preview: Choose Your Genre

Battleswarm: Field of Honor is a Chinese-developed war game that blends both real-time strategy and first-person shooter genres. The catch is you have to pick which genre you can win with. Another catch to Battleswarm is its pay-to-play system called MetaTix – the latest endeavor of former Atari headman Nolan Bushnell, plus Mark Hood and…

Battle.Net And StarCraft In Pictures

Here’s a set of screenshots fresh off the Battle.Net asset disc, giving you a better look at the integration between the revamped Battle.net service, StarCraft II, and World of Warcraft. I sat in the Battle.net panel, desperately trying to take crappy shots off of the big screen, and then Blizzard hands me this lovely disc,…

A Closer Look at 2K10’s Draft Combine

The teaser that went out earlier this week really didn’t do justice to the depth of NBA 2K10‘s Draft Combine, which releases next week as both a game to itself and preview for the full title. In this, you’ll be picking more than jump-shot animations, cornrow patterns and your college alma mater. Your player will…

MoeSequencers and Virtual Bonsai — What Else Can I Do On The iPhone?

I happened to be hanging out near a fellow games journalist’s desk the other day when I heard the most alarming thing. I gave him a hairy eye and he said, “Hey — it’s for work!” He wasn’t lying. GamesRadar’s Tyler Nagata had the dubious honor of putting together a list of iPhone apps for…

An Excellent Intern

To: Owen From: Stephen Usually the Day Note is for catching up on the big news of the last half-day. And there was plenty of that as you glance down Kotaku’s front page. But I wanted to make this one about something else I hope you didn’t miss, and that’s some of the ways our…