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Whatever Happened To Gran Turismo HD’s DLC Model?

When we visited Gran Turismo creators Polyphony Digital in 2006, president Kazunori Yamauchi previewed what would become Gran Turismo HD, the first “real driving simulation” for the PlayStation 3 that would offer 770 cars and 50 tracks for download. At the time, Yamauchi called it “the GT version of iTunes,” letting players buy the barebones…

Battlefield To Return In, Yes, Battlefield 3

EA COO John Pleasants did DICE’s marketing team no favours today when he let slip that Battlefield 3 is not only in development, but is “looking very good”. Speaking at the William Blair Growth Stock Conference, Pleasants said “I’ve had the luxury of looking at Battlefield 3 over at DICE in Sweden and was highly…

Five Good Breakup Games

Breaking up is hard to do, but video games can help. Here are five 2009 titles that’ll get you through the five stages of grief. The Kübler-Ross model of grief proposed in the 1969 book Death and Dying is actually a theory about dealing with death and terminal disease, both of which are way worse…

Dungeons & Dragons Online Not Going Free In Europe

Yesterday’s news that Dungeons and Dragons Online would be switching to a free-to-play model this summer only applies to North America, much to the chagrin of European fans. Following Turbine’s announcement that the game would soon be going free-to-play in North America, European operator Codemasters posted a message on the European site for the game,…

Analyst: Sony’s $249 PSPgo Is “Too Much”

PSPgo, the newest addition to the PlayStation family, will carry a premium price of $249 USD when it launches this October. That’s $80 more than the PSP-3000, a figure considered too high by some gamers—and one analyst. That analyst is Wedbush Morgan’s Michael Pachter, who commented on the most recent episode of GameTrailers’ Bonus Round…

Late Night with Kudo

To: Ash From: Crecente Re: What About The Children? I’ve only caught Jimmy Fallon’s new late night show a couple of times, and they were hit and miss. But tonight I’m going to watch just to see how Kudo Tsunoda does and if he presents the world with the bottom of his avatar’s shoe. I…

Sega Vintage Collection 2 Games Hit Xbox Live Arcade

Sega fans with a taste for the company’s console and arcade heyday should beat feet over to Xbox Live Marketplace, as the latest Sega Vintage Collection retro hits have been released. What’s on tap? Arcade classics like Shinobi and Altered Beast, two near-perfect ports of side-scrolling System 16 highlights. A handful of Sega Genesis games…

The King of Fighters XII For Novices

What happens when a reporter who knows nothing about The King of Fighters XII dares to take a meeting about it? Here at Kotaku we try to expand our horizons. And sometimes our horizons are expanded for us, like when I drew the assignment to meet with Ignition Entertainment at E3 last week. I was…

Final Fantasy XIV Concept Art Is Dying To Be Your Desktop

Square Enix’s next Final Fantasy themed massively multiplayer online game is coming to the PlayStation 3 and PC next year. As good as Final Fantasy XIV Online looks in screen shots, its concept art may outshine it. The game’s first artwork, from artist Kazuya Takahashi, is yours for the downloading. We’re only showing you a…

id Resurrects “Next-Gen” Doom On iPhone Next Week

Quake developers id Software are very fond of Apple’s iPhone as a gaming platform. The first-person shooter focused id has already released Wolfenstein 3D Classic and is planning double the Doom, including a scaled down semi-remake of Doom III. Next week, id Software will release Doom Resurrection, a new iPhone and iPod Touch game profiled…

Microsoft: Xbox Live Is Like An MMO

Given Microsoft’s demonstration of Avatars gathering in a shared virtual movie theater at E3, it seemed that Xbox Live could be going in a PlayStation Home direction. Not quite, we were told. Microsoft’s head of long-term planning for Xbox 360, Shane Kim, brushed off Kotaku’s suggestion that the numerous expansions to the company’s Avatar system…

Do you feel like reviews ruin games for you? I used to buy games based on word of mouth or advertising alone when I was younger, now I check reviews for everything before buying it (Usually check IGN.com). How many great games am I missing out on because they didn’t appeal to the guys that…

EA Sports Looking To Amazon, “Mommy Bloggers,” Not Metacritic For Wii Reviews

Game publishers think Metacritic review score averages are a Big Deal. EA boasts—and frets over—its own Metacritic scores in earnings calls. Others base bonuses on aggregate arbitrary numbers. But EA’s Peter Moore isn’t as worried about Metacritic averages. At least not when it comes to Wii games. The EA Sports’ label president tells Gamasutra that…

World At War Map Pack 2 Tomorrow

The second Call of Duty: World at War Map Pack drops tomorrow for the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360. Here’s the trailer for the most interesting bit – the Shi no Numa zombie map. Shi no Numa is the map that proves that Japanese World War II soldiers can be the living dead, as can…

Mythic Delivers Code-Laden Human Skull

Of all the packages I was actually looking forward to today, a human skull emblazoned with a secret code for an in-game Warhammer Online item was definitely not one of them. Being a member of the video game press is fun, especially when simulated human remains wind up on your doorstep. My cats really appreciate…

Seventeen Magazine Gets An MMO

Teen bastion of style and sex tips, Seventeen Magazine, is signed up with Habbo.com to create an online interactive world for its readers. Break out the virtual lip gloss. According to Media Week, Seventeen will supply Habbo with articles, quizzes and polls for the MMO while Habbo will host a Seventeen Beauty Salon section where…

Jimmy Fallon Brings Love of Gaming From SNL To Late Night

Tonight on his NBC late night show, Jimmy Fallon will talk video games with Microsoft. It won’t be the first time that gaming has cropped up on the show, and Fallon promises it won’t be the last either. “We are treating game openings like movie openings if they’re cool,” he told Kotaku. “Video games are…

Name This Game Development Studio

They work in a brick building next to my brother’s laundromat. They’re making a sure-fire hit game this fall. Name them, please. The answer is below… (Photos snapped by me on Friday, a day after attending an MIT commencement ceremony.)

Valve Responds To Left 4 Dead 2 Boycott, Vows Support For Original

Valve’s E3 announcement that Left 4 Dead 2 would hit this year, almost one year to the day after the original, has seen mixed response. Nearly 25,000 fans of the original have pledged not to purchase the sequel. Why? As outlined in the Left 4 Dead 2 boycott group‘s manifesto, that group of fans believe…

EA: Burnout Devs Making “Revolutionary” Need For Speed

At E3, the head of EA told us that Burnout and Need For Speed won’t be merged into one brand. Instead, team Burnout is shifting, for now, to make a new Need For Speed. During my interview with EA CEO John Riccitiello last week at E3, I asked if EA’s two big racing brands, Need…