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The Cover E3 With Kotaku Challenge

We’re down to a dozen finalists. I’ve emailed each of them to warn them to come read this post. Now’s here how they can win: Since we expect you to write, and write under pressure, at E3, we’re going to need a little proof that you can handle the pressure. I’m going to provide all…

The First Non-EA Lord Of The Rings Game Is…A Kids Game

For years, EA held the license to the Lord of the Rings movies. So only EA could make games using the likenesses of Seans Astin and Bean. But no more. EA’s deal is up, and having broken LotR fan’s hearts with the cancellation of White Council, the rights to the films (other companies, like Turbine,…

Hideo Kojima: There Is “Pressure” To Make Metal Gear

Hideo Kojima is best known for creating Metal Gear Solid. That’s not to say he’s pigeonholed as “The Metal Gear Guy”, but at this point in his career, the stealth series equals Kojima. When the game was released, there was talk from the designer about leaving the franchise — like there is every time he…

Warning: Punch-Out Boxer Shorts Could Be Hazardous To Your Health

Did you get hold of one of those Punch-Out “Heavyweight Contender Kits” from Amazon? We hope, for your sake, that you planned on displaying those King Hippo shorts, and not actually wearing them. Why? Because, as you can see, while from a distance the shorts look rather fetching… Upon closer inspection, they become…less fetching… Doesn’t…

Koei Sending “Limited Number” Of Japanese Developers

Capcom isn’t the only Japanese developer to be gun-shy about this year. Yokohama-based company Koei is also preventing staffers from attending the Los Angeles gaming convention. Unlike Capcom’s decision to restrict travel of all Japan-based employees, Koei is sending a limited number of its Japanese developers to this year’s E3. “With regards to E3, due…

Team Fortress 2 Goes Free This Weekend

Thanks to the doubly good update for the Spy and Sniper classes, Team Fortress 2 will be playable for free this weekend to Steam users who for some bizarre reason wouldn’t already have the game. Put in enough effort this weekend, TF2 noobs, and you too could be throwing mason jars filled with urine, shooting…

Come To Kotaku’s Pre-E3 Party!

The Kotaku crew is headed to E3 2009 in just ten days. As we do every year, we’re throwing a little get together on the eve of E3. And you’re invited, dear reader! The Kotaku crew is once again heading to the lovely and historic Golden Gopher in downtown Los Angeles for a night of…

Activision PR Completely Cocks Up Tony Hawk: Ride Exclusivity

This morning, Frank PR – the company handling the game’s PR in the UK – announced boldly that Tony Hawk: Ride would be a 360 exclusive in the UK. Which, uh, is not true. A few hours later, Frank PR sent out a second announcement, which read: Further to the erroneous information which was distributed…

More Americans Play Video Games Than Go To The Movies

According to the NPD Group, the fine market research folks who bring us batches of numbers every month, more Americans played video games in the past six months than went to a movie theater. To that, I say “Haha! Suck it, movie theater-going public, even though I may be among you.” Entertainment medium fanboys will…

Team Fortress 2 Sniper Actually Getting Urine Grenades? Yes, He Is

Bad news, Team Fortress 2 Spy: your Summer is about to get wet and wild, as Valve has revealed the Sniper’s final unlockable. And this time it’s no joke. “Jarate” is a reality. First teased on April Fool’s Day, the Jarate, unlockable jar of human waste said to capture the liquid essence of the deadly…

Swine Flu Two

To: Ash From: Crecente Re: Movie Of The Year So Capcom appears to be the only company backing, partially, out of E3 thanks to a flu outbreak. It’s scary when a new disease pops up and there’s no real vaccine available, but people need to take a deep breath. Granted, I was a little panicky…

Blur Screens Come Into Focus

Bizarre Creations‘ Blur is “completely focused on making racing ‘fun’ again,” according to its creators. You know the details, but do you know what Blur looks like? Well, it looks like this. For those of us without pockets deep enough to afford a subscription to Edge magazine, Activision has released first screens of the weaponized…

Peer Pressure Provoking iPhone Game Development

Some of us succumb to copying the habits of friends by playing the same games or watching the same TV show. Harvey Smith is another developer giving in to a different pressure. Harvey Smith, developer of a full range of games, from Deus Ex to Blacksite 51 is another developer not terribly in love with…

ESRB Reveals Details On New Star Wars Battlefront Games

It appears that LucasArts has more droid-slaying, lightsaber-swinging action planned in the Star Wars Battlefront fashion, as the ESRB has rated Star Wars Battlefront: Elite Squadron for the PSP and Nintendo DS. The two titles both appear to be third-person perspective action games highlighting battles from the Star Wars universe, shrunk down to fit on…

Unreal Tournament 3 Goes High Rez With DM-Spectrum

Budding level designer Matt Bradley is off to a good start with “DM-Spectrum,” a deathmatch map for Unreal Tournament 3 that’s unlike anything we’ve seen for the gib-laden shoot ’em up. DM-Spectrum, writes Bradley, is designed on a concept that forces UT3 players to use the game’s spectrum of lighting to navigate and kill opponents.…

Sony’s E3 Promises, One Year Later

Not many great things are remembered from the 2008 E3 press conference, but, we’ve learned, when Jack Tretton promises something, you can take it to the bank. What good is E3 hype if none of it comes true? To get you ready for this E3, we’ve subjected ourselves to re-living the major press conferences of…

Metal Gear Solid, Resident Evil PSone Classics Incoming

Looks like Sony is serious about adding new “PSone Classics” to the PlayStation Store, as a few original PlayStation heavy hitters appear to be en route. The ESRB has rated five new PSone Classics candidates. That includes PlayStation system sellers Metal Gear Solid and Resident Evil: Director’s Cut, both newly rated for release on the…

Boom Blox Producer Departs EA For Flower Studio

On the week of the release of the new Boom Blox, one of the game’s chief creators heads to ThatGameCompany. Video game designer Robin Hunicke, noticeable at any gaming event for having the reddest hair of anyone in attendance, is trading her big-company background for ThatGameCompany, a sign that the small studio behind Flow and…

Resistance Finally Comes Home

Things heat up on PlayStation Home this Thursday, as the long-promised Resistance home space finally appears in a hail of turret-fire. The ruined cityscapes of Resistance comes to life tomorrow, when it will be filled with countless lifeless avatars running about, eager to win Resistance-themed prizes via the “Four Barrels of Fury” mini-game. The game…

Braid Comes To The Mac

The list of excuses for not having played Number None’s Braid gets shorter today with the release of the Mac OS X version of the time-shifting puzzle platformer. The newest version of Braid is priced the same as its Xbox Live Arcade and PC counterparts ($14.95 USD) and is just as native to the Mac…