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For Some Reason, I Want to Jump on this Cake
You know? Like both feet together, straight down, off a brick ledge from a height about three times my own. I bet it’s super smooshy, just like a Goomba should be. Reader Joe M. sent in this gamecake – it was the wedding cake for his friends’ recent ceremony. It came with just a minimalist…
By Owen Good Published May 2, 2009 -
A Tribute to Corewar
There is no way in hell I could ever “play” it – my programming days ended with BASIC. But Corewar always intrigued me, because it was the closest thing to real-life Tron I could imagine. Corewar, a game which celebrates the 25th anniversary of its public debut this month, was pure gladiatorial combat in the…
By Owen Good Published May 2, 2009 -
Apple Getting More Serious About Mobile Gaming?
Forbes looks at some of Apple’s latest maneuverings and concludes the company is muscling up on its mobile gaming business. This week, Apple picked off two guys with heavyweight résumés – Richard Teversham, Microsoft’s former Xbox strategy-mans, and Bob Drebin, who at Advanced Micro Device created the Gamecube’s graphics processor. Those developments, added to Apple’s…
By Owen Good Published May 2, 2009 -
Zeno Clash Dev Tries Reasoning with Torrenters
Like stages of grief, game-makers’ response to file sharing goes in stages. ACE Team, the Zeno Clash developer, skipped rage and grief and moved on to bargaining – directly with would-be copiers. Developer Carlos Bordeu went to the comments of BitTorrent sites sharing Zeno Clash and posted the following: I’m one of the developers of…
By Owen Good Published May 2, 2009 -
K4
TABLE OF CONTENTS April 2009 Who is Chuck Greene? And Why is He So Good At Killing Zombies? Dead Rising 2: 7,000 Zombies and Plenty of Chainsaws by Brian Crecente A Tale of Tale of Tales The Path For Art Games by Leigh Alexander Drama! How Not To Address Homosexuality In Gaming by Mike Fahey…
By Brian Crecente Published May 2, 2009 -
Left 4 Dead Means Close-Knit Zombies
What is it with gamer girls sewing gifts for their guys? Sounds like arts-and-crafts meets Stockholm syndrome. Reader Alex K’s sis-in-law crocheted these adorable Left 4 Dead guys as a token of her (alienated) affection. Says Alex:”I just received the following as a birthday gift from my sister in law. She’s been a mere spectator…
By Owen Good Published May 2, 2009 -
Two More Boxers On Punch-Out!! Card
Go Nintendo’s a little ahead of the curve with a small pic, of unspecified origin, confirming two original Punch-Out!! pugilists’ presence in the forthcoming Wii-make. No surprise we’d find Great Tiger and Pissin’ Hurricane Piston Honda in this version, but as the official site remains stuck with Glass Joe, Von Kaiser, Disco Kid and Coming…
By Owen Good Published May 2, 2009 -
Warcraft is So Over this Swine Flu
IRL Swine Flu sounds like just a nighttime-sniffling-sneezing inconvenience when you read that it’s been going around Azeroth since the Lich King beta, and pops you for 120 natural damage every two seconds. Escapist points out that Swine Flu, a spell cast by undead hogs, isn’t some sneaky-snarky add-on to capitalize on the latest public…
By Owen Good Published May 2, 2009 -
High Voltage: New Wii Exclusives Can Handle … Tens of On-Screen Enemies
High Voltage, the studio behind the (latest) bacon-saver for Wii core gamers, The Conduit, says his house will show off two more Wii exclusives at E3, capable of five dozen onscreen foes, minimum. HV exec Eric Nofsinger says they’ll be showing “two big ones” at E3 – no, not that – both of them FPSes…
By Owen Good Published May 2, 2009 -
Weekend Coupons: Hordes of Money
Left 4 Dead at 40 percent off for PC is the A-list deal; tipster Gantz told us they extended the multiplayer freeplay, too. What other values can be found this weekend? Hardware: • Want to buy an 80GB PlayStation 3 for $360? Oh, the irony! Best of all, you can get it through the Home…
By Owen Good Published May 2, 2009 -
Analyst: Next Gen Begins After 2013
Everyone’s favorite industry analyst, Michael Pachter, says that, rumored Wii HD upgrade not withstanding, this current console generation is gonna be with us at least four more years. In an industry newsletter (as reported by Edge), Pachter wrote “We do not expect the ‘next’ generation to begin before 2013, if at all.” The “if at…
By Owen Good Published May 2, 2009 -
Valve Drops MMO “Code” into TF2 Update
Earlier this week we brought you the delightful Team Fortress 2-as-RPG screens. Valve’s returned the favor, dropping some “code” in the latest patch to troll the more gullible players among its base. Because every TF2 patch gets picked apart within minutes of its release, Valve didn’t have to wait long for someone in its forums…
By Owen Good Published May 2, 2009 -
Kotaku Originals: The Count of Monte Carlo
Man, how bad ass would it have been for Crecente to show up in Monte Carlo behind the wheel of a Monte Carlo? Capcom should have given these cars as swag. Hell, GM’s going bankrupt. Even better, they could have hired Rod Roddy to do it, “Price is Right” style. Except Rod Roddy is dead.…
By Owen Good Published May 2, 2009 -
Feel Shows How Horror On Wii Should Be Done
In case you couldn’t tell from the creepy kid and the gurgling noises, this is the Wii game being overseen by the director of Japanese horror flick “The Grudge”. It’s called “Feel”, and is actually based loosely on the movie. But despite how great the original film was (and how…strange the “American” remake was), that’s…
By Luke Plunkett Published May 2, 2009 -
Do You Even Like Motion Controls?
Today I’d like to eat a hamburger. Know why? It’s Friday. Time for burgers, time for TELL US DAMMIT. 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…
By Brian Ashcraft Published May 2, 2009 -
There Are Now Over 100,000,000 Spore Creatures
Earlier this week, EA’s life creator Spore passed a hefty milestone, with the game’s Sporepedia registering its one hundred millionth creation. According to the Spore fanatics at Spore Illustrated, the mark was reached around 5:10pm EST yesterday, April 30. And while it’s an impressive feat, we can’t help but wonder how many more there’d be…
By Luke Plunkett Published May 2, 2009 -
Red Red Faction Reminder
Don’t forget! If you plan on entering our Red Faction contest, you have this weekend to get your entry ready — like reader Karan already did. Contest closes next Thursday at midnight! What’s happening? We’re giving away a copy of futuristic third-person-shooter Red Faction: Guerrilla, platform of your choice. Here’s how you can win it:…
By Brian Ashcraft Published May 2, 2009 -
So, How Much Of The Market Does GameStop Hold Down?
While GameStop are the most high-profile specialist games retailer, games are sold in a lot of other places. Department stores. Electronics stores. Online. Convenient stores, even. So how big is GameStop’s share of the market? Well, according to some research done by Gamasutra, in the United States the chain controls 21% of the games market…
By Luke Plunkett Published May 1, 2009 -
A Week In Comments
Why Won’t Japanese Gamers Buy The Xbox 360? Comment by: 2c-b Nominated by: TrjnRabbit Americans supporting an American product? Patriotism. Japanese supporting a Japanese product? Xenophobia. BioWare Lifts Filter On Gay, Lesbian Star Wars Discussion, Issues Apology Comment by: Falsoman Nominated by: kidko When people stop talking about booth babes, secret shiva outfit on RE5,…
By Brian Ashcraft Published May 1, 2009 -
Dawn Of War II Gets Major Update This Month
Sometime in “early May”, developers Relic will be releasing a major new update for their RTS/RPG hybrid Dawn of War II, which will introduce a range of new features for the game. These include an all-new multiplayer mode (2v2), two new maps to support this mode, improved skirmish AI, push-to-talk voice chat, new “squad decorators”…
By Luke Plunkett Published May 1, 2009