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What Does A Slew Of Dream C Club Screenshots Give The World?
An animated GIF, that’s what. Japan’s D3 Publisher released over seventy screens of character Riho upcoming drink-with-hostess-Xbox-360-game Dream C Club — from the exact same scene. And we’re not quite sure why. Yes, SEVENTY PLUS SCREENS. No, we take that back. We are very sure why. It’s didn’t take long before the screens were pieced…
By Brian Ashcraft Published April 6, 2009 -
Xbox Live: 2,500,000,000 Achievements Unlocked
Xbox 360, PC, Wii, doesn’t matter, everybody loves online user statistics. Especially when, they get into the billions, as was revealed by Microsoft’s Aaron Greenberg last week. Contributing to a Gamasutra piece on achievements, Greenberg revealed that, as of this month, there have been 2.5 billion achievements unlocked by the Xbox Live user base. They…
By Luke Plunkett Published April 6, 2009 -
A Guide To GameStop’s Game Days Blowout
GameStop have a big, big sale going on right now. Lots of good stuff on sale, real cheap. But there’s just so much of it! Where to start, where to start? Thankfully, some kids over on Cheap Ass Gamer have done the legwork, and come up with not only the complete list of games on…
By Luke Plunkett Published April 6, 2009 -
This Is Kotakuland’s Favorite Board Game Trash Talk
You finally picked a winner! Good for you. The grand prize winner will get a sofa (yes, A SOFA) and an Xbox 360. That winner is… Patrick Shearer: “See, this is why I like board games. When I am kicking your ass in one of these, you don’t mysteriously disconnect with ‘internet problems’.” Congrats to…
By Brian Ashcraft Published April 6, 2009 -
Bandai Namco PSP Game Makes Suggestive Use Of Milk
Simulation RPG Queen’s Blade Spiral Chaos is going on sale this winter in Japan. And it’s bringing its suggestive imagery with it! Queen’s Blade is originally a Lost Worlds style “combat picture book game” and has been published in Japan for the last couple of years. Queen’s Blade features only female characters, and its spin-off…
By Brian Ashcraft Published April 6, 2009 -
Fifty-two Weekends
To: Luke From Owen Re: Chi Town This weekend was my 52nd on shift, which means I’ve done my first year with Kotaku. Coincidentally, Adam Barenblat has too. His friends in Boulder threw him a Happy Kaketaku Anniversary party yesterday. Now watch us find out there’s some sort of elaborate hazing ritual for your first…
By Owen Good Published April 5, 2009 -
Harmonix Designer Unwittingly Confirms LEGO Rock Band
While Harmonix senior designer Dan Teasdale had intentions of talking about LEGO Rock Band during his GDC talk, “Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap: Design Lessons Learned From Rock Band,” that obviously didn’t happen. However, according to a PDF of an earlier version of the designer’s session, the version “sent for speech approval rather than the…
By Michael McWhertor Published April 5, 2009 -
Game Music as Porno Soundtracks
Bow-chika-bow-bow in chiptones would be bleep-dinka-bink-bink or something, right? Or it’d sound like this boot-knockin’ mixtape an obviously bored (and, today, who isn’t?) The -Minus World put together. Here are the five soundtrack candidates for the hot monkey sex you’ve always seen other people having but were too afraid to pay for yourself. • Killer…
By Owen Good Published April 5, 2009 -
Your DSiWare Block Sizes
For those who are holding in their hands Nintendo’s newest handheld, you might be wondering just how much DSiWare you can stick on it. Nintendo Everything has an early list of DSiWare file sizes. Remember that on the DSi, the 256MB of memory translates to 1024 blocks. And of that, 96 are taken up by…
By Owen Good Published April 5, 2009 -
Power Glove Adds Functionality; Still Not Necessarily Useful
In this, the 20th anniversary year of the Nintendo Power Glove, modder Matt Mechtley tricks it out with an accelerometer and bluetooth. But he still has to code some games to take advantage of it. Power Glove 20th Anniversary Edition — Build Video from Matt Mechtley on Vimeo. Writes Matt: It’s been 20 years now…
By Owen Good Published April 5, 2009 -
Week in Games: What has 64 Feet and No Pubic Hair
Why, the front row of a Hannah Montana concert! This week Hannah Montana: The Movie drops on not one but both (!!!) consoles I own, and McWhertor, surprisingly, hasn’t asked me to review it. Oh yes, that’s right, the core-gaming tween audience has finally found its crossover hit in Hannah, who comes to the 360…
By Owen Good Published April 5, 2009 -
Is this the Last “Old Time Rock & Roll” Ad?
A bunch of readers saw this last night during Saturday Night Live, the sequel or – one hopes – the conclusion to the Guitar Hero "Risky Business" series of ads. I run hot and cold on Bob Seger. “Old Time Rock ‘n Roll,” thanks to just about every wedding DJ I’ve ever heard, is presently…
By Owen Good Published April 5, 2009 -
Utah Lawmakers Need $25K to Override Veto of Anti-Game Bill
The Deseret News heaps the last spadeful of dirt on the grave of Utah HB353, saying the state legislature appears unlikely to call a veto session because of, well, money. The law would have provided people with the means to sue game retailers who advertised they were family friendly, and then were found to sell…
By Owen Good Published April 5, 2009 -
Answer Survey, Help Game Preservationists
You guys got opinions – put ’em to use. A researcher at the University of Maryland wants to hear from gamers on subjects like culturally significant games, how they should be preserved, emulation and others. Looking through the survey the researcher, Rachel Donahue, seems to be interested in what qualifies a game for being significance,…
By Owen Good Published April 5, 2009 -
Study Finds Games Reinforcing Positive Behavior, Too
Last year some researchers at three universities found, of course, that “violent games normalize our children to violence.” The same researchers, this year, say “prosocial” games can normalize kids to good behavior. Middle schoolers in Singapore and Japan, and college students in the U.S. were observed in three studies, according to the research, which has…
By Owen Good Published April 5, 2009 -
An Idea of How Large the Big Huge Layoffs Were
An anonymous tipster representing himself as an ex-Big Huge Games employee advised us to compare the studio’s current team page with a cached version and count up the missing men and women. Neither THQ nor Big Huge have formally confirmed the layoffs, but according to the links the tipster sent, it looks like at least…
By Owen Good Published April 5, 2009 -
The Race is Not to the Swiftest Spartan
This is a cool photo, but some realities quickly set in. Like what the inside of a Spartan helmet smells like after a 10K race. Granted, this guy is in much better shape, but I sound like Fatty McGee after a mile and a half with nothing obstructing my breathing. Elite runners need ventilation, too,…
By Owen Good Published April 5, 2009 -
Hearsay: Wii Fit Plus Dated in Europe?
If Nintendo’s exergaming success hacks you off, might want to stop here. A screen shot from a game shop out in Amsterdam says “Wii Fit Plus” is on the way mid-November. Perhaps more importantly, the Wii Motion Plus controller, and a Wii Sports 2 Resort, bundled with the controller, have drop dates of July 10.…
By Owen Good Published April 5, 2009 -
Sony Gets Chippy on Eve of DSi Release
As the weekend shopkeeper I’m not on most PR primary distribution lists. So the “Statement from Sony PlayStation on PSP and Competitive Landscape,” isn’t in my hands as I type this. But it’s out there. Oh, is it out there. Here’s the text of the release, republished on both Engadget and Wired, and attributed to…
By Owen Good Published April 4, 2009