Sunday, August 5, 2007
Warcraft Movie Details Revealed At BlizzCon
2:40PM Kotaku US Edition | At BlizzCon today, representatives from Blizzard and Legendary Pictures hosted a panel on the upcoming WarCraft film adaptation, giving attendees an update on the film’s progress and addressing fan concerns with a follow-up Q&A session. On hand were Paul Sams and Chris Metzen Blizzard Entertainment and, from Legendary Pictures, CEO Thomas Tull and Chief Creative Officer Jon Jashni. In addition to confirming that the Warcraft movie will be a live action film, with a yet to be determined level of computer generated environments and effects, Jashni told the crowd they’re still working toward a 2009 release date. Sams, Metzen and Jashni made it a regular point to express their wishes to “not… create another video game movie” but to “create an epic.” And while some fans may have taken pause at Jashni’s reasoning that “we can’t just make a movie for the 9 million World of Warcraft subscribers”, it was clear that all four were passionate about bringing the mythology of Warcraft to the big screen as faithfully as possible. More »
God of War II Creator Weighs In On Shadow Of The Colossus
2:30PM Kotaku US Edition | Providing some very enjoyable tit-for-tat, God of War II director Cory Barlog provides his own mirrored responses to the questions asked of Shadow of the Colossus director Fumito Ueda in a recent Famitsu interview. He tackles Ueda’s more successful game, only briefly touching on ICO. It’s just as enjoyable as the translated Ueda piece , but might have less of an immediate impact, partially because we get to hear from Barlog and his peers fairly often, while it’s a rare treat to have the opportunity to hear from the creator of two of the best PlayStation 2 games of all time. Regardless, it’s a good read, only because Barlog’s entry about his personal discovery of the beautiful intricacies of SotC’s gameplay is so easy to relate to. God of the Colossus [Don't Play Games With Me!] More »Dragonforce’s Guitar Hero III Finger Mangler
12:30PM Kotaku US Edition | The ScoreHero gang gives us the exclusive first look at Dragonforce’s hyperspeed metal hit “Through the Fire and the Flames” for Guitar Hero III. It doesn’t seem that unlikely that your fingers may just snap off within the first minute. More »
Arcade Flyer Art Saturday: Night Stocker
11:00AM Kotaku US Edition | Night Stocker, created by Nolan Bushnell’s Sente Games, hit arcades courtesy of Bally in 1986. It was a bit of an odd bird given that it was a driving game and a shooting game combined in one. Despite the fact that the flyer claims it to be “the highest earning system game in history” I was able to find precious little info on the game in my research. But, what I did find (thanks to KLOV) I will relate thusly… More »
The Obligatory BlizzCon Goody Bag Post
9:30AM Kotaku US Edition | You may not actually need any of the stuff contained within the BlizzCon goody bag—excepting the hand sanitiser with Blizzard cozy—but I’m sure there are plenty of things in here non-attendees will want. Don’t worry, we’ll find a way to get rid of all this stuff, from the Diablo button to the Colossus magnet to the World of WarCraft XL t-shirt to the Heroes of Azeroth trading card game starter deck to the beta key. Oops, just kidding. That beta key is mine. Actually, Blizzard doesn’t quite know to which game the beta key applies. Therefore, if it’s for Wrath of the Lich King, it’s all yours, lucky Kotaku reader. More »Coleco Tabletop Arcade Commercial
9:00AM Kotaku US Edition | This really gives a new meaning to portable gaming. In 1982, Coleco released these miniature versions of classic arcade games like Pac-Man, Galaxian and Donkey Kong. This commercial is classic 80’s from beginning to end. We even get the never seen before or heard from again, Mr. Arcade, an 80’s cool cat with some killer shades and the power to shrink arcade machines. Those kids seem awfully excited with their new tiny arcade games, I just wonder how they felt when they got that thing home and realised it was absolutely nothing like the original game…Poor little bastards. More »
The Bungie Weekly Update
8:00AM Kotaku US Edition | This week’s Bungie Weekly Update is chock full o’ information about the recent announcement that four-player co-op over Xbox Live would be available at ship for Halo 3. Bungie’s Luke and Frankie are on hand to give you all the details on it down to the minutia which I’m told Halo fans are extremely fond of. Other topics include the AV calibration tool, the massive Halo 3 feature in the most recent EGM and Frankie’s trip to Amsterdam. You can even see a larger image of the one posted here so you can drool over another obsessive fan’s awesome Master Chief armour. So, for some hardcore Halo 3 weekend reading, head on over to Bungie’s Weekly Update. [Bungie] More »
On Mixing Narrative And Violence In Company Of Heroes
7:30AM Kotaku US Edition | Gamasutra has an interesting (short) interview up with Stephen Dinehart, “narrative designer” for Relic Entertainment, the Vancouver arm of THQ. The topic? Well, Company of Heroes in general – more specifically, narrative design, violence, and historical accuracy (or lack thereof). I’ve read a fair chunk of thoughts on narrative design in an academic context, so it’s nice to read how people think the stuff is being applied in real-world situations. Dinehart hopes that these sorts of games aren’t just excuses to shoot stuff, and feels that his narrative crafting helps facilitate a more mature examination of violence: More »
John Smedley Talks Legends Of Norrath
7:00AM Kotaku US Edition | MMOG Nation has posted a great interview with Sony Online Entertainment’s John Smedley about the recently announced Everquest online trading card game, Legends of Norrath: Oathbound which our own Crecente actually got to play last month. In case you haven’t gotten a chance to read Crecente’s hands on and you’re too lazy to click over to it or the MMOG Nation interview, here’s a quick explanation of the game in Mr. Smedley’s own words. More »
