Saturday, August 25, 2007

Dojo Dump: Diddy, Petey & Yoshi Goodies

4:30PM Michael McWhertor | This week, we see the seventeenth confirmed character appear, Donkey Kong’s half-pint sidekick Diddy Kong. The rest of the stuff is rather mundane, but at least Yoshi’s Final Smash get up is good for a laugh and Smash Bros. fans without friends will be gassed to learn more about Super Smash Bros. Brawl’s Adventure Mode. On with the Dojo Dump! More »

First Impressions

4:00PM Flynn De Marco | 2007 has been a landmark year for me. I had my first E3, my first GDC, my first Comic Con and today, my first PAX. I wasn’t really sure what to expect, not really having anything to compare it to, and knowing that I would be the lone Kotaku representative at this momentous event was a little more than daunting. Seeing as it was the first day, I decided to take it a bit easy, see the keynote and try and get a general lay of the land before diving in headfirst. More »

Was Square Enix Terrified Of Own Original IP?

3:00PM Brian Ashcraft | Back at the Square Enix Party (a delightful time), I got a look at Square Enix’s Subarashiki Kono Sekai (AKA “It’s a Wonderful World”). The game was developed by Kyoto’s Jupiter Corporation, which also brought us Picross DS. The game is a totally original IP, based on Final Fantasy character designer Tetsuya Nomura’s creations. Though, the characters don’t look all that FF, but rather, have an urban edge. The game itself is interesting and difficult as players must concentrate on both screens (sometimes at the same time!) during play. In short, the game is somewhat risky for the conservative Square Enix — but a commendable risk. Oddly enough, the game wasn’t reviewed in Famitsu when it was released last July. Next-Gen’s Tim Rogers has a theory about that: More »

The Keynote Speech

3:00PM Flynn De Marco | “My name is Wil Wheaton and Jack Thompson can suck my balls.” If there’s one thing Wil Wheaton knows how to do, it’s get a reaction from a crowd. Whether he’s inciting the ire of millions as Wesley Crusher on Star Trek or kicking off PAX 07 with his keynote speech, he never fails to make an impression. He makes his way onto the stage with dramatic musical accompaniment, citing the above line to an adoring crowd. After railing through every gamer cliche’ that one could imagine and dropping a few f-bombs along the way, he begins recounting his days as a young nerd playing video games in the local arcade. He compares his generation’s love of the old arcade to this generations attachment to World of Warcraft and Xbox Live. These, he says, are the arcades of today. The crowd is in the palm of his hand as he moves on from arcade classics to home consoles, hitting every classic title along the way and filling everyone’s heads with nostalgic memories of the golden age of gaming. More »

Beastie Boy Captured, Trapped In Tony Hawks Game

2:30PM Luke Plunkett | As much as I love their scampish little ways, there’s no denying the fact the Beastie Boys are getting old. Not just regular “older”, like, I saw them on TV the other day and they were old. Best way to combat the signs of ageing? Appearing as a glossy, over-rendered playable character in a videogame! That’s what the Beastie’s MCA (Adam Yauch) is doing, Activision announcing to MTV’s Stephen Totilo that he’ll be a playable chatacter in the upcoming Tony Hawks Proving Ground. Dude looks sharply-dressed in a suit. Even sharper considering he looks like he’s skating on the moon. Beastie Boys’ MCA Skateboards (Virtually) With Tony Hawk; Plus New Game Soundtrack Revealed [MTV] More »

Vegas As Interpreted By Super Street Fighter II Turbo HD Remix

1:40PM Luke Plunkett | Vegas can mean a lot of things to a lot of people. To some, it’s a cess-pit of decadence, filth and the worst in modern capitalist excess. To others? An excuse to blow $500 on blackjack and titties. To Capcom, though, it’s just Balrog’s home turf, and with a new, shinied-up Street Fighter on the way they’ve released a shot of the Vegas stage. Looks gorgeous, but where are the top-hat girls? It’s nothing without them jiggling top-hat girls. Latest SFHD Update w/ First BG Art [Capcom USA] More »

Microsoft Passes On E For All

1:20PM Luke Plunkett | So Sony passed on E for All. And Capcom. And Sega. But it’s OK! Microsoft are still coming, aren’t they? Pfft. Yeah. No. They’ve announced that they’ve got better things to do than attend some consumer gaming show in LA, being held between October 18-21. Which they didn’t specify, but which no doubt involve things centred around Zunes, weighted gaming mice and ensuring even the last of the Kilimanjaro bushmen know that Halo is coming next month.. Microsoft won’t attend E for All [Gamesindustry] More »

Sony’s Going Places EA And Microsoft Haven’t

1:00PM Brian Ashcraft | Think Nintendo was the first to capitalise on the casual market? Think again. As SCEE honcho David “Dirty Nail” Reeves points out, Sony was “actually the one that broadened the market” before the Wii and the DS were introduced. Proof? “We started EyeToy at the end of 2002, then we did SingStar in 2004 and Buzz in 2005,” says Reeves. He isn’t going off half-cocked, because Sony did bring games to a new market. That’s where Reeves should’ve stopped. But he keeps going, and when he keeps going, he says dumb things: More »