In case you’ve had a hard time keeping up with all the hubbub of the Independent Games Festival ’08, the 125 entries for the student category of the competition are up. Just like the big IGF competition, there look to be a wide variety of games: good games, bad games, weird games, standard games (no red fish or blue fish, sadly). It’s a truly international competition, with entries from all over the place – and some of the games appear to be quite polished and relatively sophisticated, which makes me wonder why they aren’t in the ‘big boy’ competition instead. You can check out all the entries over at the IGF Student Competition website.
We’ve received word that there is a life-sized Solid Snake figure for sale on eBay but unfortunately, the description is slightly confusing as to what is actually available. Now we here at Kotaku certainly have no room to complain about spelling and grammar, but the person that wrote this might have wanted to get someone with a firmer grasp of English to help out with their translation.
To the best of my ability, I was able to determine that there is a life-sized Snake statue available that was originally created to promote MGS 3: Snake Eater (Pardon me while I giggle behind my hand at that title again). Where it gets fuzzy is the reference to the photo. It seems to say that the accompanying image is actually of a different statue than the one being offered. The item ships from Switzerland and will cost $US 430 to ship to the US and Canada or $US 635 to Mexico, Japan, Singapore, Hong Kong, and Australia. No mention is made of shipping costs to Europe which seems a bit odd. The bid is currently at the low, low price of $US 51 with only two bids and six hours to go. If you decide you simply must have this Snake for your very own, good luck and Caveat emptor.
SNAKE EATER 3 METAL GEAR SOLID LIFE SIZE STATUE [eBay] [Thanks, Gamelord]
Gamasutra has a piece up by Andy Robertson on what the game industry can learn from the film industry – at least in terms of fostering a sense of community. Game companies, you see, are apparently falling down on the job of giving their fans some “ownership” in the final product. It’s transparency of the design/production process that makes the hit! Who knew? Lord of the Rings wouldn’t have been as successful a film without the rabid community surrounding the films (hasn’t Tolkein always enjoyed a mass following of dedicated fans)? Halo 3 is a hit because of relative transparency between company and fans? The Playstation blog is turning around years of crappy PR for Sony? Maybe it’s just the fact that I’m on my last nerve after a week of fires, declining air quality, and more fires in San Diego, but my gut reaction is ‘You’ve got to be kidding me’:
As the games industry takes innovative steps to communicate with and involve the wider public in their process, there is a lot that can be learnt from the films industry. It is clear that, just as with films, it is essential that it enables its audiences to feel a sense of ownership of the media they purchase. We can achieve this with transparent and honest communication — be it a blog, podcast or video.
It’s nice that people like Joss Wheedon and the actors involved in Firefly were all about ‘going to the people,’ but writing a book – or making a movie – or designing a game are creative processes that belong to someone else. ‘Lack of ownership’ has never bothered me when it comes to the media I consume – just because I like it a lot doesn’t mean I have any role in it than ponying up cash (and I’m OK with that). Lack of transparent process hasn’t stopped a frighteningly rabid fan base from springing up around Square Enix or a million other examples that are probably more representative than Firefly. So, dear Kotaku readers, what do you think? Does transparency in process make any difference to you? Or were those of you who were combing Bungie forums for Halo 3 news going to buy the damn game anyways?
For all you Guitar Hero III rockers who are ready to shred with those fancy wireless guitars, Red Octane is releasing their first party Guitar Hero Recharge Kit. The kit, available only on Red Octane’s website, will recharge the batteries on your 360 or PS3 wireless GH guitar so you can keep on rockin’ all through the night (Sorry Wii, no recharge for you). It is available for pre-order now and will begin shipping Oct. 30. Look for the sub standard Mad Catz version soon at a store near you.
Guitar Hero III Single Recharge Kit [Red Octane]
The MMORPGs may all be clones of each other, but at least pan-Asian game related legal battles are entertaining: MGame, a South Korean company, responded this week to the two lawsuits filed last week by CDC Games (as we mentioned last weekend), which cited breached contracts and lack of technical support (among other things) as a basis for their suits. This legal battle is quickly devolving into a ‘they said, they said’ battle. MGame alleges that they dropped CDC Games for non-payment of licence fees for the wildly popular MMO Yulgang; CDC hasn’t responded to these allegations, and it looks like there might be even more heated battles soon:
In a lawsuit filed by CDC Games last week, the company claims MGame has not been providing adequate technical support for “Yulgang” and that it has not been supporting CDC in its efforts to combat piracy.
In response, MGame said it has “hired and dispatched key personnel to sincerely provide support to address those issues.”
MGame Chief Executive Yi Hyoung Kwon said in a statement the company “will provide constant and stable services for ‘Yulgang’ in China with a new partner sometime soon,”
I love reading this stuff – it’s like a soap opera, but way better and with a lot more money at stake. You can’t make this stuff up. I can’t wait to see what happens if MGame and CDC don’t manage to iron this out, and MGame goes shopping for a new Chinese operator.
MGame Responds to CDC Lawsuits [Forbes]
Kotakuite Pitt Rennington spotted the new Xbox 360 Pro bundle at his local Best Buy last night and snapped a photo to prove his big discovery and subsequent purchase. Rumors had been flying around about exactly when the bundle (that includes Forza 2 and Marvel Ultimate Alliance) would hit store shelves and it seems like that time is now. A run by my local Costco to check up on this also turned up the Pro Bundle as well, so if you’ve been waiting for word before you picked this up, consider yourself officially told.
Move over Alien, there’s a new scary… alien in space. GameTrailers managed to nab a world exclusive trailer for EA’s upcoming space horror game, Dead Space. I’m a big fan of the survival horror genre but usually my tastes tend towards the Silent Hill, Resident Evil end of things. I have yet, to my memory (which is admittedly poor) played a horror game in outer space much less zero gravity, so I’ll be anxious to check this out when it hits next year. Definitely one for lights out…
Halloween is just a few days away and it seems pumpkin carving competitions are the contests du jour. Tim Shafer’s Double Fine Studios is getting in on the action with a pumpkin contest of their own taking place on their forums. Simply submit a carved pumpkin with any Double Fine or Double Fine product design and you could win some fabulous prizes. Actually, I don’t know what the prizes are and neither do they, but they promise a prizes for their favourites including a Psychonauts poster autographed by Shafer himself. That alone is worth a couple hours of drawing and carving. All entries must be in by Oct. 30 and as of now the entries are rather sparse so if you’re quick on the draw and have a modicum of talent, you stand a pretty good chance of winning something. Good luck and if any of you win be sure to send us your winning entry so we can post it to our ever growing jack o’ lantern gallery of doom.
Double Fine Halloween Competition! [Double Fine Action Forums] [Thanks, A.H..]
It’s Saturday morning and time for another episode of Kotaku Originals. This week we learned more than we mat have wanted to know about Soldier of Fortune, the pumpkins keep rolling in and The Eye of Judgment learns what it’s like to be pirated poorly.
Rock Band Demo In Guitar Hero’s Base, Killin Its Doodz
Eye of Judgement Card Creating Easier Than Expected?
Guitar Center Selling Guitar Hero III
Army of Two Brings Blackwater PMCs Center Stage
PS3 Firmware 2.0 Detailed, Hits Next Week
Eye Of Judgement Cards Copyable
Frankenreview – Ratchet & Clank Future: Tools of Destruction (PS3)
Mario’s Towering Pumpkin Inferno
Nintendo Hires Two New Executives
Soldier of Fortune, The Game, The Magazine, The Man
Please, Go Buy Zack & Wiki Tomorrow
Psychonauts Sequel Not Happening (Tear)
360 Arcade Pack Dated, Priced For Europe
Crecente and Ashcraft… In Portuguese!
Metal Gear Solid 4′s Ryan Payton Speaks
Why I Love the Portal Song But Would Never Buy It
Ratchet and Clank Future: Tools of Destruction
I Get My Own Straitjacket (Finally)
Disgaea: Afternoon of Darkness
