Harley Quinn's Revenge Is Batman: Arkham City's Bad New Ending 
High Scores And Egos: There's Always A Bigger Doodle 
The Last Moments Of GAME 
How Bad User Interfaces Are Ruining Video Games And Other Wonderful Things 
She Tried To Make Good Video Games For Girls, Whatever That Meant 
The Story Of Doodle Jump: Brotherly Love And Digital Snacks Crysis has some stunning graphics. Think we’re all on the same page on that one. But its AI? In this instance, it can’t seem to handle surprise and swimming at the same time. Which has disastrous results for this poor chap.
Not since Heather Locklear’s turn in Return of the Swamp Thing have I been so turned on by a plant. For the rest of you flora freaks out there, I have something like 42 new screen shots of Devil May Cry 4 from Capcom. They’re lusciously green and totally devoid of gothic architecture or ice demons. Proof of the Capcom Framework platform’s ability to make things pretty in our gallery after the jump.
Yes. This again. Just because Halloween is now a full two days expired doesn’t mean our tips inbox has engaged it’s costume and pumpkin filter. For those keeping score, we’ve got Blizzard, NCSoft, Bioware, EA and Nihilistic in the running for best Western developer in Team Fortress 2 cosplay. Tired of this schtick? I can understand, but I really need some more blue teams to restore order to the Kotaku force. Plus, I’m pretty sure that’s The Office’s Steve Carrell as The Medic.
Thanks, Mike!
I’m not sure what’s more soul-crushing—that someone took the effort to write a web-based Pac-Man text adventure in the style of Zork or that I just spent fifteen minutes ensuring that it adhered to the maze layout perfectly. Regardless, your semi-daily reminder that someone has far too much time on their hands is at the official Pac-Txt site.
The sadly lost race in the battle between Zombies, Robots, Pirates, and Ninjas, the Vikings haven’t had any really good representation in the gaming space since The Lost Vikings. Since Blizzard refuses to admit that they’re working on The Lost Vikings Online, Sega had to step forward with Viking: Battle For Asgard. When I first mentioned Viking, I made some scathing remarks about it being a God of War clone, which totally don’t hold up after viewing this first trailer for the game. Those are obviously vikings and not Greek soldiers. I was so completely wrong. Sorry I let you all down.
Gamers must love the America’s Army series of thinly veiled recruitment tools, because the government just won’t stop funding them. They just want to meet the demand! For those hungering for a new edition of the long running training tool, a demo for America’s Army: True Soldiers has hit the Xbox Live Marketplace. It offers co-op and 8 versus 8 “engagement” play via Xbox Live. Unsurprisingly, it’s only available in the United States. USA! USA! USA!
Demo: Americas Army: True Soldiers [Larry's Blog]
Bally, former maker of fabulous pinball tables, has introduced something new the world of slots with its Skill Series line of machines, the first of which is based on the classic paddle game Pong. While most slot machines are based on nothing but chance, Pong breaks new ground with its skill-based pay outs. During a 45-second bonus round, a random occurrence, gamblers will be able to play a round of old school Pong. Performing better naturally gives you a higher pay out. Even if you’re clueless behind the paddles, you’ll still get something, but power Pong players may walk away with a bit more of their cash.
Reader Jason spotted a row of the new machines on the floor of the MGM Grand in Las Vegas, testing his Pong skills and sending us potentially drunken pics. The skill-based slots are slowly being approved in states that permit legalised gambling, with manufacturer Bally promising a follow up with a Breakout based slot machine.
If only they had one based on the arcade game Shinobi and not that horrid PlayStation 2 abomination I’d be a 7% richer man.
Every time I write about Undertow I have to spend a good fifteen minutes giggling over the developer’s name. Chair Entertainment (heehee!) has revealed that their Battlefield meets Geometry Wars, Unreal Engine 3 powered shooter is hitting Xbox Live Arcade on November 21st, the day before Thanksgiving. If the game turns out as fun as I hope, I’ll spend Turkey Day playing my PSP while the annual familial fight breaks out, wishing I were at home drowning myself in the 15 single player levels or two different 16 player multiplayer modes of Undertow. Lucky for me the other Thanksgiving contest my family participates in is the ‘Who can leave the fastest after dinner’ competition. The key lies in parking at the curb.
Chair’s Undertow Gets Launch Date On XBLA [Gamasutra]
The ESRB has updated its ratings database with a few new potential Virtual Console candidates for the Nintendo Wii, with Treasure’s Alien Soldier leading the list. The Sega Genesis (okay, Mega Drive) side-scrolling shooter was never released in North America, but did get a release in Europe, meaning stateside Treasure fans with a bent for bird-men in space suits should be furiously wiping palm sweat on their jeans upon the ultimate release. While I already have Alien Soldier in my possession, it’s nice you will soon play it, too.
Another Sega Genesis release, Shining Force II has also passed the ratings board, giving strategy RPG fans another shiny dose of 16-bit fun. Finally, Taito’s Bubble Bobble has snagged itself an E rating, much to the delight of Bub and Bob fans. This is where I’d normally urge caution in that these games could be weeks or months away from a VC release, but I’d rather see raw, unbridled enthusiasm.
It was a practical week over at the Smash Bros. Dojo, revealing new game modes, one new stage, a Final Smash and more bottom of the barrel kind of stuff. Sure the new Stage Builder is totally nifty, but another week without Zero Suit Samus pics and the Ice Climber stage? Boring! We live and breathe for earth shattering announcements!
For those who missed out on what went down in the world of Super Smash Bros. Brawl this week, make the click in the direction of the Dojo Dump!
