newVideoPlayer("KotakuKristmasKard2_gawker.flv", 475, 376); Hmm…maybe we overdid it with the whole “K” for “Kotaku” theme, but we’ve put together a special holiday ecard just for our readers. Why? Clearly the internet is short of obnoxious electronic entertainment. And when Valve agreed to lend us the background of a certain very popular song from Portal, we just couldn’t help ourselves…
So from the entire Kotaku staff, happy holidays and merry whatever you celebrate. And to Valve, thank-you…and we’re very, very sorry.
Voices in order of butchery: Michael Fahey, Mark Wilson, Brian Crecente, Brian Crecente, Luke Plunkett. Lyrics by Fahey, Crecente and Wilson Video by Mark Wilson
To: Luke From: Crecente Re:Cookies & Beer
Beer huh? In our house it was always cookies and eggnog, both of which were for Santa. If we were feeling especially generous we’d throw in a carrot for the reindeer, but no beer. I’m not sure how well they mix with cookies. But maybe that’s just me.
We spent a relatively warm Christmas Eve in the back yard of the Crecente family home playing croquet with the family. Funny thing, before today I’ve never actually played the game of mallets and balls made famous, perhaps, by Alice in Wonderland. Sure I knew what it was, I even had a slight grasp of the rules. I think I may have, once or twice as a child, chased my brother around the very same yard with a large wooden mallet, screaming my fool head off, but I never sat down and played. It’s a really fun game, especially if you have a really big yard and lots of people to play with. OK, that’s my vote for Game of the Year: Classic Croquet.
What you missed: Merry Crysis-mas! Free Map Packs For Good Boys And Girls! New Rock Band Downloadable Tracks Pop Up, Come Cheap Blizzard Beginning Developer Podcast New York Times’ Back-Handed Games of the Year
Tomorrow is going to be super light because no one is really working. We do, however, have a little video holiday card Mark whipped up for our readers. I’m not sure if the end result means our readers were naughty or nice.
Some of you may have had your long weekends interrupted by work today, so I empathize. Believe me, I do. But with a scheduled holiday going on right now for many of us, we should have the opportunity to play loads of new games during our idle hours. Some of you may have already peaked through the wrapping on your Christmas gifts and know what you’ll be playing this holiday and some of you may simply have strong ideas about what’s under the tree. Me, I think there’s a copy of Final Fantasy III waiting for me, but I can’t be sure. Regardless, it promises to be a very nerdy Christmas for me, based on the contents of my wish list.
For those who already have it worked out, let us know in the comments what you’ll be playing this holiday.
You may have your reservations about the direction of Street Fighter IV. It’s the first in the non-EX line of the series to make the jump to 3D. It’s set between the events of Street Fighters two and three. The released screen shots have been met with mixed reactions. But one factor we needn’t fret over is the integrity of Chinese fighter Chun Li’s thighs. 1UP today published an interview with Daigo Ikeno—art director and character designer for SFIV—who assured fans that he won’t be mucking with what makes the character so identifiable—thighs amazingly more voluminous than those of her male counterparts.
The design community at Threadless has approved yet another video game themed design, this one based on classic block dropper Tetris. Actually, it could very well be based on Technos’ Block Out, a three dimensional take on the genre that was a personal favorite during my arcade employment duties. Anyway, back on topic, the design “I Hate Packing” is ready for your buying pleasure with Threadless listing all sizes as having “plenty in stock.” It’s cute, as are all things Threadless.
I Hate Packing [Threadless - thanks, Greg!]
The gang at Crytek have an early present for owners of the hardware-taxing FPS Crysis with the newly released Tournament Map Pack. It contains five new official maps, two of the InstantAction variety and three of the PowerStruggle type. The new multiplayer maps are ready for download and already playable on a number of servers, so there should be no problem finding a game. Plenty of screen shots are available at the official posting on the matter.
Maximum Christmas and a Happy New Year 2008! [Crymod Forums]
If you didn’t find anything for the PC gamer on your list in our holiday gift guide, you may want to turn to Valve’s super duper Steam sale. Everything in the virtual store is between 10% and 50% off, including The Orange Box which is temporarily at the low, low price of $US 37.45. Other bargains? The id Super Pack, which contains 22 titles for $US 52.45. Think of the value!
Since Steam now supports gift giving, it’s going to be the easiest way to add a last minute Christmas gift that’s guaranteed to ship on time.
The newest batch of tracks for Rock Band has been announced by Harmonix, ushering in a less expensive, heavy on the modern pop-rock set of jams. Five songs from Jared Leto’s musical endeavor 30 Seconds To Mars, The All-American Rejects, and The Sounds will arrive for Xbox 360 users this week, for PlayStation 3 owners the next. Each will be priced to move at $0.99. The full track list, which may not be for everyone but should at least be applauded for bringing a shred of variety, is below.
Blizzard fanboys will rejoice today as the studio has announced a new developer video podcast that will start the first week of January. Concerning Starcraft 2 and Wrath of the Lich King, the podcast will include lots of dev interviews, fansite interaction and Q&A. We know, we know. It’s another podcast on a mountain of podcasts. But the news is exciting because Blizzard is traditionally extremely tight-lipped about their project development, offering us little more than beautiful CGI movies that even the Rosetta Stone, a case of beer and a weekend can’t decipher to those specific details we crave.
Last night I arrived at my late-grandparents home in south Georgia, a Spanish rancher my grandad designed and had built in the 70s. After unpacking, lighting luminaries and having dinner, I spent an hour working on the old record player, trying to get it to work. Once it was spinning I dug up the old Christmas records we used to listen to when I was a kid. At the top of the dusty pile of 33s were two Christmas records by the Chipmunks. I can’t believe my parents let us listen to these things so endlessly during the holidays. They were and are horrid. But I guess that was, in some way, their Christmas present to us.
