Three Words I Said To The Man I Defeated In Gears Of War That I'll Never Say Again 
New Doom 3 For Xbox 360 And PlayStation 3 Supports Head-Mounted Displays 
Far Cry 3 And The Stranger In A Strange Land 
Why Robin Makes Batman Better 
Resistance: Burning Skies: The Kotaku Review 
Harley Quinn's Revenge Is Batman: Arkham City's Bad New Ending Competitions, we love them. You can’t hug or kiss them, but you sure can go all sexy-like on the prizes they result in. But you probably shouldn’t, because they tend to be valuable.
Alright then – who’s in the mood to win one of five Disgaea Collection DVD packs? Each is valued at $49.95, and they’re packed with Disgaea goodness… as you’d expect. Want to know more? I’ll let the Madman website do the talking:
The King of the Netherworld has died and various demons are now building their own empires in an effort to take control. However, the late King’s son has arrived and is out to reclaim his rightful place as ruler of the Netherworld! Along to help him is his vassal, Etna, with her Prinny squad, and Flonne, an angel-in-training originally sent to assassinate the king only to find that he has already died. Join our three intrepid – and somewhat eccentric – heroes as they initiate their plan to conquer the Netherworld, Heaven and Earth!
To be in the running, all you have to do is send your Disgaea-themed haikus to tipsATkotakuDOTcomDOTau with the subject line “Disgaea DVD comp”. We’ll be accepting entries until Tuesday next week. Winners will be drawn and announced on the Wednesday. Feel free to enter as many times as you like!
Even if you don’t win, the pack will be available from Madman, starting May 14.
Thanks heaps to Madman for providing us with the goods. Full terms & conditions incoming!
[Terms and Conditions]
Image © 2003 NIPPON ICHI SOFTWARE INC. / DARK ASSEMBLY
To: Bash From Owen Re: Happy Seventh
This is gonna be short and sweet because the new apartment is still a Superfund site. I’m gonna have to live at IKEA for the next month. At least. I once thought about writing a screenplay about that, but then they came out with The Terminal.
At least the 360′s hooked up and providing a welcome diversion from the clutter and crap scattered about. Priorities, right? But I’m gaming in a lawn chair perched in front of the TV because the couch is too far away and my old bridge commander chair is too damn big for the apartment.
Have an enjoyable and productive week. Here’s some of what you missed.
GTA Multiplayer: Wait, I’m a Zombie? Chocolate Rain on Mario Paint Sexy New LEGO Indiana Jones Gameplay A Pixel Cookie How-To Designing the Single Player Economy Capcom’s Sushi Muse?
You guys remember Auran, don’t you? The studio took quite a beating when Auran Developments, its parent company, went into administration late last year. While blame wasn’t placed anywhere in particular, poor sales of its MMO Fury likely played a significant role in its collapse.
Recently, Australian Gamer decided to take a trip to the company’s headquarters in Queensland for a walk-through and catch-up. Yes, Auran is still plugging away at Fury.
The interview with Tony Hilliam on the second page has everything you could possibly want to know about the state of Fury right now. Boiled down, Hilliam admits Auran made mistakes with the launch and design of the game, such as the difficulty for new players to get into it, and that numbers remain “disappointing”. To counter these points, he says that the new business model, bug fixes and additional features have turned Fury into a “new game”.
If only confidence and positive words were enough.
A Visit to Auran Games [Australian Gamer]
Check out this story over at Scoop. Try not to laugh.
So, first off, we have Gordon Copeland, an independent MP in New Zealand, saying Grand Theft Auto IV should be banned. Isn’t the edited version good enough? The country’s overflowing gaols say otherwise… apparently.
Secondly, there’s David Rossman, an expert in violent crime, who believes that violent games are almost as educational an experience as the real thing:
“These (video games) are actually killing simulators and they teach… to kill in much the same way the astronauts on Apollo 11 learned how to fly to the moon.”
Yes, because GTA IV can show me everything I need to know about firing an AK-47. If I ever wanted to fire one. Or kill someone.
Are violent games contributing to increased crime rates in New Zealand? I honestly couldn’t tell you. What I can say is that calling for a ban of a violent video game is perhaps the weakest proactive measure you could take against such a problem.
MP calls for ban on Grand Theft Auto 4 [Scoop via Sumea]
After last week, I’m not sure how anyone could possibly be thinking about new game purchases this week. If you bought Iron Man, Mario Kart Wii or GTA IV, there’s no way you’ve gotten your fill of them yet. Unless you were waiting on Boom Blox? Here’s the roster of releases for the coming week. Is anyone picking any of these up, or are we still gorging silly on other games?
Five Ways to Simplify Complex Controllers Just cut the controller cable and stick it in your ear. That way, you can play games with your mind. I have yet to test this theory, but…
G4: Video of Force Unleashed for Wii, Duel Mode See what Krome Studios has been doing with the Wii version of Force Unleashed. Hint: it involves lightsabres.
GTA IV Lockup Solution: Disabling PSN? GTA IV giving your PS3 trouble? Give this a go.
Kotaku Originals: A Mighty Tr**kload of Copy Originals. From Kotaku. Read them.
Another PAL Hanabi Festival: Gradius II & Cho Aniki To Hit VC More VC goodness for Australia (and Europe).
Danc at Lost Garden has done a number of essays relating to indie game design; quite a few of them involve his own ‘prototyping tiles’ and how best to put together a good working model if you’re not terribly talented in the art department. Last month, he posted an interesting look at designing 2D avatars for use in games. A few little lessons for would-be character designers? One key point is that fashion matters:
Forbes’ Brian Caulfield asks if Grand Theft Auto IV, which isn’t available for the Nintendo Wii, will finally take some of the shine off that console and slow its sales. He doesn’t directly answer that question, but points out the Wii’s missing out on a $US 400 million party. Further, “It’s one of a series of good games that will each convince consumers that there is a lot of good content on the other two boxes,” an analyst says in the piece.
And if the Wii’s sales might is because it appeals to casual gamers, then it’s going to miss out when a title for more traditional gamers releases and starts doing gangbusters business. If a title for the Wii is that good, it’s easier to port it over to PS3 or the 360, Caulfield points out. Not so in reverse.
A TV station in Savannah, Ga. is out doing what Crecente and I commonly referred to as the “gratuitous local.” In other words, it’s a national story that doesn’t have any impact specific to your locality, but you sure can dream up some because it’s the kind of story that’s real easy to assign. The Grand Theft Auto IV Drunk Driving story fits perfectly, and we will see versions of this for two months, if not more.
Now, you stick a camera on a cop and ask him about drunk driving, real or virtual, and what the hell do you think he’s gonna say? WSAV-TV does just that and the results are predictable.
But I’m going to try to see the good here.
