RSS Feeds
|
US Edition
Babblebaby
|
Defamer
|
Gizmodo
|
Kotaku
|
Lifehacker
Confusing name, but the screens, they're a lot simpler. Just released by EA, they give us a better idea of the game's historical premise, showing how it can play out differently depending on the era you're playing in. I for one can't wait for medieval Europe. You can keep your UFOs and floods, for me, Sim City has always needed a good old fashioned black death.
They've actually been running a top 50, but we're adverse to week-long attempts at cock-teasing (can't take the strain), so we're only going to look at their top 10. That covers the important ones, like Portal at #1, Mario Galaxy at #2 and BioShock at #3. But still leaves plenty of room for surprises. Like the inclusion of S.T.A.L.K.E.R. And Team Fortress 2. And Crackdown! Good old Crackdown. Certainly makes for a fresh take on the year, and has reminded me I really need to go back and give that new harpoon gun a good, solid field test. Rest of the top 10 are linked below.
Eurogamer's Top 50 Games of 2007: 10-1 [Eurogamer]
Wait, wasn't Red Steel 2 already confirmed? It was hinted at aaagees ago, but then we heard nothing. Guess it took 'em a little longer to throw the preview together. Anyways, it's done now, the latest UK Official Nintendo Magazine reporting that the sequel, which doesn't yet have a name (Blue Steel?), will be out sometime in 2008. It'll also boast "better controls, better AI, better multiplayer and online play". Which is great! Because, you know. They couldn't make them any worse.
Red Steel 2 revealed [Gaming Target, via Shacknews]
Canadians seem to be experiencing some Xbox Live issues at the moment. Xbox Canada's website is proudly telling users that while the service is "Up & Running", there might be a slight hiccup or two:
Users may experience intermittent issues with tournaments, posting statistics, matchmaking, and sending messages. Additionally Halo 3 users may experience issues joining matches or posting statistics. We are aware of the issue and are actively working towards a resolution. We apologize for any inconvenience.But apart from that, everything else is fine!
As 2008 draws nearer, few things are more certain than McFarlane releasing more Halo 3 merch. First up in their second series of figures is the Arbiter, who should be hitting stores next June. He'll come packed with a plasma sword and carbine rifle, 18 points of articulation and ENORMOUS FEET.
To: Luke
From: Crecente
Re: Russian Vanilla Tea
Moultrie is soooooooo small.
How small is it?
It's sooooo small there's no Starbucks.
True story.
What you missed:
The King of Kommenter Finalists
Gearbox On: Maracas, Gun Porn and Caring Too Much
PlayStation Tips For New Owners
The Year's Most Commented Stories
Size Matters PS2 Looking Increasingly Legit
Kotaku's 2007 Games of the Year
Playboy Picks Best, Jiggliest Games of 2007
Kotaku's Overall Game of the Year
Poor old BioShock didn't get GOTY love from those who call Kotaku Tower their home, but the game's disembodied presence Andrew Ryan was Time's Person of the Year in 1969. That is, according to Something Awful's recent Photoshop Phriday that called for a suitable replacement following Vladimir Putin taking the 2007 "honour." The real winner of Time's POTY were "Middle Americans." A handful of other video game characters also "won" in the contest's other entries, the kind of folks who are generally associated with this year's "best of" awards. The water damage on the cover is a nice touch, but an era appropriate Time cover would have been even better.
Time Magazine's Person of the Year [Something Awful]
We've already posted last week's Japanese hardware sales. This is where you can find them. But there's a little extra this week. Alongside their regular commentary on the week's charts, Japanese tracking company Media Create have slipped in a little factoid. Namely, that in Japan the DS, which launched in 2004, has now outsold the PlayStation 2. Which launched in 2000. Party on, Nintendo, party on.
[Media Create]
Want to see Street Fighter IV brawlers Ken and Ryu battle it out, but don't want to fast forward to the good stuff? GameVideos was nice enough to cull the one-on-one hadokens and shoryukens from their 1UP Show on the game, giving viewers a quick look at how Capcom's next looks in motion. A second, ever so slightly different movie is after the jump.
Reader Max wrote in to let us know that Microsoft's Russian arm has been sending out "some very peculiar gifts to its partners" this holiday, specifically a chocolate Master Chief wrapped in pretty gold foil. As you can see, MC is surrounded by garland, chestnuts and Xbox 360 logos, carrying a sack filled with presents for the good girls and boys of Mother Russia. Maybe an odd choice, but I'm willing to bet that Halo 3 wins the Russsian Spike TV Video Game Award for "Most Addictive Game Fueled by Milk Chocolate." Further size comparison pics of the delicious treat are after the jump.
Christmas cards from developers are big thing in the West. Similarly, no developer in Japan would be rude enough to neglect sending cards commemorating the New Year. Metal Slug and King of Fighters developer SNK Playmore has already done the honors for this holiday, creating a batch of a half-dozen Happy New Year 2008 card mock ups that you can send to your favorite fan of whatever SNK Playmore games the kids are playing this year. Designs for Metal Slug (above), Samurai Shodown, The King of Fighters XII, The King of Fighters '94 and The King of Fighters '98 are all currently available for your downloading and redistributing pleasure. Sorry, no Doki Doki Majo Shinpan!
For your own enjoyment, plenty of wallpapers that are not holiday related, including some fabulous desktop worthy World Heroes Gorgeous pieces are just a downward scroll away.
Happy New Year 2008 [SNK Playmore]
After tallying all of the votes for the platform-specific Game of the Year awards I want through and looked for the one with the highest vote, the one that was, essentially, awarded the most points out of all of the games. The thing is, it turned out that three games tied for Game of the Year:
The Legend of Zelda Phantom Hourglass - DS
Uncharted: Drake's Fortune - Playstation 3
Super Mario Galaxy - Wii
Microsoft was recently rumoured to be working on a motion controlled version of something courtesy of the folks at Gyration, but the folks in Redmond aren't talking. Reps gave Next-Gen the stock "we don't comment on rumours" response when asked about the XboxFamily allegations that MS was ready to ape the Wii-mote and SIXAXIS. If true (as Microsoft rumours tend to be) it wouldn't really come as a surprise, despite Bill Gates assertion that motion control is "not mainstream for most games." Remember those rumours that the company was pushing for a motion controller pack-in with Halo 3? While that sounded a bit fishy, it wouldn't be out of the blue for them to appropriate the concept for a future product. How else can you possibly imagine controlling the next Viva Pinata game?
Microsoft Mum on Motion Control Rumours [Next-Gen]
A new batch of original PlayStation games has been added to the Japanese version of the PlayStation Store which features plenty of enviously available big names amid the Japan-only fare. The biggest PSone Classics to make their way to PSPs and PlayStation 3s are Biohazard 2 (aka Resident Evil 2) and Intelligent Qube, both of which would be welcome additions to the North American and European stores. Just sayin', SCEA. The full list of newbies is below.
PlayStation Store (JP) [PlayStation]
The most searched for item on the UK's eBay since Christmas is the Wii, The Telegraph reports today. More than 1,100 of the consoles were on sale earlier today with asking prices as high as £1,000, aka somewhere in the stupid range.
And the Wii isn't the only console UK buyers are searching for on the auction site. In fact half of the top ten searched items are gaming consoles with the DS at the number five spot the PSP at number six, the 360 at number 9 and the PS3 rounding out the list at number ten.
Hit the jump for the top ten search list from the paper.
You've seen our picks, maybe noticed what Time, Maxim and others had to say about gaming in 2007, but Playboy's choices are finally in. They not only went safe, picking Bioshock as their game of the year, but went with their demographic, opting to choose the 2007 game with the "Best Jiggle Factor." It might not have been my choice, as I like my ridiculously oversized gaming girl breasts covered in slime, but I suppose Heavenly Sword deserved to walk away with some sort of accolade this year. Ninja Gaiden Sigma oversight aside, it's a fairly solid list.
Playboy's Best Games of 2007 [Playboy]
When Konami of Japan announced Otomedius, we quickly realised what it was up to. Konami had little interest in trying to revitalize the shrinking arcade shmup scene or looking in a new direction for the Gradius and Parodius series. No, they wanted to bring more boobs into the Konami family and shill loads of Otomedius toys. And they're making good on it again, with new redemption prizes in the form of 14cm tall toys and, yes, smaller than life-sized inflatable versions of the busty shooter girls. You're either shaking your head, sighing with defeat or whipping our your credit card again, I'm sure—it's been a big week for plastic video game girls.
The current lot of goods also includes the "multiple movable system" action figures and a digital manga series featuring the maid-ship ladies of Otomedius. We don't expect it to stop any time soon.
Otomedius Goods [Konami]
Our first-ever Game of the Year awards was a pretty straight forward deal. I asked all of the writers to submit a list of three games for each category and the three that showed up most in each category made it as a finalist. Once we had the list of finalists I asked each writer to go through and order the finalists and then tallied the vote. The one with the most points was named Game of the Year, the runner-up was named Not Quite Game of the Year. The game with the most votes for Worst Game of the Year received that dubious honor.
Hit the jump for the final results and lovely medallions which no one will receive. Check back later tonight for the Overall Game of the Year, drawn from the winners of each category.
Here it is, kids—Street Fighter IV in motion. The 1UP Show crew visited Capcom and chatted it up with the producer Yoshinori Ono to learn all about the fourth game proper in the twenty year old Street Fighter franchise. You'll maybe want to skip to about 3:30 in for your first taste of SFIV video, but expect to see plenty more after that. The clip runs a good twenty minutes, so make yourself comfortable.
We're going to start with the bad news. There will be no updates to the Smash Bros. Dojo next week and, in turn, no Dojo Dump next Friday. The lazy bums at Nintendo are taking a week off to rest comfortably in hammocks or possibly scrounge up fresh content from Super Smash Bros. Brawl for the official site. At least this week contains some gems, some of which we've already covered. We get a fresh look at personal favorite Wario and a healthy dose of Sonic the Hedgehog, who I wouldn't mind never hearing from again. The rest? Well, it's mostly filler. On with the Dump!
We've already mentioned that The Orange Box has gone on sale, but Valve just emailed to point out that the sound track for their game, including the hugely popular Still Alive, is also on sale over at Amazon.com now.
You can pick up the song as a single for just $US 0.89 or the entire album on Amazon for just shy of $8. Besides the Steam sale, Valve says that GameUK, Best Buy and other retailers have their game on sale right now for all platforms. So get out there and get to Orange Boxing.
The Orange Box Album [Amazon]
Many of you may be in store for a long, long weekend, stretching all the way into a hangover recovery-filled Tuesday. Me? I'll be working my fingers to the nub, tapping away at a keyboard for various reasons, making lots of internet happen. But in the in-between, I'll be taking breaks to play Uncharted: Drake's Fortune and Team Fortress 2. I may find some sit-down time to work my way through the Temple of the Ocean King in The Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass, but a week away from my consoles has inspired a good deal of motivation to spend more time with them. I might do a bit of video card shopping and processor overclocking to better the performance of my PC, which whimpers during TF2 sessions.
Other than that, I plan for total maxin' and relaxin', but hit us up with your gaming plans in the comments area, if it pleases you.
Those really harsh Super Mario mods are bad enough, but this one goes out of its way to use all of that knowledge learned at the hand of the originals to torment gamers. I could probably take everything but the nastiness that happens at the flag pole, that's just plain wrong.
You may know Jonathan Coulton the guy who wrote that song for Portal. What you may not know about him is that the guy is a mega geek, just like us, we mean you. Just like you. And his music reflects such a mentality.
I'm generally thinking about robots and fractals all the time anyway, whether I'm writing about them or not...But on a deeper level, I think there's a thread running through many of the songs that has more to do with how it feels to be a nerd - this kind of alienation, a sense of not belonging, not being accepted.STOP READING IF YOU HAVEN'T PLAYED PORTAL.
TV has died, with most shows out of new episodes because of the Writers' Strike. So people like Joseph Olin, President of the Academy of Interactive Arts and Sciences, think that video games are ready to fill the entertainment void.
If you're a fan of network programming, maybe seeing another repeat of 'Pushing Daisies' or 'Cold Case' will inspire you to finish that level of 'Ratchet and Clank Future' instead.And then Olin doesn't miss the chance to take a shot at the film industry.
There's a much better relationship between game developers and publishers than there appears to be in terms of all the polemics between the writers, producers and studios.And while that's probably true, is it really saying all that much?
Video game industry capitalising on writers' strike [via gamingtoday]
Japan's Playstation Network is running a little contest through the first week of next year to give 100 Playstation 3 owners in Japan 5,000 Yen PSN gift cards. To enter gamers just need to buy something on the PSN.
Hopefully this is the sign of things to come to the U.S. It would be a great way for SCEA to start promoting their new Playstation Network Gift Cards.
Despite beating both games countless times in arcades, this The House of the Dead 2 and 3 Return bundle may be reason enough to pick up a Wii Zapper. Featuring two of Sega's famous shooters, the newly announced pack will include the already announced games along with Nintendo's newest Zapper casing for about $US 44 when it's released this March in Japan. Here's hoping the bundle makes its way stateside, since the game alone is currently priced at about $US 40. For $US 4, the Wii Zapper doesn't look all that bad (or difficult to stuff into my entertainment center).
HotD 2 & 3 Zapper bundle coming to Japan [via gonintendo]
Not so long ago we mentioned a rumor that Ratchet & Clank: Size Matters might come from the PSP to the PS2 after it had appeared on GameStop's website for $US 29.99 with a February 2008 ship date.
Now the plot thickens! While we've heard nothing official from Sony or Insomniac regarding the title, GameSpot has updated their page with box art. And even the ESRB has jumped on board by adding the title to their database.
While Size Matters may have induced my most heartbreaking gaming moment of 2007, it also gave me the best experience on the PSP this year. And the experience was complete enough to imagine it on a full-blown console.
I'm just curious—the PSP version of Size Matters used a larger Ratchet to make up for screen size. Will Insomniac tweak the perspective? The PS2's beefier processing power should certainly support a wider level view and a smaller protagonist, so I'm guessing that they will. As for the brilliant "size matters" pun, that part might not translate so well.
Gamestop [via siliconera]
We've been doing our best to keep the Kotaku readership up to date with the latest and greatest developments in Rock Band drums silencing technologies. First we told you about a hack that used foam and felt head toppers. And then a reader called our bluff and tested it. The idea worked great, but it required, you know, unlaziness.
Now a new company is selling Drumshhh pads specifically for Rock Band drums. Self-adhesive tops comprised of the same foam/felt concoction we've seen others test, Drumshhh pads are ready to stick on your drums out of the box and claim to reduce ambient drum noise by 50%. Plus, they come in four different styles for those looking to sexify their peripherals a bit. We're not sure about what the price will be at this time, but if it's under $US 10, we'd give it a try.
Drumshhh [via ironicgamer]
In my humble opinion, PSN is outrocking XBLA in terms of new and original titles. But more and more I'm seeing the two services as separate entities. PSN takes risks and finds incredible new talent and fresh IPs. XBLA gives us an easy way to play our old favorites.
This Wednesday Microsoft is releasing SNK Playmore's heralded classic Metal Slug 3 to XBLA for 800 points. Now in 720p and featuring online co-op multiplayer, I'm almost glad I didn't pump a boatload of quarters into the game when I spotted a cabinet a few months back. But man I've gotta pick up a joystick for the 360 already.
Metal Slug 3 [xbox]
It's been a gang-buster year here in the Kotaku Tower. Sure our traffic's grown, we've played lots of games, been to tons of fun conventions, but the thing that makes me most proud is that Kotaku has the most comments of any of the Gawker sites. That's right, we're even beating the monstrously large Gizmodo in comments. And of course that's all because of you, the reader.
Our techies just dumped a bunch of year-end data in my lap for me to pick through and included in that was a list of Kotaku's most commented on stories. I've listed the top 15 after the jump, not including the contests and Komment King posts.
With all the holiday festivity we almost missed this one. Chalk the story up to rumor at the moment, but one Japanese retail site listed this box art for Super Smash Bros. Brawl. Notice that it says "now printing." The timeline works out since Brawl will be released in Japan in about a month. But unless you live there, this probably isn't huge news anyway.
So live it up Kotaku Japan readers. This may or may not be your day. On an unrelated note, I hope this game interests my wife more than the last. But having seen all the screens (that look fun, but remarkably similar to earlier iterations), I really don't think that it will. Friend codes here I come.
A playable demo of Kingdom Under Fire: Circle of Doom has found its way up onto Xbox Live today, and I am scared to download it. It's not that I don't have the 1.2GB free space on my hard drive, or that I lack the time to sit down and play it. It's just that they took my beloved action RTS and neutered it into a hack and slash action RPG, and I can't bear to look. It's like being called down to the morgue to identify a loved one, only reversed. You guys download it and tell me if the coast is clear. The two stage demo shouldn't take you too long to work your way through. Does it retain the KUF look and feel? Is that really out-of-place guitar metal still there? Over the past year I've offered my opinion on the playability of countless games, and now it's your turn to do me a favor. Take one for the team!
Demo: KUF:COD Playable Demo [Xbox Live's Major Nelson]
Xbox Live Director Larry "Major Nelson" Hyrb points out on his blog that the voting for the Xbox 2007 Community Choice Awards is winding down. You only have a few days left to make your picks in a rather long list of 360-centric game categories. To vote just hop over to the link on the jump, select the game you like in each category and then go to the forums to vote. Only people with Gamertags can vote in these awards, which should cut down on the cross-platform hatorade.
Hit the jump for the full list of categories and don't forget we've got our own list of finalists up for Game of the Year too now.
With a slew of new PlayStation 3 owners joining the growing horde this holiday season, the official PlayStation blog has been posting a series of helpful tips for new PS3 and PSP users to get the best out of their shiny new toys. Yesterday's post drops some details on DLNA-compliance and connecting your PS3 to your home network in order to share movies, music, and images stored on your computer with the console, which is one of the coolest features of the system and one I actually hadn't set up until reading said article this morning *hides*.
Other tips this week have included getting RSS feeds on your PSP, donating CPU cycles via Folding@home, and setting up downloads through the PlayStation Store to your PS3 remotely using the PSP. Old news for those so deep into their systems that they can remotely control their car via their handheld, but for those of you to new or too lazy to know better will find a slew of nifty ways your Sony gaming dealies are more than just gaming dealies.
PlayStation Tips #4 - DLNA media server [PlayStation.Blog]
The Wii continues to prove itself as a proficient tool for physical rehabilitation in a story out of St. Paul Minnesota involving a therapist at Gillette Children's Specialty Heathcare named Anna Forsberg, who has introduced Nintendo's console to her patients after receiving one as a wedding gift back in August. The freshly opened system was immediately put to use, aiding in the recovery of a 15 year-old girl who had recently awoken from a three-week long coma.
Unlike traditional video games that use a joy stick or finger controls, the Wii requires users to replicated the action of the sport they are playing. "You can't play tennis with your hand in your lap," Forsberg tells her patient. "You have to move your whole arm."
Far too easy.
With the patient's parents already seeing a marked improvement in their child with only the one session under her belt, it's yet another success story for Nintendo's plucky little console. Anyone else getting the feeling that the Wii will still be used in hospitals around the world long after we've moved on to whatever Nintendo has up its sleeve next? And will the mainstream press ever get over ending their Wii articles like this?
It's hard work, made easier, with a Wii bit of fun.Oh Boyd Huppert, your wit tickles me so! *sigh*
Wii makes for fun therapy at children's hospital [KARE 11 TV]
By Brian Ashcraft
"Thing I love about Kotaku is that you just don't care," says Gearbox Software boss Randy Pitchford. (Not sure if we don't care per se, but rather, that we care a little too much.) It's a few days before Christmas, and he is showing me around Gearbox's Texas HQ that occupies the top four floors of a suburban Dallas high-rise. Pitchford is open and upfront. Want to take a picture of a wall with concept art? Sure. The dev opened up its doors and showed us pretty much everything it could. Gearbox, best known for the Brothers in Arms series and the Halo: Combat Evolved PC port, is poised for a breakout year in 2008 when the company brings Dreamcast title Samba de Amigo to the Wi, puts out original FPS Borderlands and a new entry into the Brothers in Arms tactical shooter series. With its pedigree Borderlands makes perfect sense. But Samba?
Republican presidential candidate Ron Paul has been called the internet's candidate, and what's on the internet can't help but spill over into World of Warcraft. On New Year's Day a group of Paul followers are planning a march from Ironforge to Stormwind on the Whisperwind server to show support for their favorite candidate. The march will begin at 8:30 PM. Depending on the route they take, this could be an extremely short march (Ironforge to train tunnel to Stormwind) or an extremely long and humorous one as dozens of Ron Paul supporters sporting newbie Gnome and Dwarf characters die in droves trying to cross the Burning Steppes. Unfortunately Whisperwind is a non-PVP server, so the worst any political opposition can do is /rude, /spit, and kek.
Ron Paul supporters plan rally in Azeroth [WoW Insider via Game Politics]
So you've got yourself a Wii for Christmas, and you've managed to snag the system's best games, maybe a controller sleeve or one of those nifty charging cradles, but one thing still bothers you. Where the hell's the shark gun? Here the hell's the shark gun. $US 10.86 at DealExtreme snags you the Paga Shark Light Gun for the Wii, finally adding the "True Experience" of pointing a shark at your television, just like the U.S. Military. Just slip the Wiimote up top, plug the nunchuk (also named mushroom head?) into the shark's anus and you are good to go! Marine sodomy has never been so much fun!
It's December 28, which means the King of Komments pre-election season has run its course and we've come up with the finalists for the big show: