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"Making StarCraft II Is Harder Than Totally New Title"
Posted by Brian Ashcraft at 11:40 PM on March 18, 2008
Imagine the weight Blizzard must feel. Talk about pressure! Says lead producer Chris Sigaty: "The original StarCraft has such a huge fan base, and so, in some ways, I think, making StarCraft II is harder had we chosen a totally new title or even one of our others because there's such a hardcore fan base that has certain expectations. That's definitely the biggest challenge from my prospective. No kidding. Blizzard doesn't only to satisfy the expectations of its diehards fans, but those of the entire Korean nation. So, Blizzard, please do let South Korea down.
After the excitement of 
More Metal Gear Solid news! The new issue of Famitsu also points out that the Japanese PlayStation Network will be getting Metal Gear Solid (the first one, yo) for the PSP/PS3. Slated for this spring. 
Here, more World of Warcraft figures for the unhealthily obsessed to spend their real-world dollars on. These are the third series to be released by DC Direct, and while they won't be out until November, they figure March is early enough to begin whetting your appetite with pictures. Four figures will make up the series: a Blood Elf Paladin, a Draenei Mage, an Undead Rogue and a Human Priestess. Lookers, the lot of them.
According to this scan from Japanese magazine Famitsu, the regular version of Metal Gear Solid 4 will retail for ¥8,800 ($US 91), the Special Edition will go for ¥9,800 ($US 101) and the bundle will go for ¥51,800 ($US 534). And the colour of the PS3 console in that special edition MGS4 bundle? That would be "steel". Fitting.
As it stands, Skype on the PSP is useful, but problematic. Biggest problem being you need two separate accessories to run it: headphones and a mic. That'll be sorted next month when Sony release their official Skype headset, which while still lacking an official price is currently listed on Amazon for the all-too-affordable price of $US 20. 
All the Kotobukiya Armored Core robot toy porn you can handle! All of it!! Not much to add, because hey, if you like Armored Core robots, you're not reading at this point. You're clicking and looking and drooling.
It wasn't just 
Starting march 19th (tomorrow!), Japanese rental chain TSUTAYA will begin offering Blu-ray discs for rent at ten shops in big cities across Japan. The service will include rental at TSUTAYA bricks and mortal shops and at its online TSUTAYA DISCAS shop. The aim is to have Blu-ray available at every store nationwide by the summer. TSUTAYA's the biggest rental chain in Japan, so for Blu-ray, this is a pretty big deal. I'm curious: Is it possible to rent Blu-ray elsewhere, Japan or not?
Sure, 
According to the latest Sega research (bwah?), 41.2 percent of Japanese have at least once in their lives taken their cell phones into the bath to make phone calls, send text messages, listen to music or play cell phone games. Which was most popular? Send e-mails, followed closely by listen to music. According to Sega, teenagers are most likely to bathe and phone. Thanks you for these insights! Now, we shall spend the rest of the day wondering what exactly Sega is up to.
Best to let Xbox LIVE player Stacy explain what the hell's going on:
Sure does. March 18. Sony just said so. On the gaming side of things, it's a minor one, with only expanded "support for PlayStation Network titles" new to the table. On the internet radio side of things, though, it's a bonanza. Twenty new PSP Internet Radio players will be made available, and will now be categorised by things like genre, making your experience all the easier. The three of you who actually use internet radio on your PSP must be thrilled!
Previously, we've brought word of the risky 
Some games are great for multi-player. Take Halo or Call of Duty. Great multi-player experiences! But what about something like, say, Mass Effect? Is developer BioWare thinking about turning its single player RPG into a multiplayer online experience? Says BioWare's Matt Atwood:
Yeah, 64. I know, 6-12 is the norm, but hey, it's Okami, it's St Patrick's Day, it's time to get a little crazy. While they won't settle the issue of whether the added waggle is a pro or a con, they at least settle something: unless you're cheating and playing it upscaled on a PS3, this will be better-looking than the PS2 version.
Europe don't love Gran Turismo. They love Gran Turismo. Anyone in need of a reminder of this, here's your reminder: SCEE reckon the game's on the cusp of one million preorders, which with the game still a few weeks away will surely make it the first PS3 game to go platinum before it's even been released. Imagine how many copies the actual game's going to sell...
This isn't just some regular old Donkey-Kong-as-Jesus painting. Oh, no. It's much more. Dubbed "The Last Supper" and painted by artist Misha, the piece was originally shown at the 2006 I Am 8-Bit show. Hang on, like I said, there's more! The painting is apparently now hanging in Christina Aguilera's baby nursery. If that wasn't enough (it's not), Kotaku's Associate Editor Flynn De Marco has a Misha original tattooed on his bodice. There, all done!
It's not $99.95. It's not even $109.95. No, my friends, Grand Theft Auto IV will have a 
Attention real Blizzard fans! If you're going to be in the city of Paris—or close enough to make the trip worthwhile—know that tickets for the event go on sale this Thursday, March 20. The event, which was held in Korea in 2007 and saw the formal announcement of StarCraft II is planned for Saturday, June 28 and Sunday, June 29. All the action happens at Porte de Versailles Exposition Centre. We would suggest buying early if you plan on going, as BlizzCon tickets sold out like lightning.
Now that Activision has confirmed 
So, you think you're good at Halo 3? The sort of "good" that would have Fatal1ty browning his trousers in utter despair, or players the globe-over crying into remains of their FPS pride and rage-shattered controllers?
We got word from GameFly subscriber and Kotaku reader Jeremiah who informs that he's one of the few asked to participate in the company's new trade-in program. Inventively named the GameFly Trade-In Program, gamers can send in their used games—shipping cost footed by you—to get credit for their account.
Anthony from the 
It may have had some of the surprise spoiled by 
If the crazy and unnecessary alliteration failed to inform, Tantalus is looking for people to test its games. As usual, no experience is required, but a love of electronic entertainment is definitely a plus.
Instead of doing extra posts on Kotaku about 
Europe, whenever you finally get Rock Band, you're going to think it's worth the wait. Oh, I haven't touched it in weeks, but when I did have the time to play things like Rock Band, it was just fantastic. Fortunately, EA and Harmonix are throwing you a bone in the form of some Europe-only jams, possibly as an apology for the long, long wait. A batch of EU-only songs was revealed at this weekend's Play.com LIVE fest, including things like Blur's "Beetlebum", Muse's "Hysteria", Die Toten Hosen's "Hier Kommt Alex" and Indochine's "L'Aventurier."
Wii fans starved for more Super Smash Bros. have dropped cash on Nintendo's newest mascot fighter at an alarming, record setting rate. Nintendo announced today that it had shifted 1.4 million copies of Super Smash Bros. Brawl in the United States during its first week on store shelves, with 874,000 of those being snapped up on day one. It still has a long way to go to get to the numbers its Gamecube predecessor did (7 million!). Insert something about printing money, it's a fad or Nintendo going third party here.
