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Cannabalism, Slavery and Sex in Fallout 3
Posted by Brian Crecente at 11:20 PM on July 8, 2008
Fallout 3 maybe the game I am most excited about going into this E3. I say maybe, because there are some other titles up there that have me pretty psyched (Left 4 Dead). But Fallout 3 for me is a wonderous mix of nostalgia and clever game design.
I can't talk about what I saw yet while playing through a chunk of the game last month, but the Bethesda folks took the time to throw together a massive fan-driven 25 question and answer post. In it they touch on everything from child killing and drug addiction to AI and dialoguetrees. Here's my favourite question. Hit the jump for one on the AI and two more screens. Make sure you check out the full post if you're interested in the game.
At a press conference held yesterday in Japan, Namco Bandai's Makoto Yoshizumi has apparently announced the development of another Tales game. This time for the Wii. And no, he's not talking about Tales of Symphonia: Dawn of the New World, he's talking about another one. With Dawn of the New World, Tales of Vesperia, Tales of Hearts and Tales of the World: Radiant Mythology 2 all on their way, this makes the currently unnamed title the fifth Tales game currently in developmenti. Leave no stone unturned, Namco Bandai!
Wow, 
As posted earlier, Kotaku's own Mike "Michael" McWhertor 
After the 
The 2.41 firmware update fix 
Despite the fact the last few Sony F1 games were fairly forgettable, some people are worried now that Codemasters hold the Formula 1 licence. Worried they'll make a forgettable game. Worried that, being Codemasters - the team behind Grid and Dirt - their F1 game will be some kind of arcade racer. Well it won't! Responding to such fears on the official boards, the official response from Codies is:
Lots of people have the Nintendo Wii. For example, I have a Nintendo Wii and, yes, maybe you do too! With such a high install base, making Wii games would seem like a valuable part of any developer's arsenal. Not Epic's, no sir-ey. The developer has stated in the past that it has no intentions of making Wii games, and Epic honcho Mark Rein still is sticking with his nothanks.jpg for Wii development:
A smattering of new Diablo III art has popped up for you and me to look at it. So, go on, and look, look, look in the gallery right down there below. Enjoy!
While we're treated to precise sales figures from Japan, and decent approximates from the US market, it can be a difficult thing to nail down European sales figures. And by difficult, I mean largely impossible. Not only is the continent split across dozens of nations and languages, but there have long been two companies collecting sales data for the region: GfK, who handled most of continental Europe, and ChartTrack, who were largely responsible for the British market. Well, as of yesterday, GfK now own a controlling interest in ChartTrack, bringing the companies together under the new name GfK ChartTrack Limited. Fingers crossed this means we can start getting not only some decent European sales numbers, but also regular pan-European sales charts as well.
That 
While the 2.40 PS3 firmware was eagerly anticipated, it didn't go as smoothly as Sony would've liked. Sony actually had to 
If you missed out on the limited edition of Metal Gear Solid 4 thanks to 
More characters join the Tatsunoko vs. Capcom fray! Previously, it was announced that the Capcom side was getting Street Fighter III's Alex and the 
Battlefield 2142 for $10? It sounds crazy, but that's how much it's going for in 
Yes, another nutty lawsuit. This one gets the "nutty" tag because of the timeframes involved. A Mr. John R. Martin, from Illinois, claims that the Nintendo DS infringes upon a patent he holds for "touch screen and pointing device gaming technology", filed in August, 2005 (pictured). Only problem? The DS was released in 2004. Bonus problem? While his patent applies to a touch-screen gaming device, it's for a gambling device, one more concerned with GPS and gambling laws than with male cheerleading or phantom hourglasses.
While not running uWink restaurants or heading up an in-game ad firm, Atari founder Nolan Bushnell (pictured) likes to talk up the state of the game industry. Bushnell's been around, so his insights are often insightful! In an interview with game site Gamasutra, Bushnell talks about how the hardware wars are "probably over", saying that "it's ridiculous to talk about how my photorealism is better than your photorealism". He also offers on the modern incarnation of Atari:
In grand "X-Files" manner, the film's storyline is being kept under wraps. This much can be revealed: It is a stand-alone story in the tradition of some of the show's most acclaimed and beloved episodes, and takes the complicated relationship between Fox Mulder (Duchovny) and Dana Scully (Anderson) in unexpected directions. Mulder continues his unshakable quest for the truth, and Scully, the passionate, ferociously intelligent physician, remains inextricably tied to Mulder's pursuits. 
Marvellous' upcoming Little King's Story for the Wii looks brilliant. A delightful fairy-tale aesthetic, gameplay that promises to be a hands-on version of The Settlers and cow knights? All exciting stuff. Made even more exciting by the announcement today of one of your rival kingdoms in the game. Which is...the Kingdom of the Drunkards. Led by King Duvroc, he "wishes for everyone in the world to be happy" and "thinks it's Mardi Gras all year round". Duvroc has a daughter, Princess Bouquet. She loves science. And is trapped in a pot. Once you beat Duvroc, "the princess will appear from inside the pot". Can't wait.
They're making a Metal Gear Solid movie. And since David Hayter knows both Hollywood as a big time script writer and Metal Gear Solid as the English language voice of Solid Snake, he's probably a good guy to ask about the movie version -- even if he's apparently not writing the movie. And what does David Hayter think?
Metal Gear Online players, you've now got two new additions to your Metal Gear Online gameplay. One is a new game mode, called Team Sneaking. This expands on the original "Sneaking" mode, and instead of just having Snake invisible, makes one whole team invisible. The other change is that hosts now have the ability to toggle "Headshots Only", which will punish any kill that's not a bullet to the head.
We hope you're ready for a world in which all games are controlled with your feet, because following the success of Wii Fit and the welcoming of the game's Balance Board peripheral by third-party developers, it's only going to ramp up from here. Fortunately, in the case of the Skate It at least, playing games with your feet may not be such a bad thing. It has the potential to be about as awkward as any attempt to ride a skateboard, if it's your first time, but you might be surprised at how easily one can pull off nose manuals and nollie kickflips within minutes.
A bunch (and we mean a bunch) of new Soulcalibur IV screens have popped up. These are screens that show things like the game's Single Player Mode menu, Arcade Mode, Training Mode, VS Mode, Museum, Character Creation and a comic as well. There's lots of nitty-gritty to click through, but it's interesting stuff.
Being a high-profile, first-party Microsoft title, you already knew this was coming. Gotsta make the most of that cashed-up, loyal fanbase! But you didn't know what, specifically, was in the Fable 2 collector's edition. Now you do! For $US 80, you'll get a Hobbe figure, making-of documentary, "additional in-game content" and a trial Live account. As with the standard edition, it'll also ship with the bonus 
You now have two more ways to get your online Scrabble fix, as EA and Hasbro have announced the release of Scrabble on Pogo.com with a Facebook app to hit the social networking site later this month. Wait, you say, I'm already enjoying Scrabble via Facebook, Kotaku! No, that's Scrabulous, an unofficial Scrabble clone that Hasbro attempted to have 
Rock Band 2 isn't going to just take the introduction of a wireless drum set in Guitar Hero World Tour lying down. No, Harmonix has its own wireless drum set planned, according to a product listing on Amazon.com. With a tentative release date of September 14 and a price of $US 89.99, it may mean waiting for an upgrade that's free of ugly cables is just around the corner.
The latest Bungie podcast, which features the usual internal shenanigans -- we get up to speed on the developer's air conditioning situation whilst discussing all things Halo -- ends with a potential tease about the team's next title being revealed. After lamenting the lack of hard, breaking news over the course of the 91-minute(!) podcast, co-hosts Brian Jarrard and Luke Smith cruelly tease something being revealed at E3.
Blue Dragon and Lost Odyssey developer Mistwalker, Hironobu Sakaguchi's current outfit, is teaming with Majesco and AQ Interactive for Away Shuffle Dungeon, an RPG for the DS slated for a fall release. It casts players as the creatively-named young hero "Sword", who must rescue townsfolk from a "mysterious unknown". Sounds traditional!
With this, the seventh new character to join the Soulcalibur IV line up, we're starting to notice a trend. Kamikirimusi, like her predecessors Shura, Scheherezade, Algol Fear, and Ashlotte, is a female fighter designed by a well known Japanese artist, this time by guest artist Hirokazu Hisayuki. She'll fight with a very large metal club/mace and satisfy fans of exposed upper thigh flesh.
Square Enix has announced and subsequently released Song Summoner: The Unsung Heroes a music-themed role-playing game for the iPod. It's available right now via iTunes for the low, low price of $US 4.99. As Ziggy, you'll battle the Mechanical Militia with your band of Tune Troopers, soldiers that you create with your iPod library, in an attempt to save the world or win your freedom or address some other pressing matter.
Cyan Worlds said it's formulated a plan to bring Myst Online back to its fans, after GameTap 
You have plenty of time between now and the