Kotaku Australia » pics

Oonce … Oonce … Oonce … C’mon, Check Me Out!

Owen Good — Wed, 28 Oct 2009 02:20:00 +0000

Life-Size Claptrap from Borderlands, as Tweeted by Gearbox’s Mikey Neumann [via Hot Blooded Gaming]

A Collection of Killer Gaming Wallpapers

Owen Good — Sat, 14 Feb 2009 16:30:00 +0000

Yesterday our sister site Lifehacker posted a collection of eye-popping desktop wallpapers they found, and it is too good not to share over here.

I’ve had the same picture of the Pyramid Peaks in Colorado on my desktop since 2003. If your background’s getting a little stale, too, certainly one of these will do the trick.

Lifehacker two weeks ago also posted some killer retro-gaming wallpapers (God, how I want the one with Asshole Dog snickering at me) but the flood of traffic killed Desktop Gaming’s bandwidth. So keep an eye on that URL when it comes back up, it may have some good stuff. Just, you know, go there quietly, and in an orderly fashion.

We can’t post them at full resolution, so following are previews with links to the full size versions (which is on deviantART, so there shouldn’t be a bandwidth problem). Enjoy.

Orioto’s Video Game Remake Desktops [deviantART via Lifehacker, thanks Jimmy]

Requiem for a Console

Owen Good — Sat, 29 Nov 2008 23:00:00 +0000

A gamer’s fourth Xbox 360 red-ringed, and a veritable who’s-who of consoles turned out to pay their respects and show their anguish that so many are dying so young, and so senselessly.

Tiggerboy, who keeps a blog on the UK GameSpot, brought in all the hardware dignitaries to bid the 360 goodbye. You can see the 360 packaged in his foam coffin (aka the Peter Moore Catafalque), ready to to be ferried by the Boatman of the Dead Consoles (aka the UPS guy) on his way back to Microsoft, where his remains will become part of the circle of console life. There’s a gallery of the proceedings on the jump, including an astonishing, last-minute appearance by a disowned relative that will leave you heaving up great sobs.

Master Chief, a lifelong friend, gave a moving eulogy. In the crowd: Venerable PSOne up front, leaning on his cane, pale and wan, feeling every day of his 14 years of age and wondering how it has come to pass that he is burying the children of his friends. And behind him, the grand statesman NES, his gaming days long gone and his service limited to ceremonial functions such as these.

Even R.O.B., gaming’s great useless partner, like Andrew Ridgely or John Oates or Art Garfunkel, put aside his bitterness to come and pay his respects. Why, when I last heard of him, he was living in a Vermont cabin like J.D. Salinger, drinking heavily and refusing all requests for an interview. And in the back is the unmistakable PS3, dark and foreboding. Like World War I flying aces, there can still be honour and respect among blood enemies.

Then at the end, 360’s biological dad Xbox showed up, only deepening the regret and sadness felt by everyone. Cast aside and virtually estranged for the better part of two years, reduced to living in basements on the kindness of others, Xbox still loves his son unconditionally, forgiving all of his design flaws.

In pace requiescat, Xbox 360. “The candle that burns twice as bright — or hot — burns only half as long.”

The Funeral for my Xbox 360 [tiggerboy's Blog, Gamespot UK]

Games as Simulators Jack Thompson Hasn’t Even Thought Of Yet

Owen Good — Sun, 26 Oct 2008 00:00:00 +0000

Running with the “[game] is nothing more than a [really bad act]-simulator for kids,” SomethingAwful’s Forum Goons came up with about 21 real-world skill simulator concepts, as an alternative to shootin’, murderin’ and killin’. The entries range from the mundane to the raunchy (as most things do on SA). See! Dr. Mario and the DS can teach you how to beat the piss man and get a high paying job that involves the safety of others! (Or, just take echinacea and goldenseal and drink water like hell the weekend before). Two others on the jump, loads more at the link.

Video Game Skills [SomethingAwful]

A Most Bold Approach to Oregon Trail

Owen Good — Sun, 24 Aug 2008 01:00:00 +0000

I usually try to wrap up Saturdays with some laughs so, here’s this and two other funny pics I found through the week. On their own, maybe not worth a post but together, hey, it’s the weekend, so here’s a funnies page for you to spread on the living room floor.

Remember, if you’re a Madden gamer and want in on the KFC (Kotaku Football Conference), that announcement will be at 1 pm MDT (3 pm Eastern, noon Pacific)

This one apparently came off of Facebook. I friended the guy who created/posted it, I’ll let you know if anything comes of that. Also, someone run out and register www.muahahahahahahahahaha.com.

And proof again there is nothing new under the sun.

[Oregon Trail pic]
[Zelda pic]
[Princess Peach pic at Motivated Photos]

Nearly 150 Screenshots of Fallout 3 Leaked

Owen Good — Sun, 17 Aug 2008 16:00:00 +0000

Although I probably should leave anything in Japanese to Bash, pictures speak any language, and there are nearly 150 of them of Fallout 3 that have hit the Internet following the Zenimax Asia expo (Zenimax owns Fallout developer Bethesda.) Tipster Brother None, the forum admin over at No Mutants Allowed, writes: “Apparently the people viewing Fallout 3 in the ZeniMax Asia showing in Taiwan did not take their NDAs very seriously”. Apparently so. We have a gallery of 28 screenies on the jump, with a link to the entire set.

Fallout 3 Screenshots [CNG4U and Catchplay, via No Mutants Allowed]

Super Mario Mural: And … Mario’s Already Missed a Coin

Owen Good — Sat, 12 Jul 2008 23:00:00 +0000

Am I the only one looking at this with an OCD urge to rip back the controller and go hit the first coinbox? Come on, this is World 1-1. And it’s painted on a concrete wall, although Mr. Juandrful over at Kezins doesn’t say exactly where.

I wanted it to be a self-esteem project painted by a group of at-risk Goombas, but no, it’s the handiwork of an artist who goes by BPAK. It’s a “Quikrete infused” mural that took three weeks to complete.

Super Mario Outdoor Wall o’ Art [Kezins.com]

Is That a 360 Devkit on Kojima’s Desk?

Owen Good — Sun, 29 Jun 2008 17:00:00 +0000

Alert reader Jonny L. was watching the bonus features disc that came with Metal Gear Solid 4, thought he spied something funny, backed up a few frames, and grabbed the above: Why, that looks like an Xbox 360 devkit on someone’s desk at Kojima Productions!

Now what on Earth would he need that for? Kojima Productions has produced all of about zero titles for the 360; he’s flatly said MGS4 isn’t meant for that platform, and MGS4 openly disparages (spoiler, kinda) the HD-DVD format in a codec call.

Maybe he was just using it for “research”. That’s the excuse I give when the credit card company asks me to validate certain, uh, Interwebs purchases.

Jonny says the above frame came from the segment “Hideo Kojima’s Gene” in the bonus features disc, for those who have it and want to watch. The large size version, without graffiti, is after the jump, if you want to get down and sleuth this and argue the details of the frame.

Kojima Makes Fun of Xbox 360’s DVD Format in MGS4 [Scrawl]

Guitar Hero: Bounty Hunter

Owen Good — Sat, 28 Jun 2008 18:00:00 +0000

So faithful reader TheGameCritic was at the WizardWorld Chicago, which he describes as a “comic/pop culture convention of sorts.” He saw Boba Fett walking around, he saw some kids playing Guitar Hero, he got an idea and he made it happen.

And suddenly, it hits me. LucasArts. A rhythm game. The Max Rebo Band, with that crazy circular keyboard, the astroclarinet and the mike. Three more utterly useless and incompatible peripherals, plus SingStar in Huttese. It’s like printing money. They’ve totally got the developer bandwidth for it, right?

** Holy shit, did you read that Wiki article? The bandmembers are called “jizz-wailers”? Only a clueless virgin … wait, that rather describes a fanfic writer, doesn’t it. That might be the worst spaceified fake term since Babylon 5 and “spoo“.