Kotaku

What's worse than cheating? Cheaters. Earlier this week, we publicly shamed David L. for posting all our contest answers on some forum. We worked hard on those questions and had to scramble to make the contest once again fair — which we have done. We know we're not perfect. We make mistakes (check our grammar). David L. isn't perfect either, and he's been brave enough to send me this:

Many of you have probably already watched South Park's Guitar Hero episode that aired last night, but we enjoyed this very telling clip that compares playing real guitar to playing the hyperbolic air guitar that we know better as the GH controller. Because we understand where those kids are coming from. Back in our band days, we'd have loved some positive reinforcement for nailing our trombone solo. Alas, the real world is not garnished with the crack that is a high score.

Hit the jump for an entry from South Park's production blog about the experience of making the episode.

Say what you will about BioWare's PG-friendly policy on naughty bits, at least they're being consistent. If girl-on-alien-girl sex wasn't going to show much, then gyrating alien stripper girls won't either. Remember, lads, before you get too disappointed: suggestive can be sexy too.

Since upgrading to firmware 2.0 on our PlayStation 3s, we've been enjoying swapping themes in and out. Earlier this morning, it was "Classy Pink." After having our coffee, we felt a bit more "Pixels." After an exhausting sprint to the post office, we relaxed with a bit of "Nature." Look, the Uncharted: Drake's Fortune demo takes a long time to download, so we had to keep ourselves occupied. Thankfully, we're never going to be at a loss for themes, as Sony has released a theme editor for the PlayStation 3 that will let you customize your wallpaper and XMB.

All it takes is a simple download, a computer that runs Windows, the ability to edit PNG files and a bit of patience as you wade through the read me file. What's that you say? Have a contest to see who can create the best Kotaku theme? What a fantastic idea! I'll get right on that. In the meantime, have fun!

PlayStation 3 Theme Editor [.zip]

Those looking forward to Mass Effect for it's real-time dialogue mechanic, you can get a real good look at it throughout this trailer. Those looking forward to hot girl-on-girl-alien action, well you might want to skip to about the 1:03 mark. Just don't expect flailing blue nipples - BioWare are taking the PG-friendly route when it comes to interstellar boots-knockin.

What a difference a week can make. While sales of the Wii were bumped unimpressively by about 10,000 from last week on the release of Super Mario Galaxy in Japan, it's Ace Combat 6 that had the impact of a sonic boom on hardware. Last week's Xbox 360 sales were fairly high (in the upper 3,000s) but this week, sales of Microsoft's gaijin console are in the stratosphere. Relatively, that is. Ace Combat 6's debut, alongside a handful of new budget priced games, pushed Xbox 360 sales past the PlayStation 3's, selling 17,673 consoles from October 29 to November 4. That's a 475% increase! It looks like Microsoft Japan may have a winner.

• Nintendo DS Lite - 78,552
• PSP - 59,714
• Wii - 37,617
• Xbox 360 - 17,673
• PlayStation 3 - 17,434
• PlayStation 2 - 10,209
• Game Boy Advance SP - 206

Media Create Weekly Sales

Not content with the PSN release for the now? Know, then, the PSN releases for the future. SCEA have announced a list of titles and updates due for release between now and 2008's kick-off. There'll be DLC for Resistance, MotorStorm and Folklore, along with the following downloadable titles:

• Aquatopia
• Go! Sports Skydiving
• High Velocity Bowling
• Mesmerize 1
• Operation Creature Feature
• Pain
• PixelJunk Monsters
• Snakeball
• Toy Home
• Trials of Topoq

No dates were given for when to expect these, but since it's already November, any claims about an agonising wait are just you being overly dramatic.
Sony Announces Holiday PSN Releases [1UP]

Ahoy! We're giving away a BlackSite: Area 51 gaming PC from Alienware. The winner will also get an Area 51 t-shirt, an "eyeblack" patch and a copy of Midway's Stranglehold PC. The computer is a $3,000 dollar machine, making this one of the most expensive things we've given away, so any bitching about the TOTALLY FREE AND AMAZING PRIZE will be met with the blunt end of the Ban Hammer.

The contest is based on Crecente's sadistic treasure hunts. Long-time readers will know what we're talking about. Basically, we give you a clue about a post we've done, and then y'all must go find it. If you find the correct post, there will be another clue, which you'll need to track down. And so on. This contest will have ten questions, or "Missions" as I call them. These missions are unnumbered, but if you are doing the contest correctly, they show flow into the next question, etc.

Anyone who posts answers on Kotaku or anywhere on the internet will be banned and made an example of. Here's your first mission:

While Crecente wasn't able to see out of his Halo 3 helmet, this guy was -- and added an awesome visor. Thumbs up all around. Find him!

Send your answers, your address and ten correct links to kotakucontestATgmailDOTcom. Specs and some very important info after the jump.

Does that headline make absolutely no sense to you? Then watch the video...but it might not help. These 7-foot Tesla coils shoot sparks up to 12 feet in length. The neat part is that the music you hear is actually not coming from external speakers, but the Tesla coils themselves as they interpret (via lightning bolt action) a midi signal fed from a laptop. My friends, this is the stuff the Internet is all about.

Tesla coil super mario duet [via Gizmodo]

We want to be seen as different from the other developers that publish with Microsoft. As far as we believe it, we make better games and they are better quality in user experience across the board.

Nerd love is a beautiful, often creative thing. Take for example Xbox Live user Moviesign's unique marriage proposal to longtime girlfriend and fellow gamer Furtive Penguin. He built a custom map in the Halo 3 map editor Forge to ask his Spartan partner if she'd like to spend the rest of her natural life with him. After probably thinking "What's 'Arry E' mean?" she agreed to the idea of wedded bliss with Moviesign. Makes the cockles burn, doesn't it?

The only tarnish on this otherwise lovely story is the reminder that getting down on one-knee to propose is just one corpse away from a teabagging proposal. Um... congratulations!

A Halo 3 Marriage Proposal [Xbox.com]

The latest issue of the Official Xbox Magazine features not only a gushing review of Harmonix and MTV Games' Rock Band, it also provides zipper tearing details on the game's upcoming downloadable content. We've known for some time that tracks from The Who, The Grateful Dead, and Nirvana would feature prominently in the game's post release DLC, but news from the latest Official Xbox Magazine makes us weep with joy.

The current issue reveals master tracks from The Police (Roxanne, Synchronicity II, Can't Stand Losing You), Queens of the Stone Age (3s and 7s, Sick Sick Sick, Little Sister) and Metallica (titles to be announced) can be added to the already stellar line-up. But that's not all. Tracks from Black Sabbath and David Bowie, a good portion of which are "as made famous by" will also be available as add-ons. And yes, there's even more.

Take-Two Interactive just issued a release featuring details on the preliminary settlement of the consumer class action lawsuit filed against it and Rockstar Games over the "sexually explicit" content in Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas. That content, unlockable via the "Hot Coffee" mod, caused the game to be re-rated by the ESRB, pulled from store shelves, and acted as the grounds for a suit filed in July of 2005 claiming violation of consumer protection laws.

The lawsuit against Take-Two is still pending, but should the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York agree to the settlement, claims against the company will be dismissed "without any admission of liability or wrongdoing by Take-Two or Rockstar."

The publisher says that it will pay out between $1.025 million and $2.75 million in settlement benefits, which range from an edited copy of GTA: San Andreas to a cash payment up to $35 for those who can provide proof of purchase of the game from before July 20, 2005. There are, of course, stipulations to the proposed settlement, the details of which are in the full press release below.

If you're in the PAL or Asian territories, you may have discovered that your 1.2 GB download of the brand new Uncharted: Drake's Fortune demo won't @!#?@!ing play on your PlayStation 3. It's not a bug, despite it's somewhat awkward behavior. It's intentional. Yes, the Uncharted demo is sadly region specific and won't play on anything but a North American PS3. It's the kind of slap in the face that hurts so much worse after a 1200 MB wait in line.

We contacted Sony Computer Entertainment America who confirmed that the US version "does not allow for cross-region play" and that "the Japanese and PAL demo will both be released soon, but we don't have confirmed release dates." Unfortunately, the delay in the non-North American enjoyment of the Naughty Dog adventure can simply be chalked up to Uncharted's release date in its respective territories. Cold comfort, I know.

UPDATE: The official PlayStation.blog has a comment from Uncharted producer Sam Thompson who writes that "we have shared your frustration with the Naughty Dog team and we are going to see what we can do. I will be back tomorrow with an update, but in the meantime I hope you can be patient and bear with us." He adds that "I hope to have good news for you soon."

Some multiplatform console releases are fine. No problems! Others, like Pro Evo 2008 on PS3, are so shoddy on one system they may drive you to kill your fellow man. With Call of Duty 4 now upon us, and upon us on both 360 and PS3, which category does it fall into? The "no problems" one? Or the "kill a man" one? Good news is that looks nigh-on-identical to us. And we squinted hard.

Please indulge us as we go all Perez Hilton for a brief moment! On Tuesday night Ubisoft, Maxim and PS3 hosted a party at the LA Nightclub Opera for the launch of Assassin's Creed. The game's star Kristen Bell was there, as were other Heroes cast members Greg Grunberg (the voice of Timeshift and Condemned), and Masi Oka. My favorite moment of the party: Seeing Masi passionately talk to an Ubisoft executive for 20 minutes about his vision for the Heroes videogame. Hey, the guy's smart: He used to work at Industrial Light + Magic before he started bending space and time.

While most of us have enjoyed teabagging Hitler throughout the various incarnations of FPSs for some time now, it's refreshing to know that Call of Duty 4 has finally ditched WWII in favor of more "modern warfare." You know, bigger guns, less scrupulous causes and, of course, night vision goggles.

So hit the jump for our Frankenreview of COD4—the only review you'll ever need of the game before deciding, yes, it's a must-play and, no, you're never joining the Armed Forces.

Since complaining that video game review are broken, I've gotten a lot of questions along the lines of, "Well, what do you like then?" One weekly criticism I can't get enough of is Leigh Alexander's Aberrant Gamer. Like any good critic, Alexander explores all of those feelings we had while experiencing a game that we otherwise might not verbalize (or fully appreciate), combing through the content for themes, subtext and symbolism.

This week she takes on Portal. For anyone who hasn't finished it or Bioshock yet, there are spoilers ahead. But the comparison she makes between player choice in each game...just read it:

This week's PlayStation Store update comes a bit early in the day, bringing with it the promised demo for Uncharted: Drake's Fortune, a 1.2 GB download. It's joined by 2K Sports' College Hoops 2K8 which weighs in at 579 MB. On the downloadable content front, the pair of Guitar Hero III packs featuring The Foo Fighters and Velvet Revolver have arrived for PlayStation 3 owners, each at a price-matching $6.25. As mentioned earlier, the MotorStorm Devil's Weekend add-on is now ready for purchase at $5.99.

More free stuff has been uploaded with the release of Themes for the PS3. Sony has added the Pixels, Nature and Classy Pink themes to help spruce up your XMB. But wait, there's more.

We are very proud of the quality and reliability of PLAYSTATION 3 and are disappointed that such extremely sloppy journalism has resulted in this totally inaccurate story... Since launching the 40GB PS3, we have experienced a fantastic jump in sales and the failure rates have remained at the very low level that we not only strive for, but have been achieving since the launch of PS3.

Who said the cake was a lie? This user-created movie over on GameTrailers shows a real-life version of the Portal cake and it sure looks yummy. But is it tastier than the Companion Cube cake? It doesn't matter. Just watch the clip so you can hear Jonathan Coulton's great song from Portal yet again.