Thanks, Witz!

We've got soft spots all over for Crysis vids that show the game's physics engine being messed around with. Normally, they just overwhelm you with numbers, but this one's a little more creative. It's every thing you can do with water. Water guns, water fights, water destroying houses, the North Korean synchronized swim team, the lot.
[via Rock, Paper, Shotgun]

The last moments of Halo 3 were really pretty exciting. Fast driving, over-orchestrated theme music, unavoidable deaths—sure it was a bit Halo Kart, but it was an exciting conclusion all the same. But all those polygons pale in comparison to the still LEGO version. (Hit the jump and the picture goes all mega enlarged for you viewing pleasure.) I mean, it's LEGO. Sorry Bungie. It's like a geek trump card on par with light sabers and pictures of halfway attractive women showing cleavage on the internet.

Photo [Flickr via Xbox360Fanboy]

With the Game Developers Conference just a week away, we're expecting a few megaton bombs to drop, most likely in the form of big shooter announcements and hands-on time with games previously kept away from middling press types. Amid hints from Microsoft that it has one or two reveals still up its corporate sleeve has come chatter that Resident Evil 5 may become an Xbox 360 exclusive. The source? A GameStop listing that shows the title for the 360, but not for its other announced platform, the PlayStation 3. Not much to go on, considering the game has been announced as a multi-platform title months ago, but not out of the realm of possibility.

Curious, we asked Capcom Senior Director of Communications Chris Kramer about the speculation, who responded "Resident Evil 5 is coming for PS3 and 360."

Card Sagas Wars, a super-deformed fighting game based on the MUGEN engine, has been around for a while now. But the latest trailer, well, it's more epic, more fanboy amping then ever. If you've ever wanted to see spritely versions of Master Chief, Ivy from Soul Calibur and KOS-MOS take on Link, Samus, Chun-Li and Donkey Kong, this fanmade game might just be your cup of tea. However, if you're in the legal departments of, say, Nintendo, Capcom, Namco or Microsoft, you'll probably be bored to tears. Certainly not interested in sending a cease and desist letter. Who would wanna do that?

Card Sagas Wars Official Site

Tucked away in a secluded bungalow in West Hollywood's Château Marmont, a hotel as famous for those who stay there as it is infamous for those who have died there, a world reimagined comes into focus.

Standing hands akimbo, a nonplussed expression planted firmly on his almost cel-shaded face, Niko Bellic could easily be a touched-up still. But it's no bullshot. The world around Bellic is bustling with activity: Bits of trash float on a digital drift of wind, people walk by, cars cruise in and out of the shot, an almost familiar skyline fills the hazy background. A palette of city sounds laid over this living diorama completes the effect.

"We decided we wanted to go back to the basics and reimagine the world," Jeronimo Barrera, Rockstar Games Vice President of Product Development, says. "The results have been incredible."

Grand Theft Auto IV is, its creators tell me, the biggest leap forward in experiential sandbox gaming to ever come to the franchise, larger even than the one that brought the once 2D top-down series into the third dimension.

"In many ways it's a bigger leap going from San Andreas to GTA IV than it was going from 2D to 3D," Barrera says.

When Activision shipped Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock for Wii sans promised Dolby Pro Logic surround sound, audiophiles were pissed. Rightly so, we thought. The ensuing replacement plan, which would provide affected Wii owners saddled with mono sound with a replacement disc, was welcome, but was soon followed by the bitter taste of bad customer service.

Now that those seeking a remastered copy of Guitar Hero III are getting their fulfillment forms, they probably find themselves thrice screwed. Seems Activision will take a good three to four weeks to supply Wii owners with a working-as-promised copy and only after they've sent in their current discs. No doubt those in possession of the Wii version of the game will enjoy staring at their empty DVD cases for a good month.

Looks like another case of EA and MTV getting something right with Rock Band, with Activision leaving customers high and dry. Thanks for the pics, Mike.

Wow Yahtzee, you've done the impossible. You have a television program running previews of a freaking 3-minute review. Yeah, did you hear? X-Play will be running a snippet of your upcoming Zero Punctuations every Tuesday night. And including the clip's introduction, run time, and accompanying in-show bumpers, we wouldn't be surprised if this Tuesday teaser took just as long as your actual Wednesday review.

It's ludicrous media piggybacking, but we don't blame you...pending that you sleep on a big pile of greenbacks after a hard day's work.

What we know about Nintendo's Shigeru Miyamoto: He plays the banjo, has a pet dog, likes gardening. Those are the typical insights we usually get about the Super Mario Bros.

What we know about pachinko: It's a form of gambling that's just barely legal in Japan. Instead of winning cash, players win metal balls. (If players won cash, pachinko would actually be gambling.) The players then "sell" these metal balls to a separate shop typically next to the pachinko parlor. Thus, players can actually "win" money in a round about, yet legal way. Do realize that while those noisy pachinko parlors aren't exactly the most reputable places, a cross section of society does spin those metal balls.

In an interview with Nintendo honcho Satoru Iwata, Shigeru Miyamoto divulges:

Finally, a decent look at the returning original eight from Street Fighter II. We saw Famitsu's pics the other day, but now we have crystal clear shots of the latest from Street Fighter IV, in glorious 720p resolution. The details look fantastic—certainly liking what we're seeing here and here—but we're wondering exactly what Chun-Li seems to have stashed away in those bloomers. Is it Poison in disguise?

The arcade game now appears to have a Summer 2008 date attached to it. That's much more comforting than the TBA we've heard up until now.

Thanks, rhoddi!

Resistance: Fall of Man deeply upset some members of the Church of England after development studio Insomniac digitized Manchester Church for a little man vs. mutant/alien warfare. So with the studio's upcoming sequel, will Insomniac avoid religious locations? CEO Ted Price fills us in.

We've actually made it a big focus to include more churches and now synagogues and mosques in Resistance 2.

Yesterday we mentioned rumors of a potential Microsoft Japan announcement coming next week, but on Larry "Major Nelson" Hryb's Twitter account, he teases "a special" show coming mid-week that, we'd expect, would feature some fun Microsoft announcement or another. So it looks like either one or two announcements are on the horizon. Any gambling types sitting in the audience who'd care to place some wagers*?

*Kotaku does not condone illegal gambling. Luckily we're writing this post from a boat amidst hands of blackjack.

Major Nelson [Twitter] Thanks Master Devwi!

Figurine maker Kotobukiya has done a fine job with Master Chief. Its badass Master Chief from last summer was pretty great as were its blue and red Spartans. And it's latest Master Chief? Ditto on pretty great. The Halo 3 statue features changeable hands and weapons. It lists for around US $90 and goes on sale this June. And the one is, well, pretty great, too.

Thrilling press release after the jump:

Odds are many of you already own one or more Final Fantasy replica weapons - and that frightens me - but at least they are generally of the more shoddy, unlicensed sword replicas you were likely to find on the cheap via eBay or Bob's Discount Cutlery Emporium. Now Square Enix is taking steps to get those sharp, pointy objects out of the hands of fans, having filed a federal lawsuit in the Central District of California against those whole would infringe upon their intellectual property. At least four manufacturers are named in the suit, which came about after the US Department of Homeland Security and Customs and Border Patrol seized a crate of counterfeit swords designed in the style of famous Final Fantasy weapons. Square Enix investigated, and while many resellers ceased their rampant reselling, the companies targeted by this lawsuit refused to cooperate, calling down spiky-haired justice upon them.

Spare a thought for the videogame bad guy. Sure, he's a badass on-screen, but what happens when the final boss grows tired of all the killing and fancies a career change? Something more relaxing, something more befitting someone of his gentle nature, something more rewarding? This is what happens.
Mauvais Rôle: a videogame villain reinvents himself [Boing-Boing]

The PSP Slim is alright, but it was a redesign that fell far short from standards we've seen from Nintendo. This PSP concept takes something I normally detest, sliders, and makes it practical. Hiding the buttons under the screen offers more visual real estate per pocket-filling inch. And if such a screen could tilt even 10 degrees for glare and support touch controls for a little on-screen QWERTY functionality, I'd throw by DS to the ground and stomp it with all my might. But alas, it's not a Sony design. Here's the open shot: