November 2012
92 posts
The Faces of Grand Theft Auto Through The Years
Twelve years will have passed between the release of Grand Theft Auto III in 2001 and Grand Theft Auto V in 2013. Those 12 years have seen ten releases of major GTA games and DLC, each putting its own spin on the series’ classic vector art look.
The 71 official images pulled from Rockstar’s website cover GTA3, Vice City, San Andreas, Liberty City Stories, Vice City Stories, GTA4,...
Assassin's Creed? Halo? Screw'em, I'm Playing...
by Jason Schreier
“Oh no!” you are almost certainly thinking. “Gawker Media is underwater, desperately clinging to Tumblr like that guy in that movie where the cruise ship sank. But it is Friday! It’s 3pm Kotaku Time! What will I do without my favorite weekly JRPG/sex-advice column Random Encounters?”
You are too sweet. But don’t worry! I am still here,...
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Somehow, the New Army of Two Game Seems More...
Nowadays, it seems like all sorts of beefed-up characters in shooter games can sling taunts and emotes. But back in 2008, Army of Two won a crucial bros’-rights battle when the two leads—whose names, c’mon, no one even remembers—were able to express their bro-love for each other in a series of team-based mechanics. With elements like drawing fire from hostiles to give the...
Hurricane Sandy's Effects on the Gaming Scene:...
Hurricane Sandy didn’t have an effect on the video game scene the way it would have if it had hit in a city like Montreal or San Francisco, where many of the most popular video games are made. But New York City and the surrounding region does have a vibrant indie gaming scene, millions of passionate gamers, a lot of game shops, the headquarters of the site you’re currently reading...
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This Mass Effect Trilogy Trailer Combines All the...
The Mass Effect Trilogy—which bundles BioWare’s acclaimed sometimes controversial sci-fi series all in one place—comes out next week. (PS3 owners will be able to download the first game in December.) In case you need a refresher for Commander Shepard’s saga, watch the clip above.
-Evan Narcisse
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Take a Look at MIT's Slightly Trippy--and Oddly...
The last thing I was expecting from a game built on relativistic physics principles was a gentle allegory about the afterlife. But that’s exactly how A Slower Speed of Light starts off. The little protagonist in this title from the MIT Game Lab actually dies right at the start of the game and has to pick up objects that help him along to becoming light itself.
The PC/Mac prototype offers...
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The iPad Mini is out today! I wouldn’t drop it if I were you. [Android Authority]
- Mike Fahey
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There Are 489 People Playing Competitive Halo 4...
There are 495 people playing Halo 4’s multiplayer, if you count the cooperate Spartan Ops mode. That’s over three times more than the amount of people that were playing just yesterday, and the game still has four more days before its November 6 release.
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Maybe more people are logging on as the weekend nears? Power slowly coming back up in the North East after Sandy? People...
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Watch Michael Moore's Audition Tape To Direct Star...
If this was a real audition tape for Michael Moore to direct the recently announced resurgence of the Star Wars films, I imagine it’d go pretty much exactly like this. But it’s not real. It’s a Conan skit.
- Tina Amini
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Building on the free iOS App, the $.99 version of the official Wreck-It Ralph mobile game features three movie-themed games in one—Fix-It Felix Jr., Hero’s Duty and Candy Climber. It’s available on iTunes today, with an Android version coming soon.
- Mike Fahey
There is Now a Kickstarter to Help Fund the Making... →
Development of the game is being led by the superb PC gaming critic/reporter Jim Rossignol of Rock Paper Shotgun. The game looks cool and will hopefully be reviewed someday by some of the world’s finest PC game developers.
Here's The Difference The Day One Patch Made to...
Assassin’s Creed III is a very good game but also a fairly buggy game. And like many modern video games before it, the console versions were patched before they were even officially released.
This means that the version of ACIII that you might have on disc isn’t really what you should be playing. The game’s creators actually mean for you to be playing that version plus what...
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This Week's iPad Charts: Spider -- He is Our Hero
In what is hopefully the last graphic installment of our weekly mobile charts, the classic (if a platform that’s only a few years old can have a classic) Spider: The Secret of Bryce Manor skitters to the top of the free charts, and a pair of big budget console game tie-ins make paid appearances.
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Need for Speed and Borderlands in the iPad game charts. How surreal. Plants Vs....
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Angry Birds Star Wars' Only Hope? Obi-Wing...
The crossover between an incredibly successful film franchise and the near-ubiquitous mobile game continues apace, with the latest character reveal of Bad Piggy and Angry Birds versions of Darth Vader and Obi-Wan Kenobi. A slice of Angry Birds Star Wars gameplay is shown, but other than pigs in Stormtrooper attire nothing looks terribly like Star Wars as far as gameplay mechanics go. Guess...
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Hey, Want to Help Make a AAA Video Game? Just...
Ubisoft hasn’t mentioned anything about their show-stealing, hacker stealth game Watch Dogs for a while. That’s presumably because they’re off making it. And they need more people to help craft the initial entry of what’s presumably a new franchise. Based on the comments in the video above, the team working on Watch Dogs seems to be at least as large as on an mainline...
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Valkyria Chronicles: Where Histories Diverge
Historical fiction is one of those concepts that gaming handles best. Whether it’s Einstein building a time machine to kill Hitler or assassins battling Templars in the Renaissance, gaming alone among popular media allows people to interact with a world both familiar yet radically different from our own. Valkyria Chronicles is one of the best examples of historical fiction in gaming–and like...
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Bless Me, Father, For I Freakin' Love Nun Attack
Let me break it down for you: 12 years of Catholic school. Powder-blue communion suit. Did the Stations of the Cross ON MY KNEES for multiple years. Childhood best friend was an altar boy. (He’s fine. Nothing ever happened. Thanks for asking.) I say all this to establish that I know all about nuns. Nuns have paddled me. Nuns aren’t allowed to be cool. This means that new mobile game...
Feast Your Eyes on These New Dynasty Warriors... →
The game is a PS3 exclusive and will be out next year.
It's Kinda Like a Power Glove for Couch Potatoes
Japanese peripheral maker Thanko is releasing a wireless gesture controlled mouse that you can strap to your hand and, along with Thanko’s Android-enabled TV converters, allow you to sit on you sofa and flick your finger around.
The wireless gesture mouse can also be used with Windows and Mac OS. Watch it in action. Lazy action. [[MORE]]
未来感覚溢れるジェスチャー操作マウス！ [Thanko]
- Brian Ashcraft
How to Play Valkyria Chronicles 3 Even if You...
In the year-and-a-half since the Japanese release of Valkyria Chronicles 3, it’s become painfully apparent that it will not be leaving Japanese shores–at least in the foreseeable future. If you are one of the many fans of the series dying to play the newest Valkyria Chronicles, fear not! You are not alone. Thanks to the efforts of many fans, all the information you need to play the Japanese...
WSJ: Microsoft Is Testing Its Own Smartphone →
Report: Teen Commits Suicide After Seeing His...
Seeing an anime character die allegedly inspired a 14 year-old Russian boy to jump one hundred feet to his death, says a report. [[MORE]] According to Mail Online, Leonid Hmelev committed suicide after seeing his favorite character, Naruto character Itachi Uchiha, die in anime Naruto: Shippuden. The character’s death reportedly saddened the boy. It’s been known since 2008 that the...
Valkyria Chronicles 3 is The Best Game Of the...
From the moment I laid eyes on the first Valkyria Chronicles’ trailer, I knew it would be a game I would love–for the art style, if nothing else. As it turned out, the graphics, while as beautiful as I had expected, were only one part of a great game. The plot was excellent, the setting was a perfect example of a historical fiction, and the gameplay seamlessly merged tactical roleplaying...
Yikes! Hair Snakes!!
Japanese popstar Kyary Pamyu Pamyu really got into the Halloween spirit this year, with an array of festive hairstyles, including Medusa and the “Legendary God Hand Hair”.
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メデューサ [@pamyurin]
みよ！ [@pamyurin]
夜の仮装はこれ！ [@pamyurin]
- Brian Ashcraft
This New Bravely Default Sure Has Some Crappy Art
It really, really does. Shame because so much of the art for the 3DS game is stunning. This newly announced Bravely Default isn’t for the 3DS, however. It’s a free-to-play browser game called Bravely Default: Praying Brage. [[MORE]] The game’s main illustrator is Square Enix’s Akihiro Yoshida, who worked on Bravely Default. Yoshida’s work is fantastic. However, there...
This Is The Next PixelJunk. It's a PC Game.
Kyoto based Q-Games is working on its new title. The game, currently codenamed PixelJunk 1-6, is being made with the PC specifically in mind. Above is a first look. [[MORE]] The 1-6 codename references the game’s place in the PixelJunk series: it will be the sixth PixelJunk game. While developing the game, Q Games is also running a developer blog, which should be of interest to PixelJunk...
61 of the Best Indie Games Out There, All in the...
There are more indie games out there than you could ever hope to count. For every one you hear about on Steam, or on here, there are thousands upon thousands being made in bedrooms, studios and classrooms around the world.
So knowing where to start on digging into some quality titles can be a bit daunting.
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Let PixelProspector’s excellent “Super Indie Megamix” be...
Now THIS is the Halo 4 Unboxing You've Been... →
Remember: it’s worth more if it’s signed.
You'd Be Forgiven For Thinking This Was a Valve...
When Valve released the Source Filmmaker code earlier this year, it was accomplishing two things.
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1) Put an amazingly flexible set of tools in the hands of amateur filmmakers, who could go on to produce some amazingly professional results.
2) The most professional of those videos could serve as the very best kind of free advertising any company could hope for.
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A Strategy Game About Digging Yourself Off an...
We looked at Maia a few months back here on Kotaku, but in this new clip put together for the game’s Kickstarter campaign, we get to see a whole lot more of it.
It’s a game about, at its most basic level, managing a space colony/station. Only with all kinds of delicious tactical stuff added to the mix, as you try and harvest the surrounding area in order to get your colonists off a...
This Kid's First Words Better Be "Goon Dah"
I know, Halloween was so last month, but this was too damn adorable (and well-made) to pass up on.
Cosplay of the Day [TDW]
Four Minutes of Halo 4's Multiplayer Madness
I’m so busy with the game’s singleplayer campaign I haven’t even touched Halo 4’s multiplayer yet. Which is a shame, because I’m sure it’s a blast turning those terrific new guns (and most of them are super satisfying) on actual humans.
Halo 4 - First Ever Montage: “In with the New” [Bravo]
- Luke Plunkett
The Wolfenstein Movie is Back From the Dead
Roger Avary has been working on a Wolfenstein (id’s shooter series, not its predecessor) movie for over five years now, but in the meantime he’s been, um, a little busy.
So fans of the series, or of Avary’s work, should know that as of this week the project is back on the front foot, with Panorama announcing today that the movie, which the Academy Award-winner will both write...
Watch
A culture clash theme anchors a couple of viral cosplay videos commissioned by Ubisoft Netherlands, showing Connor Kenway coming to grips with the new world. The first is above, here’s the second. There’s a choose-your-own-adventure outcome at the end, each outcome neither much surprising nor terribly violent. The costume and settings still form a nice setup and visual punchline....
Here, Two Enormous GTA V Posters
Here, for your wallpaper/viewing pleasure, are two super-sized pieces of Grand Theft Auto V artwork.
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They were posted on Game Informer earlier today, and at a resolution of 1920x2432 each, you’re free to pick over them and find as many clues as you like.
Like, oh, the fact that arrested lady is wearing a Love Fist shirt.
(open the images in a new tab to see them at full size).
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It's Hitman On Hitman In This Hitman Short Film
This Hitman short film by David ‘dwyz’ Wayman has got a lot of Hitman in it. [[MORE]]
It starts with someone playing Hitman! And then, it has a lot of hits, man. It’s neat, and twisty, and bloody. Check it out.
(Via Joystiq)
-Kirk Hamilton
Beat Halo 4 and Take $25 Off Your American Express...
Finishing Halo 4 will give you cash back on your credit card. And it’s not like it’s some $1.52 bullshit you get back from Discover either, it’s $25 off (or £25 in the UK) your American Express bill, provided you link the thing through a promo site.
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Linking your card and collecting the “Wake Up, John,” achievement—granted when you finish the...
There's a New Pink 3DS
Nintendo quietly revealed a new 3DS XL colour scheme today, with online retailer Gilt getting the exclusive on a pink/white unit that includes a copy of Professor Layton and the Miracle Mask.
-Luke Plunkett
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The Ten-Year Evolution of Halo's Master Chief
It’s been over ten years since the first Halo game was released, and even longer since we first laid eyes on the Master Chief. A lot has changed since then.
Like, ten years of combat has literally sucked all the colour out of him.
More seriously, I’m slowly coming around to appreciate his armour in Halo 4. When you see it in action, the decrease in plating makes it seem more...
Diablo III's Auction House Taken Down for...
Blizzard just said that because of “issues affecting auction processing and payment delivery,” Diablo III’s auction house has been taken down “for urgent maintenance,” and it’ll be out of action for at least 5 hours, to 12:30 a.m. EDT on Nov. 2.
Last night, Blizzard’s authentication service encountered problems with players connecting to Battle.net across...
Just in Case You Thought Doom Needed to be Even...
The original Doom was a pretty violent game, lots of blood and guts flying around, but boy, it looks like a Disney movie compared to BRUTAL DOOM.
A neat mod first released earlier in the year, it ramps up the gore, it beefs up the weapons and is, in short, BRUTAL.
Don’t watch if there are little ones around. You can grab the mod here.
Brutal Doom [ModDB, via PC Gamer]
- Luke Plunkett
Hurricane Sandy Delays Second GTA V Trailer
From the newest edition of the Rockstar Newswire, the official online newsletter for the makers of Grand Theft Auto: “We are working on a second trailer - unfortunately Hurricane Sandy has derailed our plans somewhat but we will have something to show soon. Its hard to be precise as we have no power whatsoever in our New York office. We hope everyone else in affected areas is doing...
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"Every Day's Great At Your Junes"
This has been Kotaku Melodic. Thanks for reading!
- Kirk Hamilton
Your Favorite Video Game Characters Review Their...
by Kirk Hamilton
So many games have other, smaller games within them that sometimes it feels like video game characters spend as much time playing games as we do.
In the spirit of Kotaku’s made-to-order box quotes, we thought we’d ask some of our favorite video game characters what they think of the games they play.[[MORE]]
“Zork… that’s a tough one. Fun factor is a 5...
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Get A Load Of This Amazing Real-Life Assassin's...
Just when you think no one could really move through the forest as gracefully as Connor from Assassin’s Creed III, someone does. Free-runner Ronnie Shalvis, specifically.
You can find more on Shalvis at his Facebook page, and see a behind the scenes video here.
Man, this really makes me wish Jesper Kyd had done music for Assassin’s Creed III.
- Kirk Hamilton
