Gaming News Message Board older than one year ago
Sign-in to post
↕
Posted by
Giant Bomb Jun 22 2013 13:00 GMT
- Like?
Vinny and Patrick embrace poor translation and pixelated naughty bits for the sake of lighting burners.
↕
E3 is over! Kotaku Selects—where I round up the best stories we posted from the week—is back. Fahey was a trooper last week running home team while a bunch of us were running around LA like madmen. The chaos was a little overhwhelming, so Kotaku Selects missed a beat (as did Ask Kotaku—sorry guys!) but we're back on track. It's business as usual again, and we have a ton of great stories for you to catch up on this weekend in case you missed them.
The beaded Bulbasaur you see up top there is the handiwork of AgentDoppelnuller, found on Pxlbyte. There are a ton of other awesome Pokémon creations (and others!) so head over to AgentDoppelnuller's deviantART page for more. I just picked Bulbasaur because c'mon. Cuteness.
↕
I had my eye on a new Jeep Cherokee, but this ad for Origin Jumpworks' new 300i series has me sold, both on the ship and Chris Roberts' Star Citizen.
Okay fine, I was already sold on the game, and this is just proof that my money is on the right trajectory. Only one man takes his space combat games this deep, and that's why his Cloud Imperium Games has already raised more than $10 million to make this game a reality. And this... this is CG in-engine footage from an independent developer that looks better than most CG put out by big-name publishers. That's inspiring, and it's only just the beginning.
Update: Apparently I missed this bit from the Star Citizen 300i page — "In addition to the glossy ship brochure, we’re extremely pleased to present to you the very first promotional ship commercial —rendered entirely in-engine —aimed at showing you just what you’re putting in your hangar!" In-engine. Damn. Just... damn. Fixed the post. Damn.
Hit up the official website to look through the brochure and see how you can slip yourself into one of these babies when the game launches.
↕
Posted by
Giant Bomb Jun 22 2013 03:00 GMT
- Like?
We send Patrick out with some fond farewells, some FMV, and of course some dinosaurs.
↕
In the last exciting episode of The Week in Gaming Apps, the feature apologized for wanting to kill you. Afterwards it was so ashamed it hid for three weeks. Guess who gets to write-up 20 fresh mobile games?
Not The Week in Gaming apps, certainly. It's just an idea. A thought. A sometimes murderous thought.
No, it's all on me, and I'm fine with that. While we hit some of the more important beats over the past few weeks — XCOM on iOS, for instance — but with me running the entire site during E3 and all the damn vampires, I've had to dial it back a bit.
But it's back, and it's so big I have no time to finish this
What We Played Over The Past Three Weeks
CrazyRush Vol. 1 - Android, iOS - Free
This is a cute and colorful racing game that lets me be a pink bunny riding a carrot. That's pretty much all I need.
Despicable Me: Minion Rush - Android, iOS - Free
The cute little bastards from the movie now star in their own endless runner. Cute, if not too clever.
Fuz Rush - iOS - Free
Man, when you put three weeks together you start seeing trends. Here's another endless runner, though it's actually an endless platformer that will completely kick your ass. You probably aren't ready.
Gangstar Vegas - Android, iOS - $6.99
I reflexively typed "free" at first, but this is not one of those games. This is the latest installment of Gameloft's answer to Grand Theft Auto, and it's pretty damn spiffy.
Gloomy Hollow - iOS - $.99
This is a rootin', tootin' tale of the haunted Wild West. It's a Diablo-esque action RPG with a unique setting and a really great sense of style.
Monsters Invade: Oz - iOS - Free
It's Pokemon on speed, with a frantic hand-drawn style and a Wizard of Oz theme. Just as cool as I expected it would be.
Leaping Legend - iOS - Free
You know those games where you have to run up a corridor, jumping from side-to-side while dodging obstacles? This is that, with a cute pixelated style and tons to unlock.
Marbly - iOS - Free
The full name of this game is Alexey's Challenge: Marbly, the first in a series of intelligent puzzle games developed in conjunction with Tetris creator Alexey Pajitnov. Very challenging, and only a portion of that is due to the fact that the game's theme REPEATS OVER AND OVER AND OVER AND OVER.
Nitro - iOS - Free
How has there not been a mobile racer simply called Nitro before? Not the most advanced racer you'll find on iOS, but it's free and fun, which is good enough for me.
Pet Rescue Saga - Android, iOS - Free
From the creators of Candy Crush Saga comes another Facebook convert, with tons of block-matching puzzles that will keep you on the toilet long after the red ring has been imprinted on your ass.
Pinball Rocks - iOS - Free
An awfully clever way for Sony Music to showcase artists while distracting people with pinball. It's like being in the arcade and hearing that one song and forever associating it with the game you're playing, at least in theory. Band-dedicated versions can be purchased in-app. Interesting.
Pocket Mobsters - iOS - Free
It's like you're saying Pocket Monsters with a cold! This is a pixelated mob-themed RPG that's done quite well for itself in Japan. Recruit a mob, shake down the city — I'll be playing this a lot this weekend.
Puzzle Retreat - Android, iOS - Free
According to the iTunes and Google Play descriptions, we've already told you "'I guarantee you will love this game.' — Kotaku.com". I do not remember this, nor can I find it, but I'm going to stand by it.
The Redneckoning - Android, iOS - Free
An alien shooting gallery notable for having the best name ever created.
SlideTapPop - Android, iOS - Free
An incredibly clever little puzzler that takes traditional block droppers and makes them all crazy. There might be beer involved.
Spiral: Episode 1 - iOS - $4.99
This is a gorgeous Unreal Engine 3 action adventure game that I'd never heard of before it popped up on the App Store on Thursday. Very pretty, combat is a little wonky. Might want to hold for a full review early next week before making the plunge. Loving the style though.
Supreme Heroes - Android, iOS - Free
A mobile riff on the Superhero City Facebook game, this is a collectible card game with a difference. You create your hero, assign stats, and use cards to stack abilities and equipment. It's got a very healthy social component, regular PVP events — it's quite excellent, and I might only be saying that to justify playing it every day since it came out.
Treasure Tower Sprint - Android, iOS - $.99
I was expecting an endless runner, wound up with a rather cool isometric collecting puzzle, a little bit Crystal Castles, perhaps.
Icebreaker: A Viking Voyage - iPhone, iPad - $.99, $2.99
Nitrome's award-winning Flash game is now out for iOS, and slicing off blocks of ice (among other things) has never felt so natural.
Zorbie - iOS - $2.99
The Game Atelier keeps the spirit of the arcade alive with Zorbie, a unique game that involves tossing an axe into the air and making sure you're not there when it falls.
↕
The medic might've lost his medical license, but that doesn't mean he can't lend his medical expertise out on the battlefield...or in this case, the surgery room. Previously limited to the Meet the Medic video, now we have a chance to poke around the Heavy's internal organs in Surgeon Simulator 2013 thanks to an upcoming update.
If you recall, Surgeon Simulator 2013 is the most realistic surgery sim we've ever played. And by "realistic" I mean "absolutely bonkers." Fun stuff.
The upcoming update to the the title can replace not only the characters in the game, but also some of the items. Check it out:
↕
Cats can be combative, albeit playful jerks—which makes them great choices for a fighting game, no? Well, if nothing else, this utterly silly (but fun!) rendition of a cat version of Street Fighter by ThePetCollective puts a smile on my face.
Street Fighter Parody - Cat Fighter [The Pet Collective]
↕
Today, an old man went on television and complained about video games. Then someone proved him horribly wrong.
Franklin Graham, son of Billy Graham and current head of the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association, went on the John Stossel Show on Fox Buisness to tell why he thinks violent games are abhorrent and deserve to be taxed. Stossel, confused, struggled to understand the logic behind Graham's argument.
This is what that frustration looks like:
Here is a comprehensive breakdown of their arguments, as I understand them:
Graham:
God gets violent games because of that whole crucifixion business.We tax cigarettes, therefore we should also tax videogames because they’re the same.I miss my old cowboy TV shows. Gunsmoke was awesome, I’ll tell ya what.We're addicted to violent media "like the Romans".I’m old and this brave new world frightens and confuses me.
Stossel:
Crime in America is down on the whole.Japan has higher game usage, immensely lower violence.There is absolutely no evidence to suggest that games make you violent.This is the exact same hysteria as comics in the 1950s, dressed up for a new generation.You have no argument.
Look, I don't agree with Stossel about 99 percent of the time, but that's completely irrelevant right now. The man has done his homework on this one, and a shocking display of basic competency like this is something you simply don't see a lot of on television.
So Stossel? Today you've earned your facial hair.
To contact the author of this post, write to chrisperson@kotaku.com or find him on Twitter @papapishu
↕
Japanese developer iNiS — the name's an acronym for "infinite Noise of the inner Soul" — has spent the past decade and a half perfecting the art of the rhythm game. From classics like Gitaroo Man and Elite Beat Agents to not-so-classics like last year's DLC-packed Demon's Score, iNiShave mastered the melding of sound and gaming. Their latest, tower defense variant Eden to Green, is far removed from those musical roots.
Eden to Green is really a tower offense game, rather than a tower defense game. Instead of placing your defensive and offensive units in fix locations, the goal here is to gain ground. The world of Eden is overrun by unfeeling yet oddly-expressive machines, and you're tasked with planting the seeds of natural reclamation.
The troops in yur plant army serve various functions. Some attack mechanical interlopers automatically. Some serve as barriers. The most import, however, are the plants that extend the influence of the green — they're the core of the entire game.
For example, one stage begins with a pair of spikes on the far side of the playing field. These serve as anchors of chains binding one of the world's great trees. Beginning with a small patch of green, the player must extend their verdant grasses forward until the spikes are consumed, freeing the tree to blossom, covering the battlefield with fresh growth. Other stages might require a certain number of enemies be defeated. It's a quite varied garden.
Your leafy army is assembled not through progression, like Plants Vs. Zombies, but rather through a collectible card-style mechanic, gathering, cloning and evolving cards into new forms as they play. Players pay coins earned through battle (or gems purchased with real-world coin) for a chance to bloom fresh plant creatures. The more expensive the bloom, the more likely a rare spawn will show up, and thus will dedicated players be dumping tons of cash into this free-to-play defense game.
Mind you, there's plenty to do in Eden to Green that doesn't require cash at all. Coins gathered through normal play are aplenty, ensuring a regular flow of new plant creatures. There are more than 70 maps to conquer, as well as special daily challenges where unique troops can be won. iNiS promises a steady flow of fresh free content, so it's worth keeping it around on your tablet or phone once you've cleaned things up.
The problem here, and maybe it's just a side-effect of iNiS' publishing partnership with Zynga, is that it feels like Eden to Green really wants me to spend money. Rotating ads in the main menu, the tease of rare plants purchased with gems — it's not being coy about its pay structure whatsoever. I expect that from traditional mobile developers, but I was hoping I wouldn't get it from iNiS.
Still, Eden to Green is a gorgeous game with challenging gameplay that extends far beyond tower defense games that served as its inspiration. There may be no rhythm here, but there's an intoxicating freshness that can't be denied.
Eden To Green
Genre: Tower Offense
Developer: iNiS
Platform: iOS, Android
Price: Free
Get Eden to Green on iOS — Get Eden to Green on Google Play
↕
Gawker Jesus Christ, Paula Deen Just Released ANOTHER Apology (and Got Fired) | Jezebel Why I Love M
Gawker Jesus Christ, Paula Deen Just Released ANOTHER Apology (and Got Fired) | Jezebel Why I Love My Bitchy Resting Face | Gizmodo Here's the First Ashton-Packed Trailer For jOBS | Deadspin The Spurs' Rock Finally Cracks: Tim Duncan Needs Your Love Now
↕
Posted by
Giant Bomb Jun 21 2013 22:24 GMT
- Like?
Change is weird, but it’s been a weird couple of years. Giant Bomb was bought by CBS. My father passed away. I got married. What’s one more thing? If only moving from San Francisco to Chicago was “one thing.” It’s so much more, and it’s hard to unpack the future without the past.
There were a couple of reasons I came to San Francisco in the first place. 1UP offered me an opportunity to take Luke Smith’s position as news editor (he’s now a designer at Bungie). I was graduating from college, and while San Francisco was in my future, it was going to happen...later? That fall? What’s the rush? Instead, 1UP said “if you want the job, come to SF really soon.” It was a real job, so I grabbed it. Soon turned out to be a few weeks after graduation; I wasn’t around long enough for a family party to celebrate college being over.
Two, leaving the midwest was important to me. I’d spent my whole life in the Chicgoland area, and I didn’t want to get stuck there and never see the world. It’s not uncommon for midwest folk to never leave their hometown, and that terrified me. I’m sure there are plenty of people who stayed rooted and are perfectly happy, but in my mind, how could they know for sure? If they hadn’t given the rest of the world a chance, weren’t they making a calculated gamble that their current situation was the ideal one?
Off to San Francisco I went. I’d been dating my wife for a little over a year, and tossed her a big question: wanna go with me? In any other situation, I doubt we’d have made the leap to quickly move in with one another, but we didn’t have family outside of the midwest. I wasn’t going to ask her to come out to the Bay Area and get her own place because I was a commitment novice. We moved into together, it was great, and we were married six years later. Even in hindsight, I wouldn't have done it any other way.
All of my jobs have been formative, in one way or another.
1UP was my first salaried gig, and I was in charge of a whole section--crazy for a relative newcomer. That meant dealing with freelancers, paying invoices, and coming to grips with the title “news editor.” It was easy to talk high ‘n mighty about journalism in a college course, it’s altogether different when you’re tasked with running a section yourself. I learned some hard lessons during that time. One of my sources was almost fired because a story ran early for reasons that aren’t super important, and the studio he worked for ended up searching the network for proof of his communication with me over instant message. They found him/her, but several other employees had also made the same “mistake.” Crisis averted.
1UP is where MTV News editor Stephen Totilo noticed me, and reached out about the chance to write for his games-focused MTV Multiplayer blog as a west coast correspondent. I'd only been at 1UP six months, but this was too big. MTV is where my “interest” in journalism became something more, and the first time felt comfortable calling myself a reporter. I have MTV to thank for everything that came after.
Then, the recession hit. MTV laid off all its freelancers, which included me. I was being paid a salary, but blah blah, technically, I was a freelancer. Not sure where to go next, G4 came up. Los Angeles sounded like the worst, but it was already clear how important video was becoming to games coverage, and what better place to go than a television station dedicated to covering geek topics? I’d met Adam Sessler before, but I’d hardly call us friends, at that point. Even though I was hired to work on the G4tv.com web team, my angle was about getting on TV. Sessler saw enough in me to provide me with that chance, which was both an honor and supremely weird. When I was doing fancy TV stuff for E3, G4 bought me clothes. (When I quit to leave for EGM, the clothing department secretly gave me those clothes in a box, since my wife loved them so much.) G4 is where I broke the news about the split at Infinity Ward, a personal milestone. G4, as a channel, became dedicated to covering that story for roughly a whole day, easily a top ten weirdest moment in my life. It’s the kind of story you spend your years after chasing, and knowing you might not ever have anything like it again. Also, Los Angeles really wasn’t that bad.
I left G4 for selfish reasons. There are precious few spots for men to be on camera at G4, which should come as no surprise to anyone who was familiar with some of the programming decisions there. I don’t even disagree with those decisions, based on what the aims of the network were, but to become a personality, I was looking at another few years of writing for a website I didn’t really have my heart in.
A chance to be a higher-up within EGM’s reboot came up, and it was impossible to ignore. Who’d turn that down? I grew up reading EGM--it was a dream. In retrospect, I wish I had. That’s not totally true. The less said about that period the better, but I don’t regret my decision. It was the right call at the time, and everything about it informed what I wanted from a job after that. I wanted to care about the work I did.
That’s where Giant Bomb came in. I’ve known Brad since I was, I don’t know, 12-years-old? Something stupid like that. I’d met Jeff at events. While in Los Angeles, Ryan had hung out after E3, and we got really drunk and went to an 80s cover band one night. We were good friends soon after. I didn’t know Vinny or Drew. I’d met Alex a few times. I quickly connected with them, and it didn’t take long to realize I’d found the home I’d been looking for all along. Great friends, respectable content, and a dedicated community that provided one with equal love and hate. Giant Bomb has been a place where I’ve been able to, sometimes painfully, figure out what I want from my job, both personally and professionally. Giant Bomb has been a place where I’ve been given the opportunity to do whatever I want, so long as it felt right.
All of that has made the past two years such a blast. No regrets. It’s what makes the move to Chicago so bittersweet. It should feel that way. It feels right being that way. You want these choices to sting a little. It means I’ve spent the last two years doing work that meant a damn, and that's all you can ask for.
This isn’t goodbye, but it’s change. It’s not going to be fun being left out of I Love Mondays, TNT, the podcast, Unprofessional Fridays, and everything else that makes each week here at Giant Bomb so weird, satisfying, and completely random. I have to find a new path for myself on the site, and we’ll find that together. Like anything else, it’ll probably be a bumpy road, but I hope you’ll come along for the ride.
Thank you.
(I ran out of time to format all these links. So, here’s a link dump. Sorry. We’ll return to normal soon.)
- http://caas.raptr.com/case-study-halo-4s-spartan-ops-content-updates-successes-and-failures/
- http://www.theverge.com/2013/6/3/4391736/real-life-battlestar-galactica-larp-could-be-coming-to-america
- http://kotaku.com/one-author-breaks-down-the-reality-of-violent-games-in-511024873
- http://techcrunch.com/2013/05/31/as-tv-falls-apart-tumblr-and-twitter-aim-to-pick-up-the-pieces/
- http://jamesgunn.com/2012/05/29/my-rules-on-spoilers/
- http://agameofme.tumblr.com/post/52044232919/after-before-midnight
- http://www.psmag.com/culture/are-video-games-the-next-great-artform-58300/
- http://derekdaniels.com/blog/2013/6/4/god-of-war-devil-may-cry-love-letters
- http://www.edge-online.com/features/youre-playing-it-wrong-the-danger-of-writers-reading-too-much-into-the-wrong-game/
- https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=1&cad=rja&ved=0CC8QFjAA&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.kickstarter.com%2Fprojects%2F617502838%2Fshadow-of-the-eternals&ei=7kquUd29L4WKiQf00IGwDg&usg=AFQjCNHSChCbjSrrpfI4L0yeO5Rdjsy5hw&sig2=i6YGihl3-Gf4vMZ5VXd6yg&bvm=bv.47244034,d.aGc
- http://www.pastemagazine.com/articles/2013/06/hyper-mode-anita-sarkeesian-and-the-trouble-with-m.html
- http://www.macworld.com/article/2032847/a-5-app-isnt-expensive-customers-need-to-help-fix-the-app-store-economy.html
- http://www.spyparty.com/beta/
- http://gameological.com/2013/06/apples-folly/
- http://www.ign.com/articles/2013/06/06/six-of-the-best-free-games-about-sex
- http://kotaku.com/three-short-comic-strips-about-being-a-female-game-jour-511873087
- http://kotaku.com/investigation-a-video-game-studio-from-hell-511872642
- http://prospect.org/article/triple-games-pretty-and-brain-dead
- http://www.unwinnable.com/2013/06/07/hustler-and-my-first-e3/
- http://tinycartridge.com/post/52624986197/crossing-a-line-gender-identity-in-animal
- http://www.gamasutra.com/view/news/194421/From_the_Editor_Leaving_E3_with_a_sense_of_hope_optimism.php
- http://thenewinquiry.com/essays/playing-outside/
- http://www.theonion.com/articles/stunning-e3-announcement-reveals-new-video-game-co,32832/?utm_source=Twitter&utm_medium=SocialMarketing&utm_campaign=standard-post:other:default
- http://www.gamasutra.com/blogs/TynanSylvester/20130602/193462/The_Simulation_Dream.php
- http://theamericanscholar.org/playing-at-violence/#.Ub-rzfnrzNS
- http://killscreendaily.com/articles/articles/defense-shooting-people-face/
- http://thelimitlessmag.com/kanye-wests-yeezus-and-microsofts-xbox-one-match-made-in-hubristic-heaven/
- http://www.paste.com/issues/week-97/articles/hyper-mode-battle-of-the-brands-at-e3-2013
- http://www.freeindiegam.es/2013/06/will-you-ever-return-in-da-hood-jack-king-spooner/
- http://www.unwinnable.com/2013/06/14/its-a-little-bit-sad/
- http://www.brainygamer.com/the_brainy_gamer/2013/06/a-humongous-adventure.html?
- http://kotaku.com/the-creepy-side-of-e3-513484271
- http://www.reactionzine.com/an-open-letter-to-games-media/
- http://mor-game.com
- http://www.polygon.com/features/2013/6/20/4441680/how-games-are-made-defense-grid-2
- http://www.rockpapershotgun.com/2013/06/20/the-sorry-saga-of-skulls-of-the-shogun-windows-8/
- http://kotaku.com/shigeru-miyamoto-and-the-damsel-in-distress-520259897
- http://www.penny-arcade.com/2013/06/19/twiiter-sucks-sometimes
- http://thefullbrightcompany.com/2013/06/21/why-we-are-not-showing-gone-home-at-pax/
- http://www.falsegravity.com/?p=555
- http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=xj-KxebLFlQ
- http://vimeo.com/67501143
- http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=f7oOG9qP0uA
- http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=unRldLdllZ8
- http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=6RtSGFryKwo
- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=02w-veHf5Tk
- http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=O3ssBHhl2OU
- http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=WhwRdDGAnoA
- http://indiegames.com/2010/11/browser_game_pick_but_that_was.html
↕
What would you find in Reggie Fils-Aime's bedroom? Well, we can't tell you what's in his real-life bedroom. His Animal Crossing bedroom, however, has bedsheets with his own face on them. Really!
Not only that, but in this video tour, Reggie rolls around in those sheets. It's pretty fantastic, if not a tad ridiculous. Like he always told us, though: his body is ready.
↕
In this week's Ask Kotaku I answer a bunch of questions covering newly announced games, your friends and life at Kotaku.
Sorry I missed you guys last week. I was busy running around LA like a maniac and being really tired and stuff. But I'm back! So let's get into this week's questions on Ask Kotaku video edition episode 2. And don't forget to email me (find my email at the bottom of this post) more questions for next week!
0:00 Intro
0:17 Getting a dog
0:34 Purchasing a PS4 bundle
1:05 Dealing with the too-competitive gamer friend
1:59 Making gamer friends
3:15 Buying a Wii U for kids
4:06 Hidden 360 gems
4:32 Games I'm looking forward to
5:16 How to play classic games
5:51 How I came to work for Kotaku
6:42 Editors replying to commenters on the site
7:35 Outro
That's it for this week, folks! Hope you enjoyed Ask Kotaku and my silliness.
Music credit.
To contact the author of this post, write to tina@kotaku.com or find her on Twitter at @tinaamini.
↕
Posted by
Giant Bomb Jun 21 2013 19:42 GMT
- Like?
(Almost) Live from Seattle! 17-Bit's Jake Kazdal, Camouflaj's Ryan Payton, and ex-Game Informer / Nintendo World Report founder Billy Berghammer join us (well, some of us) for a first-hand recounting of the highs and lows and highs again of this year's rollercoaster E3 game expo.
↕
The small studio behind the upcoming first-person exploration game Gone Home say they're pulling their game from the next big PAX show because of their rising discomfort with the show's organizers.
"This morning we stopped pushing those long-held reservations about [Penny Arcade founders] Jerry and Mike into the back of our minds." writes Steve Gaynor, head of The Fullbright Company—a four-person indie studio. "We talked to each other and did a simple show of hands– do any of us feel comfortable presenting Gone Home at PAX? No hands went up."
PAX is the thrice-annual gaming convention that has become the most popular gaming-centric showcase of new big-publisher and indie games in the U.S. Everyone from Nintendo and Ubisoft to the smallest indie developers regularly show their new works at the Seattle, Boston and, soon, Australia-based events to tens of thousands of gamers. Gone Home was accepted to the "Indie Megabooth" earlier this month, which is a showfloor area dedicated to indie games.
The objectionable behavior Gaynor cites includes the "Dickwolves" debacle of 2010, Mike Krahulik's more recent statements that were exclusionary toward transgender people, as well as a number of other controversial statements and stances. The expo itself, however, has had a number of inclusive panels in the past—and it's also banned booth babes.
It's the more questionable incidents that came together to make The Fullbright Company uncomfortable operating with Penny Arcade. Gaynor writes:
We believe that people’s opinions and actions on social issues and business ethics are important. We believe that agreeing to pay the organizers of PAX over $1,000 for booth space, and to present our game on their showfloor for four days, provides explicit support for and tacit approval of their publicly demonstrated positions on these subjects. And we have finally come to the conclusion that we cannot support Jerry, Mike, and their organization by participating in this event.
We know that this will do them no harm; that’s not the point. Another developer will take our slot at the Megabooth; they won’t lose any ticket sales; we won’t hurt their feelings. If anything, we’re hurting ourselves– our ability to reach new fans who might not have heard of Gone Home, to connect with players, sell stuff, meet with press and video crews, and so on.
But this is not something that we’re doing for practical reasons.
We are a four-person team. Two of us are women and one of us is gay. Gone Home deals in part with LGBT issues. This stuff is important to us, on a lot of different levels. And Penny Arcade is not an entity that we feel welcomed by or comfortable operating alongside.
We've contacted Penny Arcade for comment on the situation and will update this post if we hear back. Incidentally, Mike Krahulik has just posted a blog in which he laments the current controversy, apologizing over his recent tweets about sex and gender.
"I’m very good at being a jerk," Krahulik wrote. "It’s sort if my superpower. When it comes to Penny Arcade it has served me well but it’s not okay when I make a bunch of people who are already marginalized feel like shit."
He said he is not the "bigot" others have made him out to be. "I hate lots of people it’s true. But I’ve never hated anyone for their sexual orientation or their gender situation." He added: "I don’t want to be the reason people don’t go to PAX or don’t support Child’s Play or don’t watch the shows on PATV." He's promising, going forward, he'll be keeping quiet about topics like these. He did not address the Fullbright Company's move, but if and when Penny Arcade does, we'll update this story.
↕
Today marks the launch of the "All Hail Galvatron" event in Transformers Legends, slipping the free-
Today marks the launch of the "All Hail Galvatron" event in Transformers Legends, slipping the free-to-play iOS and Android card game a little 80s animated movie continuity. The highlight of the event is the debut of Rodimus Prime, the little jerkwad who got Optimus Prime killed. I hope he gets eaten by Sharkticons.
↕
Gamers whose PS3s were rendered unusable by last Tuesday's 4.45 PS3 firmware update will find relief on Thursday, June 27, with the release of a new system update that Sony believes will fix things.
"We have identified the issue related to the PlayStation 3 software update (version 4.45) that impacted a small number of PS3 systems earlier this week," a PlayStation spokesperson told Kotaku. "A new PS3 system software update is planned to be released on June 27 that resolves the issue." Sony also issued a heads-up about the update on its Japanese site and has apologized "for the inconvenience."
Sony has not said how many PS3s were affected but had pulled the 4.45 firmware only a few hours after setting it live. A company rep confirmed to Kotaku earlier this week that affected users were failing to get their XMB (the PS3's dashboard, basically) to load.
The firmware problem all but rendered the affected consoles unusable, which might raise the question of how affected users could fix things with new firmware next week. Readers have suggested that power-cycling the console into its "safe mode" could do the trick, but Sony isn't walking people through whatever the correct steps are just yet, noting on their forums: "We will also update on 6/27 when it is available, and steps on how to implement the solution."
We had heard from one reader whose only solution had been to wipe his harddrive, costing him his game save files. Here's hoping the proper fix isn't quite so drastic and that those affected by this are few. We're checking with Sony.
To contact the author of this post, write to stephentotilo@kotaku.com or find him on Twitter @stephentotilo.
↕
Apple will supposedly announce the iPhone 5S in August, but these leaked images could show a glimpse at the device right now.
↕
Fresh off a new deal to appear in the next two Avengers films, Robert Downey Jr. will reportedly appear in new HTC ads.
↕
Between issues with early start and the official release being the week before E3 2013 craziness, I've not had much time to play Gazillion Entertainment's "Marvel Diablo" since my days in the beta, so when people have asked me over the past few weeks "Is it worth playing," my response has generally been "Oh my god I am so busy, go away!" Now that things have mellowed out a bit, the answer is a definite "Rocket Raccoon."
Look at the facts here. It's got Rocket Raccoon. It's a free-to-play PC game, especially if you like playing Daredevil, Storm, The Thing, Scarlet Witch or Hawkeye, the five characters included at no cost. It's got Rocket Raccoon. It plays like Diablo II, which many consider the sweet spot for the action RPG franchise. It's a great deal of fun.
Oh, and it has Rocket Raccoon in it.
Considering the regular hero injections in Gazillion's Super Hero Squad Online, if one of Marvel Heroes' 26 starters don't float your boat, odds are better ones like Squirrel Girl and Moon Knight won't be missing for long.
So that's a yes. The game is definitely worth a bit of your hard disk space, as long as you aren't worried about the compulsion to buy all of the free-to-play-funding microtransaction things. Just go try it, and if you see Fahey the Rocket Raccoon running around, know that I'm probably talking to you, even if you can't hear me.
↕
In an interview with The Guardian, Infinity Ward executive producer explains the core of the Call of
In an interview with The Guardian, Infinity Ward executive producer explains the core of the Call of Duty franchise:
"I want every team to be making its own creative statement. Call of Duty has a creative statement. For single player it's that cinematic, movie-like experience that's immersive and pinned on storytelling. It has those big moments, those summer blockbuster type trailers: the Call of Duty feel. Multiplayer has that fast, frantic addictive gameplay and that's something we wouldn't want to give up. It's what we do well. I want other studios to be doing something else, something new and fresh and cool that nobody's seen before, so I can play that while continuing to enjoy Call of Duty."
↕
Here’s what’s going on Talk Among Yourselves, our reader-written blog: DocSeuss wonders if this week
Here’s what’s going on Talk Among Yourselves, our reader-written blog: DocSeuss wonders if this week’s Xbox One announcement means that someone else won E3. And I_Kluge throws some love in the general direction of Fat Princess.
And you can always go join the voices talking about video games and life in TAY Classic and in the TAY: Open Forum.
↕
Just when you’re expecting a satirically goofy take on what makes video games different from other f
Just when you’re expecting a satirically goofy take on what makes video games different from other forms of art, Cracked goes ahead and doles out a semi-serious, mostly on-point article about that very point. You’ll laugh but you’ll also nod in agreement, too.
↕
Posted by
Giant Bomb Jun 21 2013 13:44 GMT
- Like?
Tiny Tina's Assault on Dragon Fortress is out next week. Yes, there is a lot of Tiny Tina in it.
↕
Earlier this week, we were having a laugh around the Kotaku campfire at The Onion's latest video-game sendup: 'Fully Leveled-Up Video Game Character Marvels At How Far He's Come.' These guys are pretty damned good at poking fun at video games, and they've been at it for ages. Why not pull together our favorite stories from over the years?
So that's what we did. Here are our favorite Onion video game stories, from Tekken 3 all the way up to the Xbox One.
Video-Game Characters Denounce Randomly Placed Swinging Blades
Exacerbating the situation, Mario said, is the seemingly arbitrary placement of the hazards. "I could see why, if you're in a factory, you might find yourself jumping around on dangerous conveyor belts moving in different directions," he said. "But why would you have conveyor belts in a castle? Or in the middle of a forest? Nintendo and these other companies are always talking about how realistic their graphics are. Well, what's so realistic about killer turtles shooting out of clouds and such?"
Added Mario: "It's-a me, Mario!"
Xbox One Capable Of Controlling Users With Simple Voice Commands
'Beltway Sniper' Video-Game Release Delayed Out Of Respect For Victims
According to Rich Koslow, editor of GamePro magazine, Beltway Sniper: Silent Strike was expected to be one of the hottest video-game releases of the holiday season. Available for Nintendo Gamecube, PlayStation 2, Xbox, and PC, the game enables players to wander through an ultra-realistic suburban D.C. landscape shooting innocent passersby.
"Beltway Sniper is everything you've heard and more," Koslow said. "I recently had a chance to play it myself at Pixxel's offices, and it's as close as you can come to real-life experience short of actually being Muhammad or Malvo himself."
Despite the strong buzz surrounding the game, Conway said Pixxel Arts is committed to holding off releasing Beltway Sniper "until the wounds from the tragedy have begun to heal." He stressed that the delay has nothing to do with any problems with the game itself.
Video-Game Character Wondering Why Heartless God Always Chooses 'Continue'
"Is this all there is?" asked Snake, hiding in a storage locker while two masked guards searched for him in the hold of a cargo ship. "Is this why I was created? To suffer? Will I ever escape this endless loop of grueling labor followed by violent death?"
Snake was then discovered by the guards and cut down in a hail of gunfire.
Child Unimpressed With Aurora Borealis After Whole Day Of Tekken 3
Tekken 3, which Meier-household sources estimate Kenny plays 30 to 35 hours per week, was created by Namco exclusively for the PlayStation and features 28 different fully rendered combatants, compared to the Northern Lights' zero. In addition, Tekken 3 allows players to do battle in a wide range of exotic background settings, easily surpassing the aurora, which offers only one choice of background graphic, the relatively unimpressive "Night Mode."
Ultra-Realistic Modern Warfare Game Features Awaiting Orders, Repairing Trucks
New Video Game Designed To Have No Influence On Kids' Behavior
A demo version of Stacker was unveiled at the Tokyo Game Show in September and garnered praise from parents' groups who lauded its unstimulating visuals, utter lack of storyline, and non-immersive game play.
"After playing Stacker, there is absolutely no reason for anyone to want to take boxes, crates, or any other polygonal object, and place them atop one another, as seen in this gem of a game," said Laura Keitel of the D.C.-based Center For Entertainment And The Family. "No kid in the world could possibly get anything out of it. There's no reason why the video-game industry shouldn't be making a lot more games like this."
Broke Dad Makes Son PlayStation 2 For Christmas
"I can't wait to see the look on Andy's face when he unwraps this," said McManus, lovingly painting a "2" onto the front of the handmade video-game console. "I didn't get to sand the controllers as smoothly as I'd have liked, but still."
Call Of Duty 2 Gamer Wonders If War Is Worth Dying 79 Times For
"After weeks of fighting for every pixel of ground and seeing 180 degrees of carnage in every direction, you start to wonder if it's really worth it," said 23-year-old Avers, who has been decorated 1,327 times since 1995, when he began fighting on his Sega Genesis. "I've already given my life several dozen times in this endless, senseless war game."
Avers added: "Some nights, it's all I can do to 'continue.'"
Features Of The Xbox One
Windows XP operating systemWill offer new titles in such popular Xbox series as Ace Combat, Kane & Lynch, Crash Time, and Call of JuarezXbox Hat—Say the words “Xbox Hat” out loud and a large image of a hat will appear on your TV screen92-Core x500 P2W (G4-Jig system), 2F3 DLX silver frame technology, 2/5/5/MP2s zoomnet capability, Zip control (TV/satellite/laptop), 3.1.8 optical input-output, 34V-876-ZZB, custom 2x cross-memory feedback, DVD
New Video Game Technology Finally Allows Rendering Of Smaller Breasts
"For too long, game designers have been creatively stymied by a mammary-imaging technology only capable of rendering one type of breast—a heaving pair of massive, gravity-defying, torpedo-shaped bosoms," said Warren Hood, developer of the new Vex9 graphics card, which has finally enabled video game wire-frame artists to digitally sculpt breasts as small as B-cups. "At long last, we can give die-hard gamers the level of realism they've been looking for."
Infographic: Best-Selling Video Games (Posted in 1996!)
Video-Game Violence Blamed In Giant-Robot Shooting Spree
Witnesses said the robot, who was experiencing failing grades in the Arena and was said to be several thousand credits in debt, appeared to be under "great strain" at the time of the multiple robocide. The robot, one witness said, displayed an "almost mechanical lack of emotion" during the four-and-a-half-minute shooting spree, gunning down his fellow robots, as well as several fortified laser-gun stations and a number of unmanned drones, with "inhuman" precision.
"He was like a machine, programmed to kill without hesitation or remorse," said DTD-35667C, a 44-year-old robot injured in the attack.
And, while it isn't exactly gaming specific, it still needs to be here...
Sony Releases New Stupid Piece Of Shit That Doesn't *crag*ing Work
There are many more, but those are our favorites. If you've got any of your own favorites that you'd like to add, please do so in the comments.
And to our sarcasm-slinging brethren and sistren at The Onion: We salute you.
↕
Each time we approach the beginning of a new console generation, it also marks the slow and gradual ending of the previous one. Games for the previous consoles are released less frequently until they disappear altogether. But have you ever wondered what the final releases were for each major home console in Japan? We at Kotaku East decided to find out.
Sega Mark III (Sega Master System)
Bomber Raid – February 4, 1989
Bomber Raid is a top-down SHUMP like the classic 1942. Unlike many of the games on this list, it was actually released outside of Japan as well.
Famicom (Nintendo Entertainment System)
Adventure Island IV – June 24, 1994
The Adventure Island series was hardly an unknown title during the NES era, but the final game in the series, Adventure Island IV, never left Japanese shores. It differs from the other games in the series by being less of a straight platformer and more of an action-adventure/platformer hybrid.
Sega Megadrive (Sega Genesis)
Madou Monogatari I – March 22, 1996
Madou Monogatari I is part of the long-running Madou Monogatari series (which released its latest game on the Vita earlier this year). It is a classic first-person dungeon crawler where you navigate a massive maze and battle monsters.
Super Famicom (Super NES)
Metal Slader Glory: Director's Cut – November 29, 2000
An enhanced remake of NES game Metal Slader Glory, Metal Slader Glory: Director's Cut is a science fiction visual novel. It never had an official cartridge and was released only via Nintendo’s Nintendo Power game download service.
Sega Saturn
Yukyu Gensokyoku Perpetual Collection – December 4, 2000
Yukyu Gensokyoku Perpetual Collection is a game collection release with the dating sims Yukyu Gensokyoku, Yukyu Gensokyoku 2nd Album, Yukyu Gensokyoku ensemble, and Yukyu Gensokyoku ensemble2 included in one package.
Nintendo 64
Bomberman 64 – December 20, 2001
Yes, Bomberman 64 is the final game released on the N64—but not the Bomberman 64 you’re thinking of. In Japan, the game that was released in the West as Bomberman 64 is called “Baku Bomberman.” In 2001, a game actually titled Bomberman 64 was released in Japan—and luckily for the naming confusion issues inherent, it was never released anywhere else.
Xbox
2006 FIFA World Cup – April 28, 2006
Japan didn’t seem to like the original Xbox as much as the rest of the world, but they do tend to love their soccer, which makes 2006 FIFA World Cup a fitting final release.
GameCube
The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess – December 2, 2006
Say what you will about the ups and downs of the GameCube era. In Japan, the system went out with a bang with The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess.
PlayStation
Legendary Hits: Dewprism – January 25, 2007
The last PlayStation release in Japan was actually a budget re-release of Square Enix’s Action-RPG Dewprism—or as it was known in the West: Threads of Fate.
Dreamcast
Karous – March 8, 2007
Karous, a cell-shaded SHUMP, was the last official game released on the Dreamcast. (Though, admittedly, there have been several unlicensed games released in the years since).
PlayStation 2
Final Fantasy XI: Seekers of Adoulin – March 27, 2013
As Square Enix turned out the lights and closed the proverbial door on the original PlayStation, so too did they with the PlayStation 2. Long running MMORPG Final Fantasy XI’s latest expansion pack, Seekers of Adoulin, was released on the system earlier this year, leaving the PlayStation 2 with a Japanese catalogue stretching 13 years.
So there you have it, the last games in Japan for the major home consoles you know and love. How do they compare to the last releases over the rest of the planet? Head over to this handy little list at Wikipedia and see for yourself.
Kotaku East is your slice of Asian internet culture, bringing you the latest talking points from Japan, Korea, China and beyond. Tune in every morning from 4am to 8am.
To contact the author of this post, write to BiggestinJapan@gmail.com or find him on Twitter @BiggestinJapan.
↕
Tomorrow will see the release of the newest installment in the Ghost in the Shell franchise: Ghost in the Shell: Arise. But this isn’t the Ghost in the Shell you remember—not visually at least.
While all the characters you know and love are recognizable—though younger as this is a prequel—fans of the two TV series and the movie Solid State Society will no doubt feel that this version of the Major looks nothing like the one they are used to. And they are right. But Ghost in the Shell is one of those franchises where the characters can—and have had—drastic changes to their character designs.
So let’s look through the character designs of the four major characters—Major Kusanagi, Batou, Togusa and Chief Aramaki—as they appear in the original manga, Ghost in the Shell, Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex, Ghost in the Shell 2: Innocence, Ghost in the Shell: S.A.C. 2nd GIG, Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex: Solid State Society and, finally, Ghost in the Shell: Arise.
The Major has no doubt had the most drastic character design changes. But what’s most interesting about her Arise design is how similar her facial features are to her counterpart from the 1995 film. As Arise is a prequel, it makes sense to go back to a design reminiscent of the film that made Ghost in the Shell world-famous.
There are a lot of constants in Batou’s design—the cyborg eyes, the constant frown—but what does change is his hair. Sometimes it short and spikey, sometimes it’s long and tied back in a ponytail, and sometimes it somewhere in between. It seems that is the only aspect of his design—other than his clothes—that isn’t resistant to change.
But as little as Batou has changed across the iterations, Togusa has changed even less. He’s always got the bangs and mullet and is constantly wearing suit pants with a matching jacket. But on a meta note, I really like that the one guy with the least amount of cybernetics remains the most constant throughout the franchise.
When it comes to Aramaki’s character design, it’s all about the hair. In some iterations, it’s slightly poofy. In others it’s a force of nature that even gravity is powerless against. In Solid State Society, I’m tempted to think it is growing into its own life form. I mean it clearly has ribs.
And here’s the rest of the cast in their Stand Alone Complex, Stand Alone Complex 2nd GIG, and Arise iterations for your review.
Ghost in the Shell: Arise border 1: Ghost Pain will be released in Japanese theaters on June 22, 2013. No international release date has been announced but the Japanese Blu-rays, which include English subtitles, will be released on July 26, 2013.
Kotaku East is your slice of Asian internet culture, bringing you the latest talking points from Japan, Korea, China and beyond. Tune in every morning from 4am to 8am.
To contact the author of this post, write to BiggestinJapan@gmail.com or find him on Twitter @BiggestinJapan.
↕
Here's the result of Jimmy Fallon's last week call to arms, urging gamers around America to film themselves as they play video games with their moms. Was the one-week campaign worth it? Oh yes. Definitely.
↕
Pikachu sure is cute. Well, save for the times that the yellow Pocket Monster is utterly terrifying.
Over the years, numerous scary Pikachus have popped up on the internet—this and this, for instance. There are many more examples, but here's a quick look at some, not all, of the standouts that have been spotted around Japan, China, South Korea and beyond.
You might have seen some of these. Maybe not. Have a look and feel free to shudder.
Photos: kagalli13, low211, kyanaleen, 10*crag*ing_laugh, wai_bot, namajun, 中国政治Blog, kimkayoo, kedamono, shiiro22, KoTa_OTL, ちょねっとの日常日記
To contact the author of this post, write to bashcraftATkotaku.com or find him on Twitter @Brian_Ashcraft.
Kotaku East is your slice of Asian internet culture, bringing you the latest talking points from Japan, Korea, China and beyond. Tune in every morning from 4am to 8am.
↕
It's never too late to start a new hobby. Just as one Japanese reader of website My Navi, whose 89 year-old grandma only somewhat recently became a huge anime fan. And now, she won't return the grandchild's anime DVDs. The nerve!
In My Navi's advice column, one reader wrote about grandma and her new anime obsession. "Grandma lives with my dad, my mom, my big sis, and I," the reader wrote. "And I'm the only one who's an anime nerd."
The reader's anime enthusiasm was a family secret, only to be enjoyed in private. "My grandma found out," the reader added, "And that resulted in me loaning her all my anime DVDs." The reader thought she's quickly return the DVDs, but something unexpected happened.
The grandmother totally fell in love with the anime Hellsing and even started working quotes from the show into daily conversation. She also thanked the grandchild for introducing her to these cartoons, adding how great it was to experience them before she died. But...
"She hasn't returned any of my DVDs," the reader added. "How can I get the DVDs I loaned to her back?"
Online, people seemed thoroughly amused by the story, saying it was not only great that the grandmother found a new hobby, but also very cute. "What a wonderful grandmother," wrote one commenter. "I respect this. That being said, this is pretty effing funny."
Others said to swipe the DVDs when she wasn't around, or simply wait until her anime fervor cooled. With Japanese people living longer than ever and the country being home to over 50,000 centenarians, it could be some time before those DVDs are returned.
うちのばーちゃん(89歳)がヘルシング(アニメ)にハマってしまいました [MyNavi via ネタりか]
To contact the author of this post, write to bashcraftATkotaku.com or find him on Twitter @Brian_Ashcraft.
Kotaku East is your slice of Asian internet culture, bringing you the latest talking points from Japan, Korea, China and beyond. Tune in every morning from 4am to 8am.
Chat
