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#podcastpodcast Kotaku Talk Radio starts now with special guest Hans ten Cate, senior producer of Dante's Inferno. Call in! Ask questions! Listen Up! More »

Hey, you remember when Infinity Ward released that unbelievably offensive "Fight Against Grenade Spam" video starring Philadelphia Phillies pitcher Cole Hamels to promote Modern Warfare 2? Yeah, we were trying to forget it too (sorry to remind you!), but Battlefield developer DICE just released its own variation of the video (found after the break) starring New York Yankees pitcher CC Sabathia to explain why grenade spam isn't so much of an issue in Bad Company 2.

According to CC, due to the variety of other gameplay options (destructible environments, a handful of different vehicles and "adrenaline pumping weapons"), grenade spam isn't the same problem that it is in "competing games of this particular genre." (It probably helps that each class only starts with one grenade too, huh?) Rather than being sponsored by the notorious acronym that closed out Infinity Ward's ad, this one ends with: "Friends Really Against Grenade Spam."

Oh, and for those of you playing along at home, this is at least the second advertisement for Bad Company 2 that directly parodies Modern Warfare 2 promos. We're still holding out hope that all this culminates in a cage match between Robert Bowling and Patrick Söderlund.

Third iteration coming this May.

#screengrab As seen on Crass Anxiety. More »

#surveysays Direct from the We Could Have Told You That department, a recent study determined that introducing young boys to video games has a direct effect on their academic performance. Introducing a major distraction interferes with learning? Who'd have thought? More »

Shinji Mikami wants to make 3D horror games -- you know, like avatar with zombies.

Last week, speculation surrounding a pending announcement of the oft-rumored, slimmed down "Valhalla" model of the Xbox 360 was kicked into high gear, thanks to a Microsoft hiring notice for a motherboard engineer, and Steve Ballmer's reference to "more form factors" for the hardware. Earlier today, a Chinese tech forum purportedly posted a pair of pictures of the newly remodeled motherboard, which has undergone a massive size reduction from the current iteration of Xbox 360 hardware.

A few noteworthy changes in the motherboard (full pictures of which can be found after the jump) are a consolidated GPU/CPU, an extra SATA port, and a much smaller heatsink. Though the design could just be a mock-up from an extraordinarily talented modder, it certainly looks like professional-quality work. We've contacted Microsoft to see if they'll comment on the skinny-fied hardware.

#beef That's me vs. MTV Multiplayer's Russ Frushtick, before our Poke-battle yesterday. Despite the wonderful Pokemon advice that the world's best game designers gave me, my Level 15 Totodile could not beat his Level 17 Totodile. Gory details at MTV's site. More »

Counter-terrorism shooter on the way.

#squareenix DC's Wildstorm imprint makes video game comic book magic once more with Nier, a three-part online comic book series detailing the fall of humanity and its lasting effects in Square Enix's upcoming action RPG. More »

Though Uncharted 2 may have snatched away most of the Game of the Year trophies, Assassin's Creed 2 stands out as another of 2009's most acclaimed and successful titles. Lead game designer Patrick Plourde candidly discussed Ubisoft Montreal's development process at one of the final panels during this year's Game Developers Conference and gave some surprising insight into what happens when a project's scope is altered in the midst of development.

From the outset, Assassin's Creed 2 took aim at the commercial success of the first game, as well as its vocal group of detractors. "I'm not gonna lie about it," Plourde said. "Some people liked it, some people despised it. That's the way it is."

The way things would be took a surprise turn in the middle of 2008, months after the game had begun development in earnest. As Plourde puts it, a "curveball from upper management" requested a change in the game's scope. Ordinarily, ambitious plans may get trimmed down as a launch date draws near, but Ubisoft had decided to increase the number of features dramatically.

You’ve heard about natural sword enhancement. Over on the PlayStation.Blog.Europe you can see the most interesting hero in 3D.

Now we know what you REALLY want. An extended in-game walkthrough of 3D Dot Game Heroes. Well, your old pal Aram Jabbari from Atlus was kind enough to swing by our HQ, and prop himself in front of our camera with the game. Now that’s a big-ass sword!

Don’t forget, 3D Dot Game Heroes hits PS3 May 11 for $39.99. But I’m sure you’ll hear from Mr. Jabbari well before then.

The Dog Days of summer indeed.

Icehole Games is happy to announce the completion of its latest game "Us & Them - Cold War", a serious strategy game about the cold war period.

Newest RPG from Tri-Ace ready for consumption.

PC Gamers can now experience the fun of Sidhe's award-winning brick-breaking game and new game modes.

#releasedate Riding high on the failure of Tony Hawk: Ride and feeling absolutely no threat from Ubisoft's upcoming Shaun White skateboarding title, EA gears up for an early May release for the third installment of the Skate series. More »

You might remember Turtle Rock Studios for its series of excellent Counter-Strike mods or for its work on Left 4 Dead -- a project the studio started in 2005 and only finished after being acquired and eventually absorbed by Valve. Though a majority of its staff now works for the PC gaming juggernaut, Turtle Rock's original CEO Michael Booth has revived the outfit and has begun to rebuild its team of developers.

Though we're as yet unsure what projects Turtle Rock is planning, we wish the team the best of luck. Not just because we've loved its games so far, but because we feel an immediate fondness for game developers named after dungeons from A Link to the Past.

#wii Think of it as Guess Who for the Wii set, or, if you're in mixed company and want to sound smart, maybe Mastermind. More »

#gdc The doctors behind BioWare, the hallowed game studio behind Mass Effect 2 and Dragon Age: Origins, were telling Kotaku last week that their plans to add content to their recent games is flexible. More vehicle missions are possible. More sex? More »

"Remastered" is the appropriate term for 4J Studios' Perfect Dark port, which takes Rare's classic console FPS and remodels it with high-resolution assets and tactful tweaks to better suit its new Xbox Live Arcade format. Perfect Dark is the third N64-generation Rare title that 4J Studios has remastered, following XBLA ports of Banjo-Kazooie and Banjo-Tooie, and it's likely the most anticipated. Perfect Dark is a historical landmark, after all, and it's one that should be visited from time to time by anyone interested in games.

Originally released in mid-2000, Perfect Dark arrived as I was staggering forth from my freshman year of college. I picked it up because, back in high school, we played GoldenEye until the sun came up. I never grew to worship Perfect Dark as I had Rare's acclaimed Bond shooter, but my memory recalls it as a "slightly superior" game (if not as personally beloved). As one of the more prominent entries on my "I woulda, coulda, shoulda played it more" list, I've been looking forward to this reunion -- a chance to get to know Perfect Dark better.

EA has narrowed down the May release date for Skate 3. On May 11, North Americans will once again have the opportunity to channel any interest in real, dangerous skateboarding into a nice, safe, sedentary video game. The game will be available May 14 "worldwide."

EA has also revealed the roster of skaters that will appear in the game, including ... a bunch of guys whose names you'll totally recognize if you're into skateboarding -- as well as My Name is Earl star and former pro skater Jason Lee, in his Coach Frank persona.

In an interview with IndustryGamers, Nintendo of America president Reggie Fils-Aime asserted that Nintendo does care about third parties and does need them, despite the fact that Nintendo's business is sustained pretty well by first-party games. "The fact of the matter is we know we create great content for younger consumers," he said, "we know we've got great content for more casual players, and we want fantastic content for that more active player who loves Metroid or Zelda, but maybe also wants something like a BioShock 2 to play as well." Reggie then admitted, "We're not good at it and it's not a key focus area," thus Nintendo's interest in third-party developers.

The boss man also reiterated, almost word for word, his previous position that Nintendo would begin work on the next Nintendo system when a developer was unable to do something on the current Wii hardware, and he repeated that an HD feature alone wouldn't be enough to justify a new console.

When asked about the PlayStation Move, Fils-Aime questioned the Sony device's appeal. If the Wii already scratches the itch for motion-based gaming, then why would consumers be moved to pick up a PS3? "What's going to motivate them to spend minimally $300 for a new [PS3] system, plus minimally $100 for the Move motion bundle? So [as a consumer], now I'm into this for $400 and I still have to spend money on software. What's going to motivate me to do that?"

#podcast It's hump day, it's also St. Patrick's Day, but much more importantly, it's Kotaku Talk Radio day. Today we've got Hans ten Cate, senior producer, for Dante's Inferno. More »

That's "This Wednesday," like, this Wednesday -- today. Sorry we waited so long to bring you this regular installment of "This Wednesday," it's just that we kind of figured this particular release would be a little hard to forget. But for those of you not paying attention, here it is: FPS classic Perfect Dark arrives on Xbox Live today for 800 ($10). If you're on the fence, keep an eye out for our review later today.

Now, if you'll excuse us, we're going to go buy some Surge and Tato Skins off eBay and hit Felicity for some King of the Bathroom.

Giant spiders. Why'd it have to be giant spiders?

Mind you, seeing Lara Croft gun down squealing, eight-legged monstrosities doesn't bring with it the tinge of regret that I've come to associate with her tendency to permanently cross off creatures from the endangered species list. Had Crystal Dynamics opted to switch out the spiders with tigers, there'd be enough fur coats left over to give everyone in the world a warm winter.

Lara Croft and the Guardian of Light is heavy on the action, with territorial enemies swarming the eponymous explorer and a newfound partner, the Mayan warrior Totec, from all directions. Thankfully, the guy knows how to fire a gun and toss a spear -- though I pray he doesn't mix the two up when the situation gets out of hand. If you're playing the game with a co-op partner, either online or on couch, you'll have someone to yell at should that happen.

The game's isometric camera angle and twin-stick shooting mechanics bring to mind Assault Heroes (or Geometry Wars, at a basic level), but the pacing here is different. A more apt comparison -- that takes into account the lulls in action -- would be Left 4 Dead, especially when one player is tasked with manipulating a puzzle object while the other defends the rear.

Though we weren't particularly thrilled to hear about game streaming service OnLive's $14.95 monthly user fee, there's at least one guy who's totally excited for it: Dave Perry, the frontman for competing service Gaikai. "We were just as surprised as everyone else when we heard the final business model," Perry told GamesIndustry.biz. "That's why it's a shot in the arm to us, because now we're just perfectly positioned."

If it sounds like corporate chest-beating, that's because it totally is. But there's a nugget of truth in what Perry says; even though he neglected to discuss the OnLive Game Portal, which seems to more closely mirror his service. Haven't you been a bit less interested in OnLive since you learned you'd have to pay $15 a month for the privilege to buy and retain ownership of games?

#shinjimikami Shinji Mikami, the game designer behind Resident Evil, has always had a game he's been dying to make. More »

#monsterhunter Hello Kitty, affectionately known in Japan as "Kitty-chan", first appeared on a coin purse in the mid-1970s. From these humble beginnings, that cat created an empire of cute. But how? More »

#ps3 While at GDC, we noticed that the new PlayStation Move controller has a little lag. Want to see how much lag? More »