All Topics Gaming older than one year ago

More theater of the absurd for fans.

Get aquainted with a mage and assassin.

#wellplayed Gaming for Apple is an estimated half a billion dollar industry, but the company behind the iPhone, iPod Touch and now the iPad still seems reluctant to embrace the popular diversion. More »

We're about to enter a very slow period of the year, not typically known for seeing many major PC game releases. However, we should be keeping busy with lots of big announcements in the next few months leading up to E3 in June (at least, you know, we hope). In the meantime, let's take a look back at the highlights from this Passover-April Fool's-Easter week:

Exclusive features

• PAX East features: We made it to the first ever PAX East show and we report back on Nvidia's GeForce GTX 480 launch, a Civilization V preview and a panel discussion on the future of PC games.
• Boot Disk: Our retro games feature checks out the classic LucasArts Western shooter Outlaws.
• Freeware Friday: Our look at free PC games looks at the Mobile Bomb Squad.
• Contest: There's still time for you to enter to win one of three Intel Core i7 920 processors.

This week marks the one-year anniversary of the DSiWare service launch, and Nintendo is observing the occasion by putting interesting content on the service! Every week should be some kind of milestone. And speaking of annual observances, there's a Neo Geo game on Virtual Console.

#rapelay CNN reporter Kyung Lah recently filed a story on out-of-print erotic game Rapelay. One Japanese manga creator has taken her to task in an open letter. More »

Though we've all played some form of Jedi-centric game throughout the course of our lives, some of our younger readers may have missed out on the ground floor of the Star Wars FPS movement by not checking out the 1996 PlayStation classic, Star Wars: Dark Forces. Fear not -- you won't have to go hunting through pawn shops to get your Kyle Katarn fix. The game recently showed up on the ESRB's list of adjudicated titles, slated to land on the PSOne Classics platform.

We've contacted LucasArts to find out a time frame for the game's arrival on the PSN. As for the new listings for XS Junior League Dodgeball and XS Airboat Racing, we ... man, we just don't know who we'd contact about those.

Hey PlayStation faithful! I’m returning to my favorite spot on the internets. With all these new announcements, I just can’t help myself.

This time, I’m very proud to announce our latest PlayStation Mini, Freekscape: Escape From Hell. The game will be available this Thursday, April 8 in North America for $4.99 (and in Europe for €4.99)

Developed by our good friends Kidguru Studios in Brazil, Freekscape: Escape From Hell introduces Freek, a cute little demon who has discovered a magic trident. Inspired by the trident’s powers, Freek becomes determined to ascend out of the Netherworld and into Heaven. But, of course, he needs your help.

Freek encounters a variety of unusual creatures in his fire-laden underground world. His new-found trident allows him to capture those crazy crawlers and turn them into different tools, depending on their abilities. For example, while an elastic-bed-like monster transforms the trident into a pogo stick, a sharp toothed goblin turns it into a cutting machine.

Freekscape: Escape From Hell is a full 3D, side-scrolling platformer created for the PlayStation Mini platform. So, why is this cool? Because you can play it on your PlayStation 3 *and* you can play it on your PSP! One game, two machines… get it? Play on the couch at home, and then take it in the car. You never have to be without your trusted demon buddy, Freek!

We’re very excited about launching another PlayStation Mini, and we couldn’t keep doing what we love without you. From everyone at Creat Studios and Kidguru Studios, thank you for your support and please keep the comments coming.

We know there have already been a couple of Mass Effect 2 discounts worth posting about, but this latest one is for those who need the whole "As The Galaxy Orbits" saga (so far). Amazon is currently bundling Mass Effect 1 and 2 for $50. Let us be as clear as a Drell's memory: if you like sci-fi, drama and shooters (at least, as far as the sequel is concerned), you owe it to yourself to hit the purchase button on this deal with the quickness of being shot through a Mass Relay.

The game of the year contender recently added the Firewalker DLC and will shortly add a new squad mate, Kasumi, to Shepard's Benetton advertisement* of intergalactic brothers and sisters in arms.

*If someone wants to photoshop that, we are totally unopposed.

Get Instant Gaming Gratification for Young'uns and Old-Schoolers Alike

#konami Hey, iPad owners are you ready for more iPad versions of iPod Touch/iPhone games that have already been released? More »

#hotflashes Tremors, a 1990 comedy/horror film about underground monsters terrorising a small town in Nevada, is about the best thing Kevin Bacon ever did. It's also the best flash game I played all weekend. More »

Are you one of the few people who still need new content on the PS2? It looks like Sony may be reaching into the depths of its PSP archive to find more ports to bring to the aging console. The ESRB has appended its rating for Syphon Filter: Logan's Shadow -- the latest (and arguably greatest) entry in Sony's stealth franchise -- with both PSP and PS2 as the listed platforms.

It seems to be quite a stretch to think that Sony would invest the time and money to release a PS2 port so late into the system's life cycle (we've contacted Sony and the ESRB, to be clear). And while Logan's Shadow is a terrific game, it's strange that Sony would want to port a game that is already nearly three years old. Perhaps that effort could be better used on creating a PS3 iteration of the franchise?

[Thanks, Matt S.]

#ipad Resident Evil 4 was great on the GameCube. PS2 as well. On the iPhone, though, it wasn't so great. Could an iPad version be any better? More »

#clips Now that the iPad has been released, that means it's time for taking it apart and seeing what's inside. Oh, what wonder awaits! More »

#screengrab The force is strong with this one, so increase speed, drop down, reverse direction! As seen on TeeFury. More »

#strippers Pasties past·ies pl.n. "A pair of adhesive patches used to conceal a woman's nipples and worn principally by exotic dancers or striptease performers." More »

#patent Apple's products can get as shiny and popular as they want, but so long as they take the button-less, touch-screen iPhone design route, they'll have a problem when it comes to games: rubbish controls. More »

#neongenesisevangelion And drink from! More »

#clips Star Wars games have often tried to paint the franchise in a different light, from Super Star Wars' over-abundance of bad guys to LEGO Star Wars' fondness of plastic dismemberment. But these animation shorts, these are different. More »

#nothankyoujpg Whether it be comic books, exploitation cinema or cheesy TV, Quentin Tarantino might be a pop culture connoisseur. There is one type of pop culture he is not interested in, and that's video games. More »

#japan After some of Japan's biggest manga creators voiced opposition, Tokyo's virtual child pornography bill has been delayed — leaving many to believe it is dead. However, Osaka Prefecture has decided to consider the ban, but with added provisions. More »

#movies Just because a game isn't a AAA franchise doesn't mean it can't work as a movie. Take Hitman, for example. OK, bad example. How about Red Faction! More »

#clips How do you make Tetris better? Or, for that matter, PC strategy series Starcraft? You could always try playing some Tetris using Terran buildings in the Starcraft 2 beta. More »

#answerkotaku This weekend, the iPad went on sale in the United States. Did you hear? Many people bought it. There were lines. Hoopla. A review! And pants stuffing. Did you buy an iPad? Or did you buy something else? More »

Here’s another part of Sonic and Knuckles that I never knew about. Some of you may know this one, but I think it will surprise many others! Check in at the 1:20 mark.

- Adventure-platforming with lots of exploration - John Sanders is the main character. - IR pointing for diving direction: press B to dive where the pointer aims, B twice for a push - Push affects oxygen/health bar - You can recharge oxygen/health by collecting air bottles - Radar for air bottles / main objectives / treasures - Defense: Use the speargun [...]