All Topics Gaming older than one year ago

The Legend of Zelda really is the original open-world game! There may have been a title or two before it that took on the genre, but I think The Legend of Zelda really set a standard. Sure, Zelda isn’t exactly what we would call an open-world game of today, but you can definitely [...]

#speakup Speak-up on Kotaku returns this week, with commentary on the greatness of Final Fantasy X-2, a question about DSi travel cases, Aion banning, and getting sick of preorder bonuses. More »

There has to be something up with Princess Peach. How many times can one woman get kidnapped before she beefs up her security, or goes into hiding? It’s almost like Peach is looking to be kidnapped, and she wants that attention. Are we all just playing into her grand attention-whore scheme?!

But will he actually be in the game?

It appears that Joy Ride has been wiped as cleanly as possible from Xbox.com. Its game page is missing, and even the link to it from MS's E3 page has been removed. Joystiq contacted Microsoft for clarification and a spokesperson responded, "We're excited to bring BigPark's vision to life in 2010. However, we have nothing further to announce at this time." We followed up, specifically asking if "BigPark's vision" was still Joy Ride, if the game was currently in development and if it'd be shown at E3. The company has yet to respond to the request for clarification.

The latest on Joy Ride's status after it missed its 2009 launch was that it was going to be released sometime in 2010. Microsoft purchased Joy Ride developer BigPark last year and announced the kart racer with Avatar support at E3 2009. We'll update if Microsoft decides to let us see what's going on under the hood.

[Thanks, Pibs]

BELLEVUE, Wash. - June 2, 2010 - The Pokémon Company International and Cartoon Network announced that the 13th season of the Pokémon animated series, Pokémon: DP Sinnoh League Victors, will debut Saturday, June 5th at 7 a.m. EST/PST. The new season introduces Pokémon never before seen in the animated series and marks the final chapter [...]

#singularity The latest episode of Kotaku Talk Radio is ready for you to download. Listen to an hour of conversation between me and the amiable Jeff Poffenbarger, senior producer of upcoming first-person shooter Singularity. Cheese was discussed. More »

#xbox360 Last time we saw Microsoft's Project Natal in the wild, the prototype version of its Xbox 360 camera-controller was a mix of cute and creepy. Now, it's looking a hell of a lot more final. More »

It’s nice to see some promo material for the game, but it’s going to take a lot more than just posters to get North American gamers interested! Let’s hope this is just the start of a media blitz. Thanks to Kutage for the heads up!

#science While average blog readership is packed with the sort of hyper intelligent teenagers that have to be portrayed by 30-year-olds in TV dramas, many of the world's teenagers are prone to doing stupid things for stupid reasons. New research explains why. More »

On Sunday, June 13, Microsoft will host its Project Natal event -- you know, the gala event with Cirque du Soleil? There, we're betting we'll get details on launch price and date for Project Natal (not to mention its real name). Ahead of that event, however, we've got some interesting news on an upcoming Natal title, care of our Joystiq Superspy[TM].

We're told that Sega is prepping an Xbox Live Arcade game for Project Natal, titled Sonic Free Riders. As you may have guessed, it's a motion-compatible entry in Sega's racing series. We're told players will steer an on-screen avatar through bodily movement, and will acquire weapons and attack other racers by reaching out toward the screen and motioning towards other players, respectively.

It all sounds very intuitive, but will it be fun? We'll let you know in a few weeks when we touch down in L.A. for E3 2010! If this turns out to be true. Otherwise, it definitely won't be fun.

#iphone One of the biggest games/apps/whatever-it-is on the iPhone and iPod Touch, Pocket God, will be turned into a comic soon. Here's page three, the second page to be shown to the public (after this one). But what's the story? More »

Nintendo announced price drops for the DSi, DSi XL and DS Lite in Japan today. NIntendo UK has confirmed to MCV that a similar price drop will occur in that territory, starting June 18 -- but only for the DSi.

Because Nintendo UK chooses not to dictate the retail price of any of its consoles, Nintendo is simply cutting the trade price for the DSi in the UK (meaning retailers will purchase the system for less). It's up to the individual retailer to pass the savings on to the consumer (or not) -- though most retailers will want to cut prices fairly consistently with the market standard to remain competitive. MCV estimates that the retail price of the DSi would drop from the current £150 ($220) standard to around the £120-£130 ($175-190) mark.

Though we'd expect a similar announcement from Nintendo of America, the company told Joystiq that "We have nothing to announce on this topic at this time." Maybe it's saving it for E3?

#twits PlayStation pitchman/executive mascot Kevin Butler tweets some ill-advised trash-talking at an unnamed old west video game that might appear on the platform he favors. The Eye of Sauron in New York may not be amused. [Twitter] More »

Creative Assembly goes back to its roots.

Ten years later, Creative Assembly returns to the title that started it all.

Xenoblade (9/9/9/9, 36 points): “The massive field to explore, plus the sheer number of side quests, is enough to make you forget about the main story. The battles are also excellent, requiring you to constantly think about your position against the enemy’s.

PLATFORMS: iPhone®, iPod® Touch, PSP® Minis, and Nintendo® WiiWare RELEASE DATE: July 2010 PUBLISHER: Icon Games Entertainment Ltd. DEVELOPER: Icon Games Entertainment Ltd. ESRB RATING: E for Everyone GENRE: Puzzle MSRP: TBA WEBSITE: http://www.icongames.com/?p=631 PRODUCT OVERVIEW: Crashing to living rooms this summer, Soccer Bashi will take you on a journey experiencing endless possibilities. Similar to the classic game we’ve all experienced, Brick. This time [...]

Not exactly heavy metal.

Drive the Back to the Future time machine, deliver a pizza, or be the president.