All Topics Gaming older than one year ago

#summer Cool nights on the ocean front, the arcade beckons. What's your favorite beach arcade memory? More »

Insert joke about moose here.

Insert joke about moose here.

Insert joke about moose here.

Finally, a chance to link the Plants vs. Zombies theme song again! Oh, and we've got some news too, but first -- let's just load up the theme song again real quick.

Okay! Now that we've got that pumping in the next tab, we can get down to the news: PopCap is bringing its tower defense game, Plants vs. Zombies, to Xbox Live Arcade in "early September" for 1200 Microsoft Points ($15). (The earliest it could launch in September would be Wednesday, September 1.)

Aside from improved graphics (full 1080p!), the Xbox 360 port will also boast 21 different minigames, two new modes (Co-op and Vs.) and a "house" feature where players can create a custom space that tracks progress and has leaderboards for sizing up which of your friends has the greenest thumb of all.

If you like your games planted on disc, PopCap also plans to launch Plants vs. Zombies, along with Zuma and Peggle (both already featured in PopCap disc compilations), as an Xbox 360 retail compilation. The disc release is expected to shamble to retail shelves "this fall" for $20.

A roundup of all that was new in the most popular Facebook games this week.

If you played GoldenEye at E3, you only got to check it out with a Classic Controller. Now we hearing that the Gamescom demo is going to change things up with Wiimote pointer controls. It’ll be good to see what the game plays like with that style of control.

Voters give nervous Josh a snout ring.

#videogamesummer As sure as spring gives way to summer, Kotaku's 2010 Summer Reading List is here to help you get your portable video game fix during the sunny, sandy situations where gaming isn't an option. More »

Didn't get a chance to try your hand at the RTS trickery of RUSE over the past weekend? You'll be glad to hear the free multiplayer demo has been extended to this Wednesday, July 21, at 6PM ET. We've got mixed feelings, as we're happy to keep playing RUSE, but we're sick of all these tricks! Enough!

Just this once, we promise not to rely on killing metaphors to describe Assassin's Creed 2 deals. It's too easy. Instead, let's say that the AC2 DLC and Avatar items are at least 25 percent cheaper for Xbox Live Gold members this week. Suffice it to say that the prices have been cut ... Damn.

Microsoft's new console boosting sales.

Greetings everyone Ramone Russell here with another ModNation Monday update!

MNR Creations of the Week

Amazing creations in ModNation get shared every day and we are playing a ton of them. If you are interested in submitting your mod, kart or track to be a future “creation” of the week be sure to visit up on the official ModNation Community site and who knows? You might see your handy work on the PlayStation.Blog.

Mods of the Week

Mod Name: Al Bundy (Detailed)
Creator: masongoliver

Karts of the Week

Kart Name: Trixmobile v1.0
Creator: LastChance1985

Tracks of the Week

Track Name: Spectacular Village
Created by: StealthReborn–

StealthReborn—says “I just wanted something simple and not too complex so it would suit the casual type gamers, yet be entertaining for the advanced racers. There’s allot to see, and it’s very detailed. When you leap off one of the jumps towards the end of the track, it gives you a spectacular view of the entire map before you cross the finish line. No parts of the track are boring, there are plenty of things to avoid and see.”

Track Name: Castle Crashin’ [BWB]
Created by: Barberian912

Barberian912 says “Loosely inspired by Tolkein’s citadel city Minas Tirith, race through this multi-tiered city to the top of the tallest tower (there are 6 different routes to the top). Hit the ramp at the end of the stone walkway and fly out over the town into the farmlands beyond! Many different shortcuts but all are balanced well.”

Hot Lap Roster for this week

Continuing with the trend we started weeks ago this weeks Hot Lap roster features all new community created tracks.

• Monday: The Farmer’s Daughter, by Coty4803
• Tuesday: Spectacular Village, by StealthReborn–
• Wednesday: Castle Crashin’ [BWB], by Barberian912
• Thursday: Toucan Valley [OFRD], by VintageOctopus
• Friday: Maverick Mountain, by Devin93
• Saturday: Pyramids of Giza, by TheMaddMerlin
• Sunday: Just Deserts, by Shox121

Sheriff Sirloin and Kart available tomorrow!

Previously only available via special pre-order offers, this week’s DLC is Sheriff Sirloin and Kart is finally available. They can be purchased separately or as a bundle from the PSN.

More Patch Details

On top of optimizing load times, one of the things a lot of you have asked for is the ability to play with your friends in XP races. Well, I am very pleased to share with you that UFG has added this feature and it will be available in the upcoming patch as well. The patch is nearing the final development stages with UFG working hard to iron out some bugs before it will be ready for release.

ModNation Podcast

The creators of LittleBigPodcast Daniel and Austin have been huge Play, Create, and Share supporters from the start. Now they have continued their support with ModNation with the ModNation Podcast! They are up to 5 episodes already and cover topics from creation basics to videos of the hottest tracks online.

More news next week, until then… see you in the ModSpot!

- The status screen contains a character menu with profiles of each person you meet - Other members of Adam’s squad are Maurice, James Pierce, K.G. Wong, Lyle and Anthony Higgs. - Missile expansions add only one missile - upgrades Energy Parts=0 and Accel. Units=0. are in the current demo build Thanks to KillerHeroes for the heads up!

#theysaiditonapodcast The Metal Gear Solid demo for the Nintendo 3DS was one of the most impressive sights at E3 last month. Who knew what lengths its developers went to keep it secret, even from their co-workers? More »

#summer What do summer and StarCraft 2 have in common? Sand castles of course! No, not sand castles of course! But we're doing a fun sand castle contest anyway! More »

In a recent interview with Japanese gaming news site 4Gamer (as translated by Andriasang), Chiyomaru Shikura, the CEO of music publisher 5pb, revealed his upcoming foray into the world of interactive electronic games. When asked about his upcoming projects, Shikura explained that one title will carry quite a bit of clout -- specifically, the one on which he's collaborating with "Konami's Hideo Kojima."

"Kojima said that he wanted to make an adventure game," Shikura explained, adding, "we're still at the level of 'let's lock ourselves away in the mountains somewhere and work on the plot,' so the specifics haven't been finalized." If this project comes together, we're really hoping to see some classic-style, point-and-click adventure game puzzles -- just imagine what positively insane item combinations Kojima could think up.

Zelda Spirit Tracks has Link, a lowly train engineer, tasked with restoring the kingdom's disappearing railroad tracks.  The ghost of Princess Zelda is your sidekick, who hopes to be reunited with her demon-possessed body.

The main quest consists of:

1. Drive train to new temple (sometimes you have to do a side quest to get there)
2. Beat temple to unlock next floor of the Spirit Tower.  Drive back to tower.
3. Beat new floor by using Zelda to control Phantoms.  Unlock new tracks.
4. Repeat 1-3

The temples and tower floors all had enjoyable puzzles offered new experiences new to Zelda.  Some classic items return, and the new items were creative and fun to use.  Thank goodness you dont have to repeat the same temple over and over like you did in Phantom Hourglass.

Driving the train is much better than the boat of Phantom Hourglass, IMO.  Instead of wandering around a vast ocean, you almost always know exactly where to go and how to get there.  You still have to actually ride the train there (which kinda feels like Pac-Man), but usually you get there quick enough to not be frustrating.  Also the wild-west-ish music is catchy.

My biggest gripe is that the gameplay is a little too linear.  There are a few side-quests, but most of them seems to involve collecting stuff and shuttling cargo around the map.  Being restricted to railroad tracks doesn't leave much for exploration.  All the towns are very small with only a few buildings and people.  Maybe a linear adventure is better suited for a portable system, but hopefully the Zelda series is not eventually reduced to just a collection of dungeons.

Bottom line: Zelda:ST improves on Zelda:PH in every way.  It's worth playing just to see the charming interactions between Link and Zelda.

A video Part 1 of "The Pink Lady Diaries".

#facebook According to Sony Ericsson, the new pinball game on its Facebook page is perfect for the social networking site because pinball has also been a social game. More »

When Okamiden was first revealed, we learned that Chibiterasu would be accompanied by several different companions, each offering their own unique abilities. Until now, though, we'd only ever seen the young warrior Kuninushi.

Inside his head is the rhythm of a computer. Taking charge of Mario’s music is Koji Kondo (27 years old). He began his studies on the electric organ when he was in kindergarten. He doesn’t begin composing for a game after the story and images have all been completed, but rather he joins in the same [...]