All Topics Gaming older than one year ago

If you thought you knew what to expect from Catherine, the HD debut from Atlus's Persona team, you were probably wrong. The first screenshots of the action-adventure game for grown-ups are equal parts cheesecake and nightmare.

Main character Vincent is first seen dining with the beautiful Catherine, and then, um, walking around some kind of labyrinth in his underwear, gradually turning into a sheep. He is told he has to endlessly climb the stairs of this nightmare world in order to avoid death. Famitsu indicates that the "action" in this action-adventure takes place in this nightmare world. We expect to see those sheep creatures in our own nightmares soon enough.

#gamescom2010 The PlayStation Move magic game Sorcery charmed us when presented on stage at E3 earlier this year. Does the enchantment hold now that we've played it ourselves? More »

World's best free-to-play MMO introduces new adventure pack featuring underwater combat.

#gamescom2010 Wednesday was press day at the massive Gamescom event in Cologne, Germany. That means our guys out there were working hard playing games, interviewing and all that good stuff. Here's ALL of Kotaku's second day worth of Gamescom-related excitement. More »

Ryu vs. Kazuya vs. Chun-Li vs. Nina! Yeah, that just happened.

Players who participate have the opportunity to win an Apple iPad.

More action and fewer cut scenes.

The first trailer for Torchlight 2 doesn't dance around the issue: The original Torchlight should have had multiplayer. As such, be prepared to be bombarded by the fact that Torchlight 2 does have multiplayer, and that it appears to be a (magical) blast. Basically, the trailer makes 2011 seem really far away.

#handson Killzone 3's multiplayer is loaded with features new to the series, including five career paths, three times as many character levels to unlock and dynamic cut-scenes that highlight the top player's in-game efforts. More »

I’ve been a supporter of Insomniac Games ever since I played Spyro the Dragon on the original PlayStation that still sits proudly beneath my TV. Therefore, it was a genuine Pleasure to meet the company’s President, Ted Price, at gamescom in Cologne.

First of all, I was keen to hear how it felt to finally spill the beans on the two PlayStation 3 games, Ratchet & Clank All 4 One and Resistance 3, that they have been secretly working on.

“It’s a relief!” Ted replied. “Our fans are very vocal on the forums about what we’re doing and now we can finally confirm that we are making these games and that they are going to be awesome.”

It has been a huge year for Insomniac Games an I was also set on finding out how important it felt for them to reassure PlayStation fans of their commitment to their big first parties IPs.

“We’ve had such a great relationship with Sony over the years that we felt it very important to remind people that we’re still great partners and that we still have great franchises that we’re working on,” he said. “What we’re going to see what from Ratchet & Clank and Resistance is going to be fresh; I think that we’ve demonstrated that at the SCEE press conference.”

I started asking about Resistance and asked why they have opted to debut the game via a live action trailer.

“That was really to set the tone; to give people a taste of what of what’s coming with Resistance,” he said. I asked whether this is something we can expect to see in the full game but, with a smile, was told that we’re not talking about that.

So, moving onto Ratchet & Clank All 4 One, I asked where the idea of co-operative gameplay was borne.

“Co-operative gameplay is something we have been talking about for a long time. We have experience with co-op with Resistance and it’s a natural fit for Ratchet because there are so many people who love to play Ratchet & Clank games with friends or siblings, and we have so many characters that naturally work well together. However, I have to tell you that this is being made by Insomniac North Carolina and I’m sitting back and helping with advice here and there, but they’re really driving this.”

It was hinted in the press conference that the game would be ‘co-op with a competitive edge,’ so I asked Ted to elaborate on this.

“You saw it today where all of the players are collecting bolts and earning points, and we’re not talking about what they’re going to do with what they collect right now, but you can interpret quite a bit from what you see.”

It was there we left. It was a pleasure to meet one of my gaming heroes and I’m in an eternal state of wonder over what Insomniac Games will do next. In case you’re wondering too, here’s another look at the two trailers they released at gamescom:

THQ has announced that WWE Smackdown vs. Raw 2011 will not only come with multiple covers, but a devastating clothesline to used game buyers. The manual will include a code that can be redeemed for "online access and the game's first DLC package," with Chris Masters as a playable character and Halloween-style costumes for Rey Mysterio and Kelly Kelly. Those who buy the game used (presumably without the code) will need to buy the DLC for 800 MS points, or $9.99 on PSN. "Project Ten Dollar"? Isn't that the new TLC match team?

Elsewhere, in the list of features actually available on the disc itself, wrestling fans will find a WWE Universe mode, an updated Road to Wrestlemania feature, more than 70 different WWE personalities and a custom character creator, plus the usual roundup of punches, kicks and sweaty holds in more than 100 different match types. Check them all out in a trailer after the break -- no in-the-box redeem code necessary.

#metroid Team Ninja's upcoming Metroid: Other M is heavy on story. But what if you haven't paid attention in past Metroid games? How the hell will you know what's going on? Allow Metroid's heroine Samus Aran to explain. More »

Since its release, the PS3 has put up a strong wall against hackers. The piracy problems that have plagued other systems (including Sony's own PSP) just haven't been an issue. Now a group purports to have designed a USB plug-and-play device that defeats Sony's copy protection.

The PSJailbreak device is intended not only to allow retail PS3 games (and not Blu-Ray movies, DVD movies, or backward-compatible games) to be played from a hard drive, but can also block Sony's mandatory (and frequent) firmware updates, effectively protecting itself against obsolescence. For players with an interest in opening up their consoles for homebrew development, and not necessarily swashbuckling, it also enables the use of homebrew games and applications. (Seriously, don't be a pirate.)

At least, that's according to PSX-Scene and OzModchips.com, the latter of which posted a video of the technology in action (seen after the break). The technology's effectiveness hasn't been definitely proven (and we do not suggest and Sony has yet to provide comment. Perhaps that comment will come in the form of a new PS3 firmware update?

Shake your money-maker.

Fresh new images of b-ball action.

#gamescom2010 Namco held an unusual event at Gamescom today to give its European audience a peek at Street Fighter X Tekken. But fans of both fighting games also got a sneak peek at its successor sibling, Tekken X Street Fighter. More »

#legal Former Sony employee 58-year-old Hidehiro Kume invented a small optical pickup that is used to read and write discs in the PlayStation 2 and the original PlayStation. He didn't feel Sony recognized his contributions, so he took it to court. More »

Amidst so many Gamescom titles that seemed to tread familiar ground, Ubisoft's From Dust stood out with its impressive technology and wholly non-violent gameplay. We had a chance to speak with creative director Eric Chahi (who you may know as the creator of Out of This World) and producer Guillaume Bunier about their unique project. Read our interview past the break.

New images just for the PC version.

Move along, Harry Potter.

The third game in the Badman series cometh!

#clips Upcoming Alpha Squad doesn't look like your typical Xbox Live indie game. That's for sure! The game features music from Stemage of Metroid Metal fame, art from Genzoman and apparently "hot chicks" that need rescuing. More »

We now know that Sony's PlayStation Move minigame collection, Start the Party, is supposed to be zany, thanks to subtle cues in this trailer like cartoon sound effects and sped-up/reversed footage of people playing it.

Similarly, we know The Shoot is all about shooting, because of subtle cues in its trailer like the game's title and everything that happens in the trailer. See both after the break.

Can you resist slicing up everything in sight?

#gt5 Karts, custom tracks, it's been a big week for Gran Turismo 5 at GamesCom. And if you like screenshots of the game's garage, online modes, and, yes, its karts, it's about to get bigger. More »

Let's see. Poorly lit hallways, bloody graffiti on the walls, an otherworldly red glow, dudes with guns, dilapidated playground, creepy little girl and the unfortunate fellow seen here. Yup, must be new F.E.A.R. 3 screens from Gamescom. Turn the lights off and check 'em out.

The demo of LittleBigPlanet 2 that was shown at Cologne's Gamescom this week was similar to the build shown off to great effect at E3 a few months ago. But there was one significant level-editing feature that was being demonstrated for the first time here: a music sequencer that's also quite a bit more.

LittleBigPlanet 2 Technical Director Alex Evans demonstrated the sequencer, which lets you arrange notes on a four-measure grid with the beat at the bottom and multiple octaves of notes running vertically. You choose from a selection of instrument samples including a honky tonk piano, acoustic guitar, drum kit, beatbox, and roughly 30 more that were shown in the demo (more are expected for the final game, Evans said). Notes can be built into samples, which can then be repeated and mixed further via a larger timeline object in the level creation screen.

#clips Upcoming Alpha Squad doesn't look like your typical Xbox Live indie game. That's for sure! The game features music from Stemage of Metroid Metal fame, art from Genzoman and apparently "hot chicks" that need rescuing. More »

We've been told before that the Xbox 360's Kinect would work when "an experience is developed with sitting in mind," but we hadn't had the opportunity to really test that. In a Gamescom meeting, where we saw the Kinect version of the Xbox dashboard, we tried out the menu system and movie controls to test its recognition of seated users:

• Sitting in a chair: Definitely works.
• Sitting on the floor: Works.
• Reclining while facing the Kinect: Works.
• Reclining with the Kinect at our side: We couldn't get this to work, but we've been told that it will by launch.
• Using another human as a coffee table (should have taken photos!): Kinect recognized the person behind the human coffee table trying to control the movie.

According to Microsoft, Kinect was running on an improved version of the software used during E3 in June. The manufacturer is set to make further improvements before the camera's November debut.

No, MotorStorm Apocalypse is not stealing ideas from other recent racers.