Solatorobo: And Then to Coda for DS is kind of an unofficial sequel to the PlayStation furry/mech adventure Tail Concerto. It's apparently set in the same universe, featuring cameos from Tail Concerto characters. It's also developed by the same studio, CyberConnect2, which most recently made news for hooking up with Capcom on the weird Asura's Wrath.
But even for people like me who never got around to playing Tail Concerto -- and even for people who avoid anthropomorphic animals -- Solatorobo is a surprisingly engaging game that is fun just to interact with.
#dlc
Part of the story in "Claptrap's New Robot Revolution," the fourth add-on to Borderlands set to arrive Tuesday, is that bosses from previous installments of the game have been "Claptrapified." The achievement list tells us of three. More »
#dealtaku
Tuesday I was turning onto the Delta Highway up here and some shitbag in a Dodge Charger wouldn't let me merge. I drive a Mustang. All I could think about was this scene. More »
The latest iteration of O-Games' "phenomenally successful" PDC World Championship Darts franchise is getting two no-brainer features: support for PS3's Move controller and Wii's MotionPlus add-on.
#originals
Summer transited to Fall this week as Civilization V deployed, Project Milo met an unfortunate end, Nintendo celebrated its 121st (yes, really) birthday, and Activision's boss drew sharp rebukes for his comments to investors. The week in Kotaku Original reporting: More »
Kids with amblyopia, or "lazy eye" as it's commonly known, are familiar with the treatment/ritualistic torture of having a patch put over the good eye and being made to read, in order to strengthen the weaker eye. This doesn't work as well for adults with the condition -- unless they're playing video games while patched.
That's the takeaway from a study by a group at the Helen Willis Neuroscience Institute at the University of California, Berkeley. According to GamePolitics' summary of the study, 40 hours of gameplay using the "bad" eye was equivalent to 120 hours of normal, non-game-specific occlusion therapy. The test patients experienced an average of 30 percent improvement in visual acuity.
Joystiq is not qualified to dispense medical advice, but it sounds like -- if your bad eye is still good enough to figure out what's going on in a video game -- this might be worth trying. Suddenly the impossible dream of being able to kind of see the 3DS's stereoscopic effect seems within reach for the first time.
[Image credit: Magiceye.com. (The image is basically indecipherable for those with amblyopia.)]
Want a free copy of MySims and an exciting trip to the bathroom? Taco Bell and EA have partnered up on a new Kid's Meal promotion. Starting today, Taco Bell Kid's Meals will offer one of three MySims-branded items: a sticker case, a MySims Sky Heroes activity poster or a full copy of MySims for PC.
Giving away a video game with a kid's meal certainly gives the appearance of a great value. We're surprised other game companies haven't rushed at the opportunity to create themed kid's meals. Imagine: a Pokemon Happy Meal, with a new in-game critter in each bag. You'd catch 'em all after only 500 meals or so!
No, seriously, every Serious Sam HD game is seriously 75 percent off all this weekend on Steam -- meaning Serious Sam HD: The First Encounter for $3.74, The Second Encounter for $4.99, and the recently released Gold Edition for $10 (which includes both remakes and the originals).
This deal is unfortunately exclusive to PC Steam gamers, as the titles have yet to receive the Mac treatment. And that's seriously a shame, isn't it?
Courtesy of the below-embedded trailer for "The Writer" - the purported final piece of Alan Wake DLC - comes the release date and, with it, the end of Alan's journey, both narratively and (for now?) commercially. Come October 12, you'll once again rejoin Alan Wake in his nightmare world, a strange place populated by photosensitive murderers and floating words, and "end the nightmare" as the trailer proclaims. Like "The Signal," the game's first DLC episode, "The Writer" will cost a reasonable 560 Microsoft bucks ($7 Earth bucks) and feature "intense action." After watching the Bright Falls lighthouse explode a bunch of dudes in the trailer, we're going to agree with that assessment.
Occasionally, a Penny Arcade strip will make a pithy observation that we'd actually like to see come to fruition -- as was the case in this week's Wrapup-winning strip, "Dotage." Then again, we're not sure how long these "adult" playlists could remain untainted by the teenage cyborg scourge.
Nathan Fouts, former Insomniac designer and now-head of indie dev Mommy's Best Games, has tweeted that his latest game, Explosionade, has hit a small snag. Originally expected on the Xbox Live Marketplace by the end of the day tomorrow, a last-minute bug discovery has made it necessary for Fouts to resubmit the game for peer review.
Fouts told site Nukezilla "the game has to wait at least 7 days before it can resubmit" and that "we're shooting for next weekend at this point," putting the release on (or slightly before) October 3. We can't think of a better way to pass the time than playing MBG's previous XBLIG releases, Weapon of Choice and Shoot 1UP.
Xbox.com: Add Weapon of Choice to your Xbox 360 download queue (400 MSP / $5)
Xbox.com: Add Shoot 1UP to your Xbox 360 download queue (80 MSP / $1)
Games aren't always going to keep their $60 price tag -- at least, that's what THQ president Brian Farrell believes. Speaking at the recent "Goldman Sachs Communacopia XIX" investors conference, Farrell described the future of the industry, one that allows for more flexibly priced goods. He offered a glimpse at the future by discussing the company's next (currently unannounced) MX game. Due in fiscal 2012, the title will experiment with a "hybrid" model that combines a budget price point and extensive DLC.
"What we're doing this time is coming out initially with a smaller game at a lower price point, at the $29-$39 range, and then doing a download model for different modes, different tracks, different vehicles. We call it hybrid because it's a take on the microtransaction and DLC models," he explained to investors. By offering a smaller game at a smaller price point, Farrell believes they can capture the budget gamer "no matter what." However, by adding extensive microtransaction options, gamers can buy into as much as they want. "If a person wants to spend a $100 on a game then they can do that as well."
THQ's next MX game is just another example of the shifting economies within the video game industry. For example, THQ's Red Faction Battlegrounds represents yet another part of the company's experiment to diversify game pricing. EA has also been expanding its digital portfolio with its own "Project Ten Dollar" initiative. "Whether it's a take on this model or the free-to-play model, this is where our industry is going," Farrell added.
As Castlevania: Lords of Shadow approaches, Mega64 celebrates the series with a tribute to the crystal-tradingest, corpse-huntingest game in the series, Simon's Quest. The "villagers" are as incomprehensible in real life as in the game, but one "extra" still manages to steal the show.
#clips
Going by its ability to render the classic Sonic the Hedgehog casino style level—this one's cleverly named Casino Street Zone—the episodic, old-school style Sonic the Hedgehog 4 is looking like a winner. More »
The core Borderlands game is now $30 as part of the Xbox 360 and PS3's respective "hits" lineups. If you're interested in the full Borderlands experience, the "Game of the Year Edition,", which includes all four DLC packs (regularly priced at $10 apiece), the math suggests you wait until October 12 for the $60 bundle.
Borderlands' final piece of DLC, "ClapTrap's New Robot Revolution," is set to begin next Tuesday, September 28. There will also be a free update sometime in October, increasing the game's level cap to 69 and rebalancing the title to accommodate the DLC released over the past year.
If you saw that awfully cute trailer for EA's upcoming MySims Sky Heroes title, you probably wondered the same thing everyone else did: What's a decidedly M-rated character doing in an E-rated setting? Not only does Dead Space's Isaac Clarke make a cameo in the game as a playable chibi pilot, but Mass Effect's Commander Shepard is there as well. Joystiq cornered MySims assistant producer Matthew Salazar at a preview event today to find out.
"This is not just a game for kids," he said. "It's the sort of game that the older generation will play with the younger generation." And the references don't stop with EA characters. "There are a lot of Top Gun references in here," he confided, "and no 10-year-olds are going to get all of those." The characters may be M-rated, but Salazar doesn't expect the kids to see them that way. When younger players see the Isaac character, "there's just a cool spaceman in a suit."
And the development team had a selfish reason to include some famous EA characters as well -- "we did it because we think it's cool," said Salazar. All of video gaming's big mascots in the past, like Mario and Sonic, have been cuddly and family friendly, so it's funny to think of grimy M-rated characters as cute brand representations, but in this game, that's what they are.
#wah
The starting lineup ratings for NBA 2K11 went out yesterday, and centers were notably underweight. None rated 90 or above, a superstar badge (Dwight Howard was 88) and five of the bottom seven players are pivots. One expressed his displeasure. More »
If there were ever a time we'd call upon the advice powers of financial guru Suze Orman... now would be that time! After a full calendar year of triple-A releases, we're on the precipice of the sinister Q4 launch schedule -- packing so many good games in such a short window that we're hyperventilating just thinking about its potential effects on our wallets. Hard purchasing choices will be made over the next couple of months for the sake of our family stability, housing and ability to eat.
#ubisoft
The Prince of Persia franchise may have dodged a bullet this generation, saving fans from the discomfort of seeing the series thrust into the modern age, an idea that was ultimately scrapped for a PoP reboot of a different nature. More »
Ubisoft once considered a rather drastic reboot for its Prince of Persia series, former employee Jonathan Jacques-Belletête revealed to Xbox World 360. Now working for Eidos, Jacques-Belletête described the canceled project as Prince of Persia "in the contemporary world." The pitch was described as "a bit Day After Tomorrow, but replace the snow with sand."
The pitch was eventually shelved, likely due to the continued progress of the already in-development cel-shaded Prince of Persia and Assassin's Creed. Considering the direction Ubisoft is taking the latter series, a modern PoP may have been perceived as too similar. However, given Ubisoft's quick decision to abandon the cel-shaded reboot, we wouldn't be surprised if Ubisoft reconsiders reviving this idea from its vault.
#genesis
Blockbuster's second Video Game Championship contest, for SNES and Genesis, ran nationwide in 1995. Stores had to destroy the cartridges after the contest. Someone made 100 reproductions to help completionists fill a gap in their collect. About 40 are left. More »
The video after the break gives us a look at the nonlinear gameplay of The Witcher 2, as told through a fireside round of tall tales, tongue planted firmly in cheek. The important part: You don't want to mess with this Witcher guy. He'll kill you dead. Seriously, dude is mean.
#ps3
Two rumored high-definition ports of PlayStation 2 games, bound for the PlayStation 3, look less like rumors today, as box art for the Mortal Kombat HD Arcade Kollection and Prince of Persia 3D Trilogy has apparently been outed by retailers. More »
Not much is known about The Last Guardian, Team Ico's first game for PS3, but PlayStation Blog has posted a short Q&A with Fumito Ueda, the creative director behind the mysterious title, and it offers some insight into the game.
Ueda clarifies that The Last Guardian is not a "pet game," although the player will be protected by Trico, a giant guardian "animal." The player's character is a boy -- with no name ... "yet" -- who must escape from the location seen in the trailers. While Ueda doesn't outright confirm it, he does tease that players could run into other creatures the size of the guardian.
While that might bring to mind the epic boss battles that comprised Ueda's last game, Shadow of the Colossus, he reiterates that "the boy is unable to defeat the enemies on his own." The mechanics of The Last Guardian's gameplay aren't fully in place yet, Ueda explained, but "it doesn't take much time to change the control scheme." The end result is likely to be something more accessible than Shadow of the Colossus, though. "I also want people who are not serious game players to try out this game. So I want the controls to be simpler than before."
APB lead character artist Jimmy O'Ready is moving on -- but not far -- from former employer Realtime Worlds, which hastily collapsed earlier this month. O'Ready will remain in Dundee, Scotland, where he has launched Montynero, made up of two art studios: Montynero Characters and Montynero Concept Art.
"The character art for APB was praised by the industry, thanks to a strong team effort over many years," O'Ready told GamesIndustry.biz. "For my part, I'm interested in basing this company in Dundee, which is a great city full of talent, and collaborating on the next generation of game art with companies across the globe."
Previously, O'Ready worked at EA on the SSX and Need For Speed franchises.
#screengrab
Artist David Hsu Yen re-imagines Link and Ganon from The Legend of Zelda with God of War flavor in his gorgeously rendered "Link of War," quickly following that with an unlikely Metroid-Shadow of the Colossus artistic mash-up. More »
