| PixelJunk 1-4 Has A New, Proper Name
May 25, 2009 at 9:00 pm
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|   Despite the inherent goodness of their previous games, Q-Games' upcoming PixelJunk 1-4 was never going to sell with a name that sounded like a Mario Stage. So it's been changed to something more marketable. And that name is PixelJunk Shooter. The title was settled upon after users were allowed to nominate their own ideas for a name, and since the game involved shooting, Shooter was the winner (Actually, PixelJunk Elements was the winner, but it didn't work out, so Q-Games binned it).  Shanghai is looking rather worse for the wear in Army of Two: The 40th Day. Panicked civilians scurry through the streets as buildings come toppling down seemingly at random.  The News: The Associated Press reports that Sony Corporation is planning to cut their number of parts suppliers in half next year. It's part of the company's overall plan to turn around the recent financial losses from the poor economy.  It's safe to assume that James Bond isn't a big massively multiplayer online game player. Sure, he has probably dabbled with World of Warcraft on one of those long flights from England to Russia, but we doubt orcs and paladins are really his thing.  Battlefield Bad Company 2 doesn't reinvent anything, but it doesn't really need to either.Earlier this month I had a chance to sit in on an 12-on-12 multiplayer match of the game in the spacious and snowpacked Snowbound level.
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| Studio Ghibli RPG Looking Good
May 25, 2009 at 8:00 pm
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|  Last we heard, Studio Ghibli were taking their sweet time providing the art and animation for Level 5's RPG Ninokuni. One look at these new screens will have you understanding why. The stuff the anime maestros are coming up with for the game is real top-shelf stuff, and unless Level 5 completely drop the ball - which seems unlikely because, well, they're Level 5 - this one should be one of the more pleasant surprises for 2009 (or whenever it's released in the West).  Purple sneakers? Hah. Nothankyou. Oh! Unless they're custom purple Cons covered in Grim Fandango artwork. Now that, that we can consider. Reader Tonks - who also made those Noby Noby and Phoenix Wright kicks - sends us his latest work...  The latest batch of nasty, devilish things to join the Diablo III bestiary are the "Fallen Ones," a quintet of horned demons that feature some returning foes, with nary a hint of rainbow amongst them.  The PlayStation 3's Blu-ray drive has its advantages, as proven by the Watchmen: The End is Nigh The Complete Experience, a two-disc set collecting the game and the film for the PlayStation 3.  Does Resonance of Fate, the newest RPG to come from the JRPG mavens at tri-Ace, have a fancy-pants battle system with an ostentatious name? Of course it does! It's a tri-Ace game! In fact...
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| Turn Your iPhone Into a GameBoy
May 25, 2009 at 7:30 pm
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|  Infectious makes skins for everything from iPods to cars, but what interests me most over on their site right now is this slick iPhone skin. Monochrome is a set of stickers that makes your iPhone look like an old school handheld, perhaps even a Gameboy. The front features fake little red buttons and a D-pad and the back has a full blown system pic complete with monochromatic game screen.  Power Glove --> Wii Remote…. Power Pad --> Balance Board… NES Zapper --> Wii Zapper… R.O.B. --> ??? We are in a robot mood this week at Kotaku, the kind of mood that can make us miss the robots of yesteryear.  Australia, May 24, 2009 - It's a bit of a misnomer that Apple never supported gaming until recently Sure, most of this sudden burst of gamer-friendly content has come...  So iPhone games have, to date, been largely disappointing. Let's forget iPhone games for a minute, then, at look at an iPhone synth that lets you create your own 8-bit soundtracks.  Ah, yes, 8-bit chiptune. It's music that is performed and composed by using retro game hardware like the Famicom and the Gameboy as instruments. Love it, great stuff. And as far as Japanese indie chiptune record labels go...
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| How Square Enix Sees Its Future Sales
May 25, 2009 at 7:00 pm
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|  The build-up has been immense. These games have been years in the making. That's right, Dragon Quest IX and Final Fantasy XIII But we're expecting Dragon Quest IX this summer in Japan and later this year in North America. We're expecting FFXIII in Japan this winter and in America next year. What is Square Enix expecting? Sales, lots and lots of sales...  Back in January, Square Enix president Yoichi Wada said that Final Fantasy XIII would hit North America "in April 2010 or later." Much of the ensuing speculation has put an emphasis on "the later...  The Blu-ray exclusive Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children Complete can be summed up in about one sentence: 26 extra minutes and it still doesn't make any sense. However...  Warner Bros has offered $33 million for bankrupt publisher Midway -- a sum which would be enough to purchase the majority of the company and its assets.According to the release, Warner Bros.
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| The D.I.Y. Katamari Damacy Controller
May 25, 2009 at 6:30 pm
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|  Out of all the games that got their own unique controllers, there's one glaring omission: Katamari Damacy. Sure, maybe the game already took perfect advantage of the PlayStation 2's dual analog thumb sticks, but that didn't stop Esty product manager Do-it-yourself type Kellbot from churning out her own Katamari controller. Last we heard, Studio Ghibli were taking their sweet time providing the art and animation for Level 5's RPG Ninokuni. One look at these new screens will have you understanding why. Infectious makes skins for everything from iPods to cars, but what interests me most over on their site right now is this slick iPhone skin. Monochrome is a set of stickers that makes your iPhone look like an old school handheld... The build-up has been immense. These games have been years in the making. That's right, Dragon Quest IX and Final Fantasy XIII But we're expecting Dragon Quest IX this summer in Japan and later this year in North America.  Big companies make big promises at big shows like E3. We recently rounded up the promises made by Microsoft, Nintendo and Sony from last year's E3. Who can you trust going into E3 2009? Here are last year's performances.
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| FFXIII Billboards Appear In Los Angeles
May 25, 2009 at 6:07 pm
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|  Back in January, Square Enix president Yoichi Wada said that Final Fantasy XIII would hit North America "in April 2010 or later." Much of the ensuing speculation has put an emphasis on "the later," but Square Enix does indeed seem determined to have FF XIII localized by next year.1UP user Neo Donut brought our attention to these new advertisements in his blog, which recently appeared in Los Angeles. As originally posted on Square Enix Members (via the FFXIII.net forums), the new billboards promise a 2010 release date for North America. The build-up has been immense. These games have been years in the making. That's right, Dragon Quest IX and Final Fantasy XIII But we're expecting Dragon Quest IX this summer in Japan and later this year in North America. The Blu-ray exclusive Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children Complete can be summed up in about one sentence: 26 extra minutes and it still doesn't make any sense. However...  It's Memorial Day weekend, so Microsoft has gone ahead and revealed next week's Xbox Live Arcade titles so they can completely devote Monday to memorializing. Sure it's been out for two months on the PC...
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| E3 '08: Our Promise-Checking Round-Up
May 25, 2009 at 6:00 pm
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| Big companies make big promises at big shows like E3. We recently rounded up the promises made by Microsoft, Nintendo and Sony from last year's E3. Who can you trust going into E3 2009? Here are last year's performances... Witness the future-predicting powers of Xbox 360 executives and game developers. Just ignore the 1 vs 100 parts. — Microsoft's E3 2008 Promises Checked -  Is it E3 already? Not quite. On June 1, the media hubbub surrounding the Electronic Entertainment Expo will kick off in Los Angeles with a day of conferences from Microsoft (10:30 a.  This year, the first week of June belongs to video gaming. Over the course of four days every major video game developer and publisher in the world will gather in Los...  This week's Japanese hardware contest wasn't a proud one, with total hardware unit sales just barely cracking the 100,000 mark. Not good. But it was a winning week for the Nintendo DSi and Wii.  No More Heroes is a Wii game. Rumors have swirled for some time that the title was originally planned as an Xbox 360 title, but it ended up on the Wii instead. Game site 1UP asked Goichi Suda...
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| Take A Look At A DJ Hero Controller In The Wild
May 25, 2009 at 5:30 pm
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|  For those who haven't seen the latest issue of Game Informer, in which the DJ Hero controller was finally revealed in all its glory, here's a shot of Morgan Webb Amanda McKay cradling one. Uncomfortably. Because we'd already seen half the thing previously - and because, based on the latest issue of GI, we described the other half to you - there's not much left to discuss on how it works.  Not to be outdone by distinguished competitor Game Informer's cover reveal of BioShock 2's Big Sister, GamePro has given us our first third-person look at the star of the sequel, the new Big Daddy.  The relentless march of DJ rhythm games continues, as TransGaming launches their new development studio with Armin van Buuren – In the Mix for the Nintendo Wii. Perhaps best known for enabling PC games to play on the Mac...  We knew it was coming. Konami promised a reveal three days ago. Then there was the Famitsu ad. Finally, the teaser website went live. Well, folks, that site is now officially open, and all the buildup has proven to be nothing more than.
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| It Is Now OK To Wear White Pants
May 25, 2009 at 5:00 pm
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|  It's Memorial Day in the U.S., which means you may now wear one of your seasonal wardrobe staples. Just like these folks. You can run over rooftops in white pants. You can run up walls. You can beat up dudes while wearing white pants. You can hurt them. Dressed in white pants, you may slay vampires. You can throw fireballs while wearing you white pants.  Zombie apocalypse survivor Francis hates everything—vans, woods, boomers, kittens, sunshine. Now, in yet another Twitter/Left 4 Dead mash up, he can hate whatever you and the tweeting public hate.  Before you fire up the grill this Memorial Day, Nintendo has plenty of new downloadable goods to choose from. The Virtual Console's lone offering this week is the Genesis classic Clay Fighter... It's Memorial Day weekend, so Microsoft has gone ahead and revealed next week's Xbox Live Arcade titles so they can completely devote Monday to memorializing. Sure it's been out for two months on the PC...  Thanks to the doubly good update for the Spy and Sniper classes, Team Fortress 2 will be playable for free this weekend to Steam users who for some bizarre reason wouldn't already have the game.  Originally, Jerry Bruckheimer's The Prince of Persia was to be among the flotilla of summer blockbusters currently moored or en route to box offices around the nation this year.
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| New S.T.A.L.K.E.R Title To Feature "Complete Set Of New Locations"
May 25, 2009 at 4:53 pm
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|  S.T.A.L.K.E.R fans will have quite a few new locations to explore in the upcoming Call of Pripyat. And as one might expect from the title, many of them center on the real life district of Pripyat. "We will present a complete set of new locations in Call of Pripyat," public relations head Oleg Yavorsky told Rock, Paper, Shotgun... Last we heard, Studio Ghibli were taking their sweet time providing the art and animation for Level 5's RPG Ninokuni. One look at these new screens will have you understanding why. Infectious makes skins for everything from iPods to cars, but what interests me most over on their site right now is this slick iPhone skin. Monochrome is a set of stickers that makes your iPhone look like an old school handheld... The build-up has been immense. These games have been years in the making. That's right, Dragon Quest IX and Final Fantasy XIII But we're expecting Dragon Quest IX this summer in Japan and later this year in North America. Out of all the games that got their own unique controllers, there's one glaring omission: Katamari Damacy. Sure, maybe the game already took perfect advantage of the PlayStation 2's dual analog thumb sticks...
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| Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children Complete in 15 Minutes
May 25, 2009 at 4:30 pm
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| The Blu-ray exclusive Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children Complete can be summed up in about one sentence: 26 extra minutes and it still doesn't make any sense. However, because you're paying for this Blu-rayjust to get an extended sneak peek at Final Fantasy XIII and because I sat through the film twice to try and wrap my head around whatever new plot points they'd thrown in — I'll break it down for you in 15 minute format. The build-up has been immense. These games have been years in the making. That's right, Dragon Quest IX and Final Fantasy XIII But we're expecting Dragon Quest IX this summer in Japan and later this year in North America. Back in January, Square Enix president Yoichi Wada said that Final Fantasy XIII would hit North America "in April 2010 or later." Much of the ensuing speculation has put an emphasis on "the later...  Earlier this year, the movie comic-book Watchmen hit theaters, accompanied by the first episode of a two-part prequel game, The End Is Nigh, for the Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, and PC.
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| Xbox 360 | Army of Two: The 40th Day Hands-On Impressions
May 25, 2009 at 3:38 pm
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|  Shanghai is looking rather worse for the wear in Army of Two: The 40th Day. Panicked civilians scurry through the streets as buildings come toppling down seemingly at random. Fire and rubble collude to prevent your easy escape, and when they fail in their task, well-armed soldiers are there to pick up the slack... Big companies make big promises at big shows like E3. We recently rounded up the promises made by Microsoft, Nintendo and Sony from last year's E3. Who can you trust going into E3 2009? Here are last year's performances.  Xbox Australia have just revealed this new Xbox 360 hardware bundle, which will include an Xbox 360 Pro along with a copy of both Gears of War and Gears of War 2. It'll go on sale down under on June 4, and will retail for AUD$449 (USD$350).  Since there are custom Mii cake toppers, you'd think there would be cutom Xbox 360 Avatar. There are. Design firm Paul Pape Desgins is creating Avatars (along with sculpted Miis) based on the images users send in.
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| Grim Fandango Shoes Make Purple Sneakers Possible
May 25, 2009 at 3:30 pm
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| Purple sneakers? Hah. Nothankyou. Oh! Unless they're custom purple Cons covered in Grim Fandango artwork. Now that, that we can consider. Reader Tonks - who also made those Noby Noby and Phoenix Wright kicks - sends us his latest work, showing that his love, like ours, is as strong as ever for Tim Schafer's wonderful adventure game.  InFamous is supposed to be super-hero gaming done right. It's also the PlayStation 3 debut of one of the PlayStation 2's most ambitious development studios. Nothing could go wrong...  Or, maybe they're Mass Effect-ified. But the U.S. Army's concept for a soldier in the year 2030 definitely looks video game-ified - especially with its strength-enhancing exoskeleton and . It's Memorial Day weekend, so Microsoft has gone ahead and revealed next week's Xbox Live Arcade titles so they can completely devote Monday to memorializing. Sure it's been out for two months on the PC...
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| Left 4 Dead's Francis Hates Whatever You Hate
May 25, 2009 at 3:00 pm
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| Zombie apocalypse survivor Francis hates everything—vans, woods, boomers, kittens, sunshine. Now, in yet another Twitter/Left 4 Dead mash up, he can hate whatever you and the tweeting public hate. I Hate Vans taps into the hatred of the tedium, turning Left 4 Dead's tattooed sourpuss into an internet hating machine. You hate Mondays? Francis hates Mondays. You hate Memorial Day traffic? Francis hates Memorial Day traffic. You tweet your burning hatred for anything and Francis will back you up. It's Memorial Day in the U.S., which means you may now wear one of your seasonal wardrobe staples. Just like these folks. You can run over rooftops in white pants. You can run up walls.  Hey! It's more drip fed PR. This time, it's Capcom's turn to tease and tantalize its E3 new game announcement with the help of Twitter. Let's look at the clues, via website Cubed3: Is it Devil May Cry 5? DOH. Before you fire up the grill this Memorial Day, Nintendo has plenty of new downloadable goods to choose from. The Virtual Console's lone offering this week is the Genesis classic Clay Fighter...
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| Clay, Clocks, and Pop on Nintendo Downloads
May 25, 2009 at 2:36 pm
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| Before you fire up the grill this Memorial Day, Nintendo has plenty of new downloadable goods to choose from. The Virtual Console's lone offering this week is the Genesis classic Clay Fighter, which took the stop-motion animation to a very literal place. It costs 800 Wii Points ($8 USD). Joining it on WiiWare are two new games that take advantage of their retro namesake. First up is Bubble Bobble Plus! for 600 Wii Points ($6), which recreates the original Bubble Bobble stages as well as adds a new multiplayer "Arrange" mode, "Super Mode" puzzles, and "Ranking" mode. Australia, May 24, 2009 - It's a bit of a misnomer that Apple never supported gaming until recently Sure, most of this sudden burst of gamer-friendly content has come...  Playstation 3 exclusive inFamous is the AAA highlight for the coming week; it releases on Tuesday. Codemasters' alternate-reality Damnation leads a light week for 360.  Having already revived Tecmo Bowl on the DS last year (to middling results), Tecmo now plans to bring a more simplistic brand of gridiron action to the Wii with Family Fun Football.
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| Play Internet Guessing Games With Capcom
May 25, 2009 at 2:30 pm
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| Hey! It's more drip fed PR. This time, it's Capcom's turn to tease and tantalize its E3 new game announcement with the help of Twitter. Let's look at the clues, via website Cubed3: Is it Devil May Cry 5? DOH. Then our second game is Onimusha. If you enjoy guessing games, here's Capcom Unity's Twitter page. If you enjoy hamburgers, here is IN-N-OUT.  The stream of vague reveals and teases regarding Hideo Kojima's next game continues to trickle out. Here's the cover of PSW magazine, purportedly showing in silhouette the new game's main character.  Thanks, Lisa Kudrow. You're selfless shilling of Nintendo's DS puzzler Professor Layton and the Curious Village may have guaranteed the American appearance of the sequel.
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| Robots We Love: The Fruit Fucker 2000
May 25, 2009 at 2:00 pm
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|  Continuing our tribute to the most beloved robots in video gaming, we present to you Penny Arcade's own feed reaming, pulp ejecting produce fiend, the Fruit Fucker 2000. The Fruit Fucker 2000 first appeared as a punch line to a Penny Arcade comic about Blizzard trademarking hell, but he soon took on a life of his own, disturbing the hell out of Tycho and Gabe's better halves and eventually saving the duo from a horde of brain-hungry zombies. Purple sneakers? Hah. Nothankyou. Oh! Unless they're custom purple Cons covered in Grim Fandango artwork. Now that, that we can consider. Reader Tonks - who also made those Noby Noby and Phoenix Wright kicks - sends us his latest work...  Kotaku's newfound obsession with robots hs drawn mechanical video game characters from throughout time and space to do battle in the Robot Wars - and only you can decide... Power Glove --> Wii Remote…. Power Pad --> Balance Board… NES Zapper --> Wii Zapper… R.O.B. --> ??? We are in a robot mood this week at Kotaku, the kind of mood that can make us miss the robots of yesteryear.
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| Sony to Halve Parts Suppliers to Cut Costs
May 25, 2009 at 1:46 pm
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| The News: The Associated Press reports that Sony Corporation is planning to cut their number of parts suppliers in half next year. It's part of the company's overall plan to turn around the recent financial losses from the poor economy. The company will cut from 2,500 suppliers this year to 1,200 next year. The remaining suppliers will get more business, which Sony plans to leverage for better prices on parts.Our Take: This is a move for Sony as a whole, not the PlayStation division in particular, so it's hard to predict how it would impact that arm of the business.  Sharing LittleBigPlanet levels with your friends and strangers will soon be a lot easier, with a web-based portal on the way that will allow players to queue up levels using a handy web link.  Hmm, let's see. The PSP is doing OK, but not great. The iPhone, now, it's doing great. So what can the PSP do to be more like the iPhone? Get itself a music store! According to sources speaking with CNET...  Things heat up on PlayStation Home this Thursday, as the long-promised Resistance home space finally appears in a hail of turret-fire. The ruined cityscapes of Resistance comes to life tomorrow...
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| Halo Remote-Control Vehicles Hopefully Won't Explode So Easily
May 25, 2009 at 1:30 pm
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|  NKOK will be releasing later in the year a series of three remote-controlled vehicles based on those found in Bungie's Halo 3. One is a Mongoose, one is a Warthog, and the last...a Hornet. Yes, the nimble little UNSC flier is the most expensive of the three (at $39), and also seemingly the most popular, as it's already sold out over at online toy emporium BigBadToyStore.  Videogames and caffeinated beverages are often considered an inseparable duo -- especially from a marketing standpoint. First Mountain Dew concocted their Halo 3 and World of Warcraft varieties of Game Fuel...  Frustrated by the fact that you can't share your in-game Halo 3 movies without a video capture setup? Bungie is beta-testing a service that will set your clips free, for a price.  The games you're going to be able to play from super-producer Games. The grand collaboration between Pirates of the Caribbean and CSI producer announced in December 2007...
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| Both Gears Of War Games Bundled With 360 Hardware
May 25, 2009 at 1:00 pm
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| Xbox Australia have just revealed this new Xbox 360 hardware bundle, which will include an Xbox 360 Pro along with a copy of both Gears of War and Gears of War 2. It'll go on sale down under on June 4, and will retail for AUD$449 (USD$350). There's no word on whether this will be seen outside Australia.  The Nintendo Wii and DS obviously won't last forever -- certainly not in their current forms. Nintendo president Satoru Iwata admitted as much in an investor call (via Eurogamer)...  You'll never forget the first time you ducked behind cover in Gears of War or swung a bat in Wii Sports. Innovative features tend to create the most memorable gameplay experiences (and the biggest game sales).  Nintendo does not rest, Nintendo does not stop. Even with the success of the Wii and the DS, Nintendo keeps going. "We do not think that Nintendo DS and Wii will last forever," Iwata told investors in a recent financial briefing.
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| E3 Round Table: Sony's Big Plans
May 25, 2009 at 12:30 pm
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|  Over the past few week's worth of Bonus Rounds, GameTrailers' Geoff Keighley, Game Informer's Andy McNamara, N'Gai Croal's N'Gai Croal and Kotaku's me sat down to talk third-party developers and Microsoft's E3 plans. This week: Sony's E3 plans.
Is it E3 already? Not quite. On June 1, the media hubbub surrounding the Electronic Entertainment Expo will kick off in Los Angeles with a day of conferences from Microsoft (10:30 a.  Remember that bizarre story about former president Bill Clinton being approached for the role of the president in Fallout 3? Well as it turns out, that was more about an overzealous casting agent than anything Bethesda actually wanted.  Patent examiners at the European Patent Office (EPO) have to do a lot of manual work. Searching, flipping, typing, reading. And for their jobs, a mouse and keyboard just don't cut it.
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| Man Vs. Dog: Personal Trainer: Walking Grudge Match
May 25, 2009 at 12:00 pm
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|  Personal Trainer: Walking may be built for humans, but the game also supports tracking your dog's movements as well. The game comes with two digital pedometers, and it suggests clipping one on to your dog's collar to monitor its walking habits. Of course, I had to turn that into a challenge. Last week I measured the walking habits of myself and Tristan's puppy Chihuahua mix for a single day to see which of us walked around more in a given 12 hours or so... Is it E3 already? Not quite. On June 1, the media hubbub surrounding the Electronic Entertainment Expo will kick off in Los Angeles with a day of conferences from Microsoft (10:30 a.  Personal Trainer: Walking is a DS title that comes packed with two digital pedometers that sync with your DS to track how far you walk each day. It also happens to include the ability to create Mii on your DS.  Go to the Mii Channel. Press A. Press B. Press 1. Press and hold 2. Nintendo sent Kotaku copies of Personal Trainer: Walking yesterday, and while we think we don't need that much training to walk (left foot and then right foot...
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| Kotaku Robot Wars: The Beginning
May 25, 2009 at 11:30 am
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| Kotaku's newfound obsession with robots hs drawn mechanical video game characters from throughout time and space to do battle in the Robot Wars - and only you can decide who lives and who dies! The interspatial beacon high atop Kotaku tower has harnessed the power of our latest obsession, forging a temporal reality scoop that is gathering robots from throughout the history of gaming to do battle across the globe... Power Glove --> Wii Remote…. Power Pad --> Balance Board… NES Zapper --> Wii Zapper… R.O.B. --> ??? We are in a robot mood this week at Kotaku, the kind of mood that can make us miss the robots of yesteryear.  He's blue and sports an plasma-shooting arm cannon. He's Mega-Man — aka "Rockman" in Japan. Designed by Keiji Inafune, the character debuted in 1987 in truly horrible localized box art.  It's obscure game week on Xbox Live Arcade, with Wednesday seeing the release of Gastronaut Studio's Gel: Set & Match and Vector 2 Games' Blazing Birds. Gel: Set...  As we've seen, Capcom's swine flu contingency plans are in full effect. Step 1 was stockpile hygeine kits. Step 2? Stop executives from travelling overseas. Mega Man creator...
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| Mega64: The Kojima Code
May 25, 2009 at 11:00 am
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|  We've all pondered the ominous clouds found in Kojima's teaser...um clouds. Fortunately, Mega64 is here to set us all straight. The News: The Associated Press reports that Sony Corporation is planning to cut their number of parts suppliers in half next year. It's part of the company's overall plan to turn around the recent financial losses from the poor economy. Xbox Australia have just revealed this new Xbox 360 hardware bundle, which will include an Xbox 360 Pro along with a copy of both Gears of War and Gears of War 2. It'll go on sale down under on June 4, and will retail for AUD$449 (USD$350). InFamous is supposed to be super-hero gaming done right. It's also the PlayStation 3 debut of one of the PlayStation 2's most ambitious development studios. Nothing could go wrong...
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| inFamous Review: It's Electric
May 25, 2009 at 10:30 am
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| InFamous is supposed to be super-hero gaming done right. It's also the PlayStation 3 debut of one of the PlayStation 2's most ambitious development studios. Nothing could go wrong, right? A PlayStation 3 exclusive from development studio Sucker Punch, InFamous charges that something besides the ability to leap tall buildings in a single bound or to unsheathe Adamantium claws from the back of one's hands is the ultimate video game super-power: electricity... Playstation 3 exclusive inFamous is the AAA highlight for the coming week; it releases on Tuesday. Codemasters' alternate-reality Damnation leads a light week for 360. Earlier this year, the movie comic-book Watchmen hit theaters, accompanied by the first episode of a two-part prequel game, The End Is Nigh, for the Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, and PC. It's safe to assume that James Bond isn't a big massively multiplayer online game player. Sure, he has probably dabbled with World of Warcraft on one of those long flights from England to Russia, but we doubt orcs and paladins are really his thing.
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| If They Made A Wii R.O.B.
May 25, 2009 at 10:00 am
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| Power Glove --> Wii Remote…. Power Pad --> Balance Board… NES Zapper --> Wii Zapper… R.O.B. --> ??? We are in a robot mood this week at Kotaku, the kind of mood that can make us miss the robots of yesteryear. Robots like R.O.B., the robot so cool that he could play the Nintendo Entertainment System with you.  Tecmo's Fatal Frame for the Wii may be out of the picture, but horror-loving North American Nintendo fans have another title to look forward to. Xseed Games today announced...  The Wii is getting its first "haunted house simulator" this Fall with the North American release of Ju-On: The Grudge, based upon the Japanese horror film Ju-On, XSEED Games announced today.  Everything old is new again, as Nintendo and developer Next Level Games brings the classic boxing game Punch-Out!! to the Nintendo Wii. It's the original game all over again...  The Wii version of Punch-Out!! does a decent enough implementation of shadow boxing controls, thanks to the Wii Remote and Nunchuk option. But what about when you really...
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| Augmented Reality Camera Game Coming to DSi
May 25, 2009 at 9:40 am
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|  Swedish-developed Ghostwire will let you use the DSi's camera to hunt ghosts in the real world through augmented-reality gaming, developer A Different Game announced today. In the adventure title, gamers will use the DSi as a portal to the astral plane to find and collect ghosts that exist all around them. The game will also use the DSi's built in microphone. Once you find the ghosts you will have to figure out why they are haunting your world so you can help them find peace. The stream of vague reveals and teases regarding Hideo Kojima's next game continues to trickle out. Here's the cover of PSW magazine, purportedly showing in silhouette the new game's main character.  Say what you will about Saints Row 2, you can't say Volition aren't supporting the game post-release. They've just announced a second DLC pack for the game, called "Corporate Warfare".  Oscar winning filmmaker and budding game designer Steven Spielberg is! The idea man behind Boom Blox and the newly released sequel Boom Blox Bash Party shows what a lifetime of directing does to one's extremities.
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| Today Is Memorial Day, This Week Is Robot Week!
May 25, 2009 at 9:20 am
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| To: Crecente Hope every one in the States is having a good Memorial Day weekend. This week here at Kotaku Tower is a very special week — ROBOT WEEK. Robots are great. We love robots. I love robots. I named one of my family members after a robot. That's not a joke. That's me being dead serious. You can tell it by the way I typed it — dead serious like. Xbox Australia have just revealed this new Xbox 360 hardware bundle, which will include an Xbox 360 Pro along with a copy of both Gears of War and Gears of War 2. It'll go on sale down under on June 4, and will retail for AUD$449 (USD$350). Kotaku's newfound obsession with robots hs drawn mechanical video game characters from throughout time and space to do battle in the Robot Wars - and only you can decide... Power Glove --> Wii Remote…. Power Pad --> Balance Board… NES Zapper --> Wii Zapper… R.O.B. --> ??? We are in a robot mood this week at Kotaku, the kind of mood that can make us miss the robots of yesteryear.
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| Resident Evil 5 Sales Figures Get
May 25, 2009 at 9:00 am
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|  Speaking at the Reuters Global Technology Summit in Tokyo last week, Capcom CFO Kazuhiko Abe has revealed that Resident Evil 5 has sold just shy of 5 million copies worldwide since launch. Abe says that 4.4 million copies were sold worldwide in March, the month of the game's release, while a further 500,000+ (Abe says "sales came to as many as 570,000 units") in April has the game at around 4.9 million units sold. Add in any sales made so far during May - which haven't been recorded yet outside of Japan - and in all likelihood it's passed 5 million.  The first of Capcom's motherload of PS1 re-releases for the PlayStation Network arrives later this week, with the debut of Resident Evil: Director's Cut. It'll be part of the PlayStation Store's regular weekly update on Thursday...  Or, he does in this new figure from Hong Kong artisans Hot Toys, the third in their Resident Evil 5 series that so far also features our heroes Chris Redfield and Sheva Alomar.  The 2009 holiday season might be a bit more jam-packed than you may have already expected, according to GameStop CFO David W. Carlson (via Eurogamer). During the brick-and-mortar gaming retailer's Q1 earnings call...  Capcom's Chief Financial Officer, Abe Kazuhiko, has offered a glimmer of hope for Wii owners hoping to some day see a downgraded release of PS3 and 360 games on the system.
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| Let's Talk Big Daddy Prototype
May 25, 2009 at 8:00 am
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|  We've already gotten the first third-person look at BioShock 2 Big Daddy — in the sequel players get to be this "new" Big Daddy. New to us, but not the in-game world. "The player doesn't just play any Big Daddy, he plays a prototype Big Daddy — the very first one that was successfully created," BioShock 2 exec producer Alyssa Finley told website CVG. And as a prototype, this Big Daddy is quicker and more agile than the standard Daddy. The prototype also has the ability to switch weapons and use plasmids. However! It is not as powerful as the other Big Daddies. The 2009 holiday season might be a bit more jam-packed than you may have already expected, according to GameStop CFO David W. Carlson (via Eurogamer). During the brick-and-mortar gaming retailer's Q1 earnings call... Not to be outdone by distinguished competitor Game Informer's cover reveal of BioShock 2's Big Sister, GamePro has given us our first third-person look at the star of the sequel, the new Big Daddy.  When Kojima Productions launched a web teaser, many noticed "April 2007" written at the bottom of the page. People wondered what it referred to and if it was code for something.  Students at Vail Christian High School in Colorado are learning the importance of not driving while distracted. They're doing this with the help of Mario Kart Wii. The...
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| Noby Noby Boy Sets Foot On Mars
May 25, 2009 at 7:00 am
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|  The nay-sayers were wrong. Noby Noby Boy's Noby Noby GIRL has over the weekend defied all the odds and, stretching her supple frame across the cosmos, touched down on Mars. With player numbers dropping only a month ago, it seemed as though this feat would never be accomplished. And really, it shouldn't have been. Not this quickly, anyway. Creator Keita Takehashi - or at least the game's community manager - obviously tinkered with the calculations, boosting everyone's contribution to GIRL's progress and unlocking the new world to run around on and...do...stuff. The News: The Associated Press reports that Sony Corporation is planning to cut their number of parts suppliers in half next year. It's part of the company's overall plan to turn around the recent financial losses from the poor economy. Xbox Australia have just revealed this new Xbox 360 hardware bundle, which will include an Xbox 360 Pro along with a copy of both Gears of War and Gears of War 2. It'll go on sale down under on June 4, and will retail for AUD$449 (USD$350). InFamous is supposed to be super-hero gaming done right. It's also the PlayStation 3 debut of one of the PlayStation 2's most ambitious development studios. Nothing could go wrong...
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| You Cannot Stop Mai Shiranui Figurines
May 25, 2009 at 6:00 am
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|  Another day, another Mai Shiranui figure. Make that, another two — this one has a limited edition color variation. Released this month, figure company Volks released this 180mm-tall Mai Shiranui Queen's Gate version — yours for ¥8,000 (US$84.60). The blue version is the standard release, and the red version is limited edition. The King of Fighters? No, The King of Figures. Or Queen. Whichever.  Let's take a more intimate look at Elisabeth and Mature, the two new female fighters recently added to the roster of The King of Fighters XII. So who are these two new ladies...  Sure, Namco Bandai's Queen's Blade Spiral Chaos makes suggestive use of milk, but the PSP game is also packed with pointy and bouncy things. Queen's Blade is originally...  The King of Fighters XII is already out in Japanese arcades, but is coming to home consoles this summer. This is the latest Japanese trailer, complete with Japanese words. Watch it.  Thanks to Ignition Entertainment, The King of Fighters XII is coming stateside this summer, already packing some extra modes and DLC secrets that should satisfy the hardcore SNK fanbase.
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| Resident Evil 1 Shambles Onto The PSN This Week
May 25, 2009 at 5:00 am
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| The first of Capcom's motherload of PS1 re-releases for the PlayStation Network arrives later this week, with the debut of Resident Evil: Director's Cut. It'll be part of the PlayStation Store's regular weekly update on Thursday, May 28, and will cost $10. Resident Evil: Director's Cut, an extended version of the original, was first released in 1997. In addition to the main game, RE:DC randomises things like item placement and camera angles, as well as giving you some new character outfits. Well, "new" compared to those found in Resident Evil 1. InFamous is supposed to be super-hero gaming done right. It's also the PlayStation 3 debut of one of the PlayStation 2's most ambitious development studios. Nothing could go wrong... Personal Trainer: Walking may be built for humans, but the game also supports tracking your dog's movements as well. The game comes with two digital pedometers, and it suggests clipping one on to your dog's collar to monitor its walking habits. Speaking at the Reuters Global Technology Summit in Tokyo last week, Capcom CFO Kazuhiko Abe has revealed that Resident Evil 5 has sold just shy of 5 million copies worldwide since launch.
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| Kojima Productions Goes Hi-Tech For Magazine Teaser
May 25, 2009 at 4:00 am
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|  Kojima Productions' countdown clock? Blergh. This Kojima Production Famitsu teaser ad? Gimmicky, but in an un-frickin-believable way. Just watch this clip. Yep, that's right, augmented reality advertising. Now somebody teach the guy who made this vid how to focus and pronto!  After much waiting, mashing of the "reload" key, and mild swearing after hitting another "connection timed out" message, the latest cycle on the Kojima Productions "NEXT" countdown clock began anew just about an hour ago.  Metal Gear makers Kojima Productions are just hours away from revealing... something, as the developer's teaser page countdown clock is set to expire today. Who knows what Kojima and crew are planning? Famitsu might know.  As we predicted, but not as From Software planned, the countdown clock that launched last week gets its reveal in this week's Famitsu — on newsstands this Friday, leaked on the internet right now.  Is this a countdown to the next Metal Gear title in Hideo Kojima's titanic stealth series? An update to this strange website has some new clues for us to ponder. Could it be Metal Gear Solid.
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| Christian Bale, Screamer, Video Game Lover (Oh, And Actor)
May 25, 2009 at 4:00 am
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|  Christian Bale is best known for bananas at some cinematographer. He's also an actor! And like millions and millions of people on Earth today, he loves video games. While promoting Terminator Salvation, Bale told PhilStar.com, "Yes, I do love video games. I played video games in my entire growing-up years. One of my favorites is Super Mario. I wouldn't sleep until I finished the game, you know."  If you're looking for a big name to voice the president in Fallout 3, who would better to get than, well, a former U.S. President. Lev Chapelsky of the Hollywood firm Blindsight tried just that. This year, the first week of June belongs to video gaming. Over the course of four days every major video game developer and publisher in the world will gather in Los...  When trying to cast the President of the United States, who's better suited for the role than the pres himself? That was Hollywood-based talent acquisition agency Blindlight's thinking...
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| Modern Warefare 2 trailer drops in HD
May 25, 2009 at 4:00 am
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|  Feast your eyes on the newest HD trailer for Modern Warfare 2, from the creators of Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare. Infinity Ward dropped their full trailer for Modern Warfare 2 tonight, showing off a wide variety action scenes including a snowmobile battle, extensive knife fights, and one hell of a finale.  Along with that snazzy new trailer, Infinity Ward also released some new screenshots for Modern Warfare 2. Sadly, only one of them features a skidoo.  Destruction and mayhem were what the original Overlord was all about, and that trend continues in Overlord II, in which you start off as a little tyke known as the Overlad--eager and ready to conquer the world.  Eager for any morsel you can get from Modern Warfare 2 and Heavy Rain? Then you'd best tune in to tonight's episode of GameTrailers TV, as both games will be featured.  Yesterday, Rose McGowan and Tricia Helfer joined Geoff Keighley for a special live taping of GameTrailers TV. The E3 2009-themed special was packed with news, some of which splashed our way from the audience.  Bizarre Creations' Blur is "completely focused on making racing 'fun' again," according to its creators. You know the details, but do you know what Blur looks like? Well, it looks like this.
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| Robots We Love: Mega-Man
May 25, 2009 at 3:00 am
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| He's blue and sports an plasma-shooting arm cannon. He's Mega-Man — aka "Rockman" in Japan. Designed by Keiji Inafune, the character debuted in 1987 in truly horrible localized box art. The game was hard, the music was great, and the robot was and still is fantastic. Kotaku's newfound obsession with robots hs drawn mechanical video game characters from throughout time and space to do battle in the Robot Wars - and only you can decide... Power Glove --> Wii Remote…. Power Pad --> Balance Board… NES Zapper --> Wii Zapper… R.O.B. --> ??? We are in a robot mood this week at Kotaku, the kind of mood that can make us miss the robots of yesteryear. Oscar winning filmmaker and budding game designer Steven Spielberg is! The idea man behind Boom Blox and the newly released sequel Boom Blox Bash Party shows what a lifetime of directing does to one's extremities. As we've seen, Capcom's swine flu contingency plans are in full effect. Step 1 was stockpile hygeine kits. Step 2? Stop executives from travelling overseas. Mega Man creator...
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| Xbox 360 Avatars Ready To Stand On Your Cake
May 25, 2009 at 2:00 am
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| Since there are custom Mii cake toppers, you'd think there would be cutom Xbox 360 Avatar. There are. Design firm Paul Pape Desgins is creating Avatars (along with sculpted Miis) based on the images users send in. Each 4.5-inch, hand-sculpted cake topper Avatar is priced at US$100. Paul explains why: More in the link below. Earlier this year, the movie comic-book Watchmen hit theaters, accompanied by the first episode of a two-part prequel game, The End Is Nigh, for the Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, and PC. Is it E3 already? Not quite. On June 1, the media hubbub surrounding the Electronic Entertainment Expo will kick off in Los Angeles with a day of conferences from Microsoft (10:30 a. Tecmo's Fatal Frame for the Wii may be out of the picture, but horror-loving North American Nintendo fans have another title to look forward to. Xseed Games today announced...
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| Xbox 360 | New Modern Warfare 2 trailer revealed
May 25, 2009 at 1:39 am
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| Everything the world has seen thus far of Infinity Ward's upcoming Modern Warfare 2 has been a tease. The first trailer released during GDC showed almost nothing, while the second unveiled earlier this month only showing a few seconds of game play, with a promise to unveil more on May 24. It looks like developers Infinity Ward have made good on that promise, with the trailer released today showing more than two minutes of game play and cut scenes from the upcoming sequel to Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare. We've already gotten the first third-person look at BioShock 2 Big Daddy — in the sequel players get to be this "new" Big Daddy. New to us, but not the in-game world. Along with that snazzy new trailer, Infinity Ward also released some new screenshots for Modern Warfare 2. Sadly, only one of them features a skidoo. No More Heroes is a Wii game. Rumors have swirled for some time that the title was originally planned as an Xbox 360 title, but it ended up on the Wii instead. Game site 1UP asked Goichi Suda... Eager for any morsel you can get from Modern Warfare 2 and Heavy Rain? Then you'd best tune in to tonight's episode of GameTrailers TV, as both games will be featured.
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| New Modern Warfare 2 Screens
May 24, 2009 at 10:40 pm
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| Along with that snazzy new trailer, Infinity Ward also released some new screenshots for Modern Warfare 2. Sadly, only one of them features a skidoo.  We've been seeing a lot of very short glimpses of Modern Warfare 2 lately, but tonight's trailer, broadcast during the NBA playoffs, is a full two minutes. The latest batch of nasty, devilish things to join the Diablo III bestiary are the "Fallen Ones," a quintet of horned demons that feature some returning foes, with nary a hint of rainbow amongst them.  To go along with the new trailer, EA and DICE also released this morning some new screens for the upcoming Battlefield: Bad Company 2. The 2009 holiday season might be a bit more jam-packed than you may have already expected, according to GameStop CFO David W. Carlson (via Eurogamer). During the brick-and-mortar gaming retailer's Q1 earnings call...
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| Modern Combat 2: Trailer The Second
May 24, 2009 at 10:18 pm
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| We've been seeing a lot of very short glimpses of Modern Warfare 2 lately, but tonight's trailer, broadcast during the NBA playoffs, is a full two minutes. Along with that snazzy new trailer, Infinity Ward also released some new screenshots for Modern Warfare 2. Sadly, only one of them features a skidoo. The 2009 holiday season might be a bit more jam-packed than you may have already expected, according to GameStop CFO David W. Carlson (via Eurogamer). During the brick-and-mortar gaming retailer's Q1 earnings call...  It's been a terrible week for drip-fed PR stunts, but hey, it's a few brief seconds of Modern Warfare 2 footage we're talking about here. Some people are cool with that. Eager for any morsel you can get from Modern Warfare 2 and Heavy Rain? Then you'd best tune in to tonight's episode of GameTrailers TV, as both games will be featured. Yesterday, Rose McGowan and Tricia Helfer joined Geoff Keighley for a special live taping of GameTrailers TV. The E3 2009-themed special was packed with news, some of which splashed our way from the audience.
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| New Modern Warfare 2 Trailer Finally Premieres
May 24, 2009 at 10:13 pm
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| The long awaited new trailer for Modern Warfare 2 is finally here.After teasing the trailer during the NBA playoffs a few weeks ago and teasing it further on a recent episode of Game Trailers TV Infinity Ward have finally released their brand-new trailer for Modern Warfare 2. Clocking in at just over 2 minutes the new trailer features a voice over by Imran Zakhaev, one of the antagonists from Call of Duty 4... We've been seeing a lot of very short glimpses of Modern Warfare 2 lately, but tonight's trailer, broadcast during the NBA playoffs, is a full two minutes. Along with that snazzy new trailer, Infinity Ward also released some new screenshots for Modern Warfare 2. Sadly, only one of them features a skidoo. The 2009 holiday season might be a bit more jam-packed than you may have already expected, according to GameStop CFO David W. Carlson (via Eurogamer). During the brick-and-mortar gaming retailer's Q1 earnings call... It's been a terrible week for drip-fed PR stunts, but hey, it's a few brief seconds of Modern Warfare 2 footage we're talking about here. Some people are cool with that. Eager for any morsel you can get from Modern Warfare 2 and Heavy Rain? Then you'd best tune in to tonight's episode of GameTrailers TV, as both games will be featured.
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| Should Apple Enter the Console Business?
May 24, 2009 at 9:17 pm
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|  Australia, May 24, 2009 - It's a bit of a misnomer that Apple never supported gaming until recently Sure, most of this sudden burst of gamer-friendly content has come from the incredible successes Apple's seen with the iPhone and its downloadable applications, games and content, or 'apps'. However, their history with gaming – as a platform at least – stretches much farther back. Playstation 3 exclusive inFamous is the AAA highlight for the coming week; it releases on Tuesday. Codemasters' alternate-reality Damnation leads a light week for 360. Having already revived Tecmo Bowl on the DS last year (to middling results), Tecmo now plans to bring a more simplistic brand of gridiron action to the Wii with Family Fun Football. So iPhone games have, to date, been largely disappointing. Let's forget iPhone games for a minute, then, at look at an iPhone synth that lets you create your own 8-bit soundtracks.
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| Nana
May 24, 2009 at 8:00 pm
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| To: Luke From: Owen Re: Dog About to Bite Man As a nine year old in 1982, I was a true child of the video game boom. The arcades consumed a lot of my interest and enthusiasm, but in a way that was hard for any tow-headed fourth-grader to relate to adults who had no clue what this new craze was all about. Or, maybe they're Mass Effect-ified. But the U.S. Army's concept for a soldier in the year 2030 definitely looks video game-ified - especially with its strength-enhancing exoskeleton and .  One of the best films of theeighties, Ghostbusters still resonates today amongst hardcore fans and is stillone of the most revered and loved films of all time even 25 years after theoriginal film’s release.
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