Category Archives: Original

Kotaku Originals: Short and to the Point [Kotaku Originals]

Saturday, December 13th, 2008
Posted by Owen Good from Kotaku.

Funde Razor brought in the dough, PlayStation Home went live and had the inevitable launch crashes, and Luke defused a bomb by singing into a microphone. The week that was in Kotaku’s original reporting:

Highlights:
Kotaku Video Podcast: Excuses, Testicles and Resistance 2
Funde Razor Rocks Out Denver for Child’s Play
New Xbox Experience Brought a Jump in Online Sales to Live
Home Launches On December 11
Kotaku’s 2008 Gift Guide of Obscene Nicety and Sublime Naughtiness
Lips Review: Kinda Puckered Up

Reviews and Impressions
Warhammer 40k: Dawn of War 2 - Tyranids, Battle Strategies, and Smack
Flower’s A Breath Of Fresh Air
Frankenreview: Persona 4
Rock Band Portable Drum Kit Review: The Beat Of A Different Drum
Card-Based H-Game Princess Waltz Confuses My Sensibilities
Brothers in Arms: Hour of Heroes Micro-Review: A Touching Attempt
Skitching, Tasing and Water Bottles in Skate 2
Monopoly Here & Now: The World Edition Impressions
Frankenreview: Prince of Persia

News and Features
Xbox Live Christmas Crash Won’t Happen Again
White Knight Chronicles: The Box Art, The New Screenshots
Left 4 Dead Anti-Cheat Fix Released For Xbox 360
Please, Economic Crisis, Put An End To The Christmas Rush
And The Home Marketing Onslaught Begins…
EA: “We’ve Got Work To Do On The Wii”
Sony: Home Very Imminent, This Month Imminent, But Open Beta First
Gaming On A 103-Inch Plasma Television, Or Why You Should Embrace Split-Screen Multiplayer Again
2008: The Year Of The Casual Gamer?
Madworld Comes With a Taste of Multiplayer

Announcements:
Kotaku’s So You Didn’t Make it To Funde Razor Giveaway
What Do YOU Want Reviewed






Filed in Gaming, Industry News, Kotaku Originals, Original | | Link inside C.I.A.G. | Comments Off

Warhammer 40k: Dawn of War 2 - Tyranids, Battle Strategies, and Smack [Impressions]

Friday, December 12th, 2008
Posted by AJ Glasser from Kotaku.

Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War always intimidated me with the number of factions, units, and command points I had to babysit.

I’m the kind of real time strategy gamer who likes to sit in her base, bulk up, and eventually march a massive army across the map to blow up the other guy’s base. Dull, I know, but comfortingly familiar and really awesome to watch once you unlock the higher-level units.

My hands-on with Dawn of War 2’s multiplayer made me change my mind. And not because the complexity’s been bitched or because there’s less of what made the first game and its three expansions awesome.

Click here to read more.

Filed in Dawn of War 2, Gaming, Impressions, Original, Top, Warhammer 40K | | Link inside C.I.A.G. | Comments Off

Flower’s A Breath Of Fresh Air [Flower]


Posted by Jim Reilly from Kotaku.

Sony swung by this week to show off some of their early 2009 titles. Among the slew of Playstation Network games being demoed was Flower. Does it live up to the growing hype?

I couldn’t wait to finally get my hands on this game after hearing nothing but glowing impressions from E3. What intrigued me the most going in was the thought of not having to worry about shooting enemies, dying, or even having to learn complicated controls beforehand. After playing the first three levels, though, it made me realize something.

This game is unlike anything I’ve ever played or seen before.

If you’ve been following this game at all, you’ll know the detractors have been out in full force.

Click here to read more.

Filed in Gaming, Impressions, Original, Top, flower, playstation network, psn, that game company | | Link inside C.I.A.G. | Comments Off

Kotaku Video Podcast: Excuses, Testicles and Resistance 2 [Kotaku Video Podcast]


Posted by Brian Crecente from Kotaku.

If you can get through the four thousand “uhs” that kick off our latest podcast, you’ll catch myself, Mike McWhertor, Mike Fahey, Owen Good, Adam Barenblat and special guest MTV’s Stephen Totilo.

This time round we talk about the importance of having fun in a game, Resistance 2, multiplayer gaming, and other, uh, like stuff.




Watch The Resistance 2 Video Podcast on your iPod or Zune!
Right click save link as and download the video here.
Subscribe to our Kotaku Video podcast on iTunes and the Zune Marketplace.






Filed in Clips, Gaming, Kotaku video podcast, Original, PS3, PlayStation 3, Podcast, Top, resistance 2 | | Link inside C.I.A.G. | Comments Off

Kotaku’s So You Didn’t Make it To Funde Razor Giveaway [Contest]

Thursday, December 11th, 2008
Posted by Brian Crecente from Kotaku.

After laying out all of the stuff we gave away at Funde Razor last night, many of you pointed out that you wanted stuff too. And I totally understand, because who doesn’t want more stuff?

So as promised here’s what I have planned as our final giveaway for the year. I like to call it the Be A Kotaku Editor For the Day contest.

We’re going to give one lucky gamer a chance to hang out in the (virtual) Kotaku Tower for a day, take part in one of our video podcasts, get yelled out for slacking off and maybe even write a post or two that will be published on the site under their byline.

While we won’t be paying you (welcome to game journalism), we will be dumping a pretty sweet schwag bag on you, because nothing says games journalism more than a free keychain and XL T-shirt.

What are we giving away? I’m glad you asked:

The lucky winner will receive:

A World of Warcraft Wrath of the Lich King Collector’s Edition box set
A stupid little sheep cellphone do-hickie
A piece of Penny Arcade Adventures art
A Vault Dweller’s Survival Guide
A Street Fighter IV pin set from TGS
A Namco Bandai business card holder and keychain
A Metal Slug 7 dog tag
A set of Metal Gear Solid binoculars in a case
And a really freakin’ awesome Mega Man 9 t-shirt.

I’m not positive yet how I will be giving this out, but I’ll let you know tomorrow with a winner to be announced at the end of the month.






Filed in Contest, Gaming, Kotaku editor for a day, Original, Top | | Link inside C.I.A.G. | Comments Off

Frankenreview: Persona 4 [Round Up]


Posted by Mike Fahey from Kotaku.

Atlus adds yet another chapter to their beloved Shin Megami Tensei universe this week with the release of Persona 4 for the PlayStation 2.

Taking the series from the city into the Japanese countryside, Persona 4 is a murder mystery featuring a group of school children who discover a bizarre realm inside their television sets where their innermost thoughts and fears become a reality.

Does the 4th chapter in the series manage to live up to the high level of polish and style fans have come to expect? Journey into the bizarre world of the video game critics to find out.


Game Informer
Evil is most disturbing when viewed through pure eyes, and Persona 4 delves into the subject with haunting effectiveness.

Click here to read more.

Filed in Atlus, Gaming, Original, Persona 4, Ps2, Round Up, Top, frankenreview | | Link inside C.I.A.G. | Comments Off

Rock Band Portable Drum Kit Review: The Beat Of A Different Drum [Review]


Posted by Mike Fahey from Kotaku.

Striking out against the inconvenience of lugging around a full-sized drum kit everywhere you go, Mad Catz has created the Rock Band Portable Drum Kit, which reduces the drum experience to it’s bare essentials.

Part of their innovative line of official Rock Band peripherals that includes the dual-strumming Fender Bass and the microphone with 360 controls built-in, the Mad Catz Portable Drum Kit for the Xbox 360 aims to deliver a solid drumming experience in a packages tiny enough to stuff into your average shopping bag. Have they drummed up a solid addition to your Rock Band arsenal, or has Mad Catz missed a beat?

Loved
Portability, Duh: With it’s four stackable drum platters, low-profile foot pedal, and ultra-thin control mechanism, the Mad Catz Portable Drum Kit certainly lives up to its name.

Click here to read more.

Filed in Gaming, Mad Catz, Mad Catz Rock Band Portable Drum Kit, Original, XBox 360, review | | Link inside C.I.A.G. | Comments Off

Card-Based H-Game Princess Waltz Confuses My Sensibilities [Princess Waltz]


Posted by Mike Fahey from Kotaku.

JAST USA has just released the English version of popular Japanese hentai game Princess Waltz, which combines anime sex with card-based strategy battles in a way that has me very confused.

Eroge, hentai games, h-games - call them what you will. I’ve played them before, but by playing I generally mean skipping to the good parts and giggling in the company of friends. JAST USA’s latest release, Princess Waltz, interrupts the good parts with a nifty little card battling game that has your character facing off against a variety of monsters. The plot involves an event known as The Princess Waltz, which involves women battling to determine the queen of a fantasy kingdom.

Can Princess Waltz balance my general disinterest in h-games with my insane love of card-based video games?

Click here to read more.

Filed in Card-based, Gaming, Hentai, Impressions, Original, Porn, Princess Waltz, maximum risky | | Link inside C.I.A.G. | Comments Off

Xbox Live Christmas Crash Won’t Happen Again [Xbox Live]


Posted by Brian Crecente from Kotaku.

With Microsoft sporting a cheaper console and the need to upgrade all new Xbox 360s to the New Xbox Experience come Christmas morning, it seems that a repeat of last year’s Live crash is imminent.

Not so, says Aaron Greenberg, group product manager for Xbox 360.

“We’ve built a lot of infrastructure, a lot of behind the curtain no one sees,” he said. “This is something that Microsoft is good at.

“We are well prepared for the type of growth we expect this holiday.”

And if things do go sideways, Greenberg promises that Microsoft will be prepared.

“We will have people standing by, more people on hand than we’ve ever had before,” he said.

Click here to read more.

Filed in Gaming, Original, Xbox Live, aaron greenberg, outage | | Link inside C.I.A.G. | Comments Off

White Knight Chronicles: The Box Art, The New Screenshots [White Knight Chronicles]

Wednesday, December 10th, 2008
Posted by Luke Plunkett from Kotaku.

It’s a bumper White Knight Chronicles media update! Not only do we have a copy of the game’s sublime box art, but a bunch of new screenshots as well.

OK, most of them are new - you’ll find one or two familiar-looking ones - but the looks at character customisation and seriously in-game action are warmly appreciated.

Box art is below, new screenshots below that.


Filed in Gallery, Gaming, Level 5, Media, Original, PS3, White knight chronicles | | Link inside C.I.A.G. | Comments Off