Kotaku

Hey, Look at These Max Payne 3 Postcards [Max Payne]

Evan Narcisse — Wed, 16 May 2012 20:30:00 EDT

Max Payne 3 throws a lot of highly stylized violence at you and almost all of it is beautiful to look at. But you've got to keep moving through Rockstar's latest release in to order to get Max the answers he desperately craves, which means you can't necessarily enjoy the ambiance as much as you'd like. More »

Which Video Game Controller Is Best? No, Seriously. Which? [Burning Questions]

Kirk Hamilton & Jason Schreier — Wed, 16 May 2012 20:00:00 EDT

For this week's Burning Questions, Jason and Kirk talk about video game controllers. Which controller is better, Xbox or PlayStation? What do touch-screens like the Wii U and the Vita hold for the future? Is the Kinect good for anything except pausing Netflix videos (and is it even that good at that)? What is the difference between "Effect" and "Affect"? More »

Midweek Moneysaver: Credit for Your Payne [The Moneysaver]

dealzon — Wed, 16 May 2012 19:30:00 EDT

This Wednesday edition of Kotaku's The Moneysaver catches all the offers, promotions and bargains that can't wait until the weekend. The Midweek Moneysaver is brought to you by Dealzon. More »

I Just Saw The Last of Us in Action, and It Looks Amazing [The Last Of Us]

Stephen Totilo — Wed, 16 May 2012 19:00:00 EDT

I just watched two people from Naughty Dog play The Last of Us in Santa Monica. It was the best demo for a game I've seen since Assassin's Creed III a few months ago. More »

Free-to-Play Football Title Loses Its NFL License [Video]

Owen Good — Wed, 16 May 2012 18:30:00 EDT

News and notes from around the world of sports video gaming: More »

Activision and EA Settle Case Over Call of Duty [Breaking]

Kirk Hamilton — Wed, 16 May 2012 18:28:00 EDT

Activision and EA have agreed to file a settlement agreement in their dispute over Call of Duty, according to a Bloomberg report. More »

League of Legends World Championship Promises 'The Biggest Payday in eSports History' [Video]

Owen Good — Wed, 16 May 2012 18:20:00 EDT

League of Legends will put $5 million up for grabs this summer and fall in its second annual world championship series, pitting the winners of six regional championships against one another at the University of Southern California's Galen Center on Oct. 13. More »

Two Fitness MMOs Go Mano a Mano with Their PvP Plans [Gamification]

Owen Good — Wed, 16 May 2012 18:10:00 EDT

Last year I profiled Fitocracy, which isn't a video game per se but a gamified fitness regimen that draws from concepts familiar to role-playing video games. One MMO analogue it lacked, however, was the idea of player-vs.-player combat. More »

Report: Activision Tried To Dig Up Dirt On Ex-Call of Duty Developers [Breaking]

Jason Schreier — Wed, 16 May 2012 18:04:00 EDT

The ugly court battle between Activision and its former employees has gotten even uglier. More »

Madden Hopes Its New Theme Will Be Music to Your Ears [Video]

Owen Good — Wed, 16 May 2012 18:01:00 EDT

Madden NFL 13 will sound a lot different this year. Some quarterbacks will call audibles in their own voice. Bone-crunching hits have been mixed in from NFL Films audio. The crowd is going to explode on big plays and go stoic on drive-killing turnovers. More »

Remembering The Glory That Is Final Fantasy XI On Its 10-Year Anniversary [Speak Up On Kotaku]

Speak Up — Wed, 16 May 2012 17:30:00 EDT

Can you believe it has been a decade since the release of Final Fantasy XI? Zasalamel certainly remembers. More »

Starhawk: The Kotaku Review [Video]

Kate Cox — Wed, 16 May 2012 17:00:00 EDT

Starhawk is a third-person shooter. Actually, scratch that, let me try again: Starhawk is a fighter-pilot game. Although... only sort of. Maybe Starhawk is a real-time strategy game. More »

Diablo III's Whimsical Secret [Video]

Mike Fahey — Wed, 16 May 2012 16:30:00 EDT

Remember back when everyone complained about the bright colors and rainbows appearing in the latest installment of Diablo? Blizzard does. Blizzard never forgets. You'll never forget it either, so don't click here unless you want one of the game's more entertaining secrets revealed. More »

Reminder: The Game Club is Talking Diablo III Tomorrow! [Blip]

Mike Epstein — Wed, 16 May 2012 16:15:00 EDT

Getting over your Diablo III login blues? I hope so, because the Game Club's first meeting is tomorrow! Make sure you take a break to come discuss the game with the rest of us at 4pm Eastern. More »

What It's Like Playing Diablo III With A Crappy Graphics Card [Diablo]

Jason Schreier — Wed, 16 May 2012 16:00:00 EDT

You will die. Frequently. More »

Way to Kick the Competition While They're Down, EVE Online [Screengrab]

Mike Fahey — Wed, 16 May 2012 15:55:00 EDT

EVE Online developer CCP takes a break from running massively multiplayer online games less successful than World of Warcraft to poke fun at those diabolical Diablo III errors. As seen on my desktop. More »

Your PC Doesn't Have to Break to Be Turned Into a Planter [Case Mod Of The Week]

Mike Fahey — Wed, 16 May 2012 15:40:00 EDT

Some people merge the organic and electronic by working with wood. Mike Schropp of Total Geekdom has created an entirely new way to mix plant and machine with a custom PC case that grows grass. I think he should call it the grow box. Catchy, huh? More »

Nvidia Wants to Stream Your Next GPU to You [Nvidia]

Kate Cox — Wed, 16 May 2012 15:20:00 EDT

NVidia made a splash at the 2012 GPU Technology Conference (GTC) this week, with the announcement of their first virtual, cloud-based GPU. More »

Unravel Society's Disaster in Analogue: A Hate Story [Analogue: A Hate Story]

Kate Cox — Wed, 16 May 2012 15:00:00 EDT

It's the far future. You're a salvager, and you've been notified that a derelict, ancient 25th-century colony ship, one of the generation ships Earth sent out eons before you were born, has been found drifting aimlessly in space. Your task is to dig through all of the log files you can turn up on board the long-abandoned Mugunghwa and find out just what happened to the ship, its passengers, and its crew in centuries long gone, and why it never reached its destination. Welcome to Analogue: A Hate Story. More »

Here’s Why You Should Take a Vacation with Dynamite Jack [Video]

Evan Narcisse — Wed, 16 May 2012 14:40:00 EDT

A little while back, I took a look at Dynamite Jack and really enjoyed the explodey stealth action provided by this indie game.
More »

Tribes: Ascend Breaks 1 Million Downloads in Its First Month [Blip]

Kirk Hamilton — Wed, 16 May 2012 14:30:00 EDT

Hi-Rez' free-to-play shooter Tribes: Ascend is doing quite well—it has been downloaded 1.2 million times in its first month, with 110,000 people joining through the game's friend-referral system. More »

Does the GeForce GTX 670 Spell Trouble For AMD? [Techspot]

Steven Walton | Techspot — Wed, 16 May 2012 14:20:00 EDT

After many months of talking up its latest architecture, Nvidia reclaimed the single-GPU performance crown with its GeForce GTX 680, which outpaced the Radeon HD 7970 by about 7% in our tests. Kepler's arrival forced AMD to slash prices across its Southern Islands lineup, including a $70 drop on the HD 7970, putting it at $479 or about 4% cheaper than the GTX 680's MSRP of $499. More »

Tera MMO Log Part Two: An Axe to Grind [Video]

Mike Fahey — Wed, 16 May 2012 14:00:01 EDT

Having spent a couple of weeks in the exiled world of Arborea in the delicate boots of a pretty pink Sorcerer, for my second MMO log I decided to take the long, strange trip to mid-level madness in something a little more sturdy. More »

The Ultimate Video Game Setup [Screengrab]

Jason Schreier — Wed, 16 May 2012 13:45:00 EDT

This image has been circulating everywhere on the Internet today, and for good reason: it's friggin' fantastic. With a setup like this, who needs real life? More »

These Real-Life Versions Of Video Games Are Wonderfully Bizarre [Photos]

Jason Schreier — Wed, 16 May 2012 13:30:00 EDT

I admit it's really strange to see Pac-Man with legs, but I love this picture nonetheless. More »

Here’s How Epic Mickey 2 Will Look on the Xbox 360 [Video]

Evan Narcisse — Wed, 16 May 2012 13:00:00 EDT

Part of what you'll see in this latest teaser for Epic Mickey 2 is how the game looks on the Xbox 360. Warren Spector and the other developers from Junction Point talk up the visual upgrade that comes with moving to the PS3and Xbox 360 after having the first Epic Mickey come out only on the Wii. And that sure does seem to be a green A button. Better visuals and hope for a better camera? This Mickey game might be epic after all. More »

Peter Molyneux Will Provide Expert Analysis During E3 on Spike TV (And So Will We!) [E3 2012]

Stephen Totilo — Wed, 16 May 2012 12:30:00 EDT

Peter Molyneux is a creator of great video games, a recipient of the Order of the British Empire and, in the first week of June, he'll be the world's greatest E3 pundit, to boot. More »

Ballistic SE Explodes an Orgy of Kaleidoscopic Chaos onto Your Eyeballs [Video]

Evan Narcisse — Wed, 16 May 2012 12:00:40 EDT

Gorgeous explosions. Fast, frantic action. Clever, customizable design. These elements drive Ballistic SE into the category of games that reconfigures what you can expect out of a mobile gaming experience.
More »

Crying At Your Mailbox Is Only Appropriate When Lamenting The Absence Of Diablo III [Video]

Tina Amini — Wed, 16 May 2012 12:00:05 EDT

Nothing can elicit as much pain from your mailbox than not receiving the expected package of Diablo III. More »

Max Payne's Bullet Time Adds a Gritty Noir Edge to Eating E-Z Cheese [Video]

Mike Fahey — Wed, 16 May 2012 12:00:03 EDT

What, you thought bullet time was just for shooting? That the voice of Max Payne's wife only haunts him during times of duress? More »

Chalk Warfare Will Make Your Childhood Feel Incomplete [Video]

Tina Amini — Wed, 16 May 2012 12:00:02 EDT

Where the hell was this when I was a kid? Why did no one tell me about this hardcore spin-off of chalk gameplay? More »

Wednesday Watch This, Play This [Watch This Play This]

Wed, 16 May 2012 12:00:00 EDT

Watch! The boring version of Max Payne and Bullet Time.

Lionhead Possibly Making a Hybrid MMO/Offline Game for the Next Xbox [Lionhead]

Evan Narcisse — Wed, 16 May 2012 11:30:00 EDT

Now that iconic game designer Peter Molyneux has left the studio he founded, many have wondered what might be next for Lionhead. According to several job listings, it might just be an MMO. More »

Halo 4 Will Have Weekly Multiplayer Episodes [Halo]

Jason Schreier — Wed, 16 May 2012 11:00:00 EDT

Upcoming first-person shooter Halo 4 will have a whole bunch of multiplayer options, including a weekly episodic mode called "Spartan Ops," publisher Microsoft said today. More »

Gorgeous New Crysis 3 Screens Show Off Destroyed New York [Crysis]

Jason Schreier — Wed, 16 May 2012 10:45:00 EDT

Check out these beautiful new pictures and concept art for Crysis 3, the upcoming sandbox shooter that will be released next year for Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, and PC. More »

Talk Amongst Yourselves [Official Kotaku Frorum]

Evan Narcisse — Wed, 16 May 2012 10:30:00 EDT

Welcome to Kotaku's official forum, known affectionately as Talk Amongst Yourselves. This is the place where we gather on a daily basis to discuss all things video game and existential. Want to talk about new games, old games, games that aren't even out yet? Knock yourselves out! More »

How I've Been Playing Diablo III, You Know, Aside From Sporadically [Diablo]

Mike Fahey — Wed, 16 May 2012 10:00:00 EDT

While Diablo III's error codes are being raved over by the gaming press, they've also managed to add an exciting element of chance to the review process. More »