This year is the 25th anniversary of Super Mario Bros. In the latest issue of game mag Famitsu, top game designers like Metal Gear Solid’s Hideo Kojima and celebrities like popstar Mari Yaguchi congratulate the title. A two-page spread in Famitsu features an array of quotes on the game’s anniversary. Kojima calls the title’s release…
World of Warcraft scams and scam artists are very real. You got to watch out, you got to be careful. Here are five ways you, the player, can protect yourself. Kotaku asked Rodney Gin, co-founder of website SiteJabber, to list a five ways players can steer clear of WoW scams. Site Jabber helps consumers avoid…
Sonic the Hedgehog 4: Episode I is a sequel 16 years in the making. Pitched as the direct descendant of 1994’s Sonic the Hedgehog 3, Sega’s taking the series back to a simpler time. Does Sonic 4 deliver? Sonic The Hedgehog 4 is a simple, straightforward 2D side-scrolling platformer, the kind Sega and Sonic Team…
This month, PSP title God of War: Ghost of Sparta is finally going on sale in Japan. Western players might be familiar with the franchise’s story, but that’s not the case for Japan. You know this game needs? It needs a manga that explains God of War. At Japanese bookstores, there are guides that give…
This screenshot from website Electricpig shows how a boss battle from the first Sonic game was updated for Sonic 4. The targeting system allows players to “lock on” to targets when they jump. It is particularly useful for attacking enemies. In the Casino Street Zone, Sonic can ride a deck of cards, which is one…
To: Crecente From: Bashcraft RE: San Fran! Micro-Bash, who turns two years old next month, is really starting to talk. A lot. Some of the words he uses are typical Japanese baby-kid talk. Like “pon pon” for stomach, etc. Some of his other vocabulary is a bit more interesting. Much of what he says is…
EA’s Medal of Honor touted itself as a realistic look at modern warfare. Military experts and soldiers consulted on the game to ensure its accuracy. Those in-game ads, though? EA consulted with itself. In the game, there are tattered fliers for Mirror’s Edge and Battlefield: Bad Company. Both titles, of course, are EA games. The…
Early reports say Fallout: New Vegas needs a good delousing, because the game seems to be buggy — and buggy from the game’s start. Update: Bethesda responds. Apparently, the above bug appeared at the game’s intro for YouTube user Shodan10. “FIRST THING THAT HAPPENS IS BROKEN,” Shodan10 writes. When meeting Dr. Mitchell, his head…started… …spinning…
Aya Brea, the heroine of PSP title The 3rd Birthday, doesn’t have much of a wardrobe. Those ratty jeans? She can do better. In the latest issue of Japanese game mag Famitsu, Aya is shown wearing a business suit. Previously, the character was shown in blue jeans. Like with Aya’s denim, damage is reflected in…
At yesterday’s Level-5 event, a new trailer for story heavy Time Travelers was shown. It’s got suspense, a schoolgirl and some sort of monster dude. Oh, and digital numbers! The game is headed for the Nintendo 3DS and is being helmed by Jiro Ishii. He’s made a name for himself in Japan with 438, a…
Next week, Japanese game developer MileStone’s shoot’em up Radirgy: Noir hits the Xbox 360. The game is not cheap. The cell-shaded shooter debuted in arcades back in 2008. It’s prequel, Radilgy, got an arcade and multiplatform release back in 2005, but the Western release was canned. That was 2005! And in 2010, releasing Radiry: Noir…
Next February, Nintendo is releasing its forthcoming handheld, the Nintendo 3DS. New titles are being revealed for the system, but they’re typical fare: Fighting games, puzzle games, action games, etc. However, one in particular isn’t. While Tecmo Koei readies a Samurai Warriors game and Capcom works on a Street Fighter game, Level-5 is bringing its…
Earlier this year, Senior Editor Michael McWhertor took a couple days off to appear as an unpaid Tester panelist and have Adrianne Curry touch his shoulder. The latest trailer for The Tester Season 2 gives a taste of what is in store for the reality show contestants: gaming, crying and screaming. Haven’t seen it yet…
To: Crecente From: Bashcraft RE: Shooting Took a walk this morning. Always like talking walks through the hills where I live. A great deal of the bamboo has been cut down — and notice how the stumps are used to brace the stacks of cut bamboo. So clever. What you missed last night Former Assassin’s…
Today in Tokyo, Fukuoka-based developer Level-5 held its annual press event. Kotaku Japan was in attendance as Level-5 revealed a handful of new titles. But what new titles? Before that, Level-5 presented previously revealed games. Several features were discussed for the Nintendo DS version of Ni no Kuni, including how the book, the “Magic Master”,…
Phoenix Wright meet Professor Layton. Capcom’s lawyer is going to appear in a game with Level-5’s famous puzzle-solving sleuth. Today in Tokyo, Level-5 revealed a Professor Layton and Ace Attorney crossover Nintendo 3DS game currently titled “Professor Layton vs Ace Attorney”. Ace Attorney creator Takumi Shuu will be working on the title, and the game’s…
Aki Toyosaki is a voice actress and a pop singer, perhaps best known for schoolgirl rocker anime K-On! She’s a gamer, too, and she’s got discerning taste. In Japan, Western games are not big sellers. People play Japanese games, which is totally fine! It is Japan. And while Western games might not be as popular…
In Dubai, customs officials successfully blocked an attempt to smuggle over 48,000 counterfeit PlayStation games into the country. The value of the seized phony goods? Over US$1.3 million. Emirates News Agency WAM reports that Officials located the games in “cartoon boxes” and that the shipment originated from an Arab port. As website GamePolitics points out,…
The dead walk the earth in the the zombie add-on for Red Dead Redemption, Undead Nightmare. While zombies are tres passe, Rockstar thinks it can put an original spin on them. Here’s why: “With Undead Nightmare, we have long wanted to find a way to make zombies interesting, and one of the ways that we…
Yesterday, a list of naughty words that can be entered in Pokemon: Black and White surfaced. Some of the words might be easy for Westerners to understand why they are considered offensive. Other words, less so. Like with most languages, Japanese has an array of colorful terms for bodily functions and genitalia. That doesn’t mean…
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