• Uncategorized

  Nintendo Announces a New, Bigger 3DS. Meet the 3DS XL.

  The screen is 90 percent bigger, with larger bottom and top screens. It’s called the Nintendo 3DS LL in Japan and the Nintendo 3DS XL in the West. The top screen measures at 4.88 inches and is 90 percent bigger, while the bottom screen is 4.18 inches and is also 90 percent bigger. For the…

  By Brian Ashcraft Published June 21, 2012
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  Namco Bandai Is Making the New Smash Bros.

  Today, Nintendo announced that thew new Smash Bros. for the Wii U and the 3DS will be developed by Namco Bandai Games and Namco Bandai Studio. Masahiro Sakurai is helming the project. Of course, Sakurai’s studio, Sora, will be assisting in development. Namco’s Masaya Kobayashi, who’s worked on Ridge Racer, and Yoshito Higuchi of the…

  By Brian Ashcraft Published June 21, 2012
• 

  CultureTotal Recall

  Have You Ever Broken A Controller In Anger? I Have.

  It’s OK to get frustrated by a video game. They’re often designed to do just that. But there’s a line you cross once you get past frustration, and once you get to the other side, you’re in angytown. That’s usually not OK. It’s a sign you should maybe put the controller down, take a step…

  By Luke Plunkett Published June 21, 2012
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  Blizard Explains Why New Diablo Games Are Locked For Up To Three Days

  Blizzard recently introduced a new “feature” whereby people buying digital copies of Diablo III for the first time would, for up to three days, be locked out of the full game. If you were wondering why, well, here’s their explanation. In a statement released to Kotaku, Blizzard says: For security reasons and to help ensure…

  By Luke Plunkett Published June 21, 2012
• Uncategorized

  I Wonder If They’ll Ever Get Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Right

  Hi there Kotaku! It’s 10:30 on Thursday, and so it must be time for the open thread. When I was a kid, I was obsessed with Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. I wasn’t alone—I think pretty much every kid went through a Turtles phase. Thing is, I wasn’t into the cartoon or the live-action movies. (I…

  By Kirk Hamilton Published June 21, 2012
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  Here’s How You Bring Superman and Batman into World of Warcraft

  You might think that, with all the magically empowered warriors running around Azeroth, World of Warcraft doesn’t need any appearances from the heroes from DC Comics. But damn if they don’t look awesome. Over at WoW Insider, there’s a comprehensive guide to creating avatars that look a whole lot like the Man of Steel, the…

  By Evan Narcisse Published June 21, 2012
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  Minecraft Ban Leads to SWAT Team Assault

  Last year, the Washington state legislature was said to be considering stronger laws and punishments against “SWATting,” which is trolls’ cute way to take revenge when something displeases them in an online game. They phone a fake call to your local cops and next thing you know, armed deputies are crawling around the backyard. I’d…

  By Owen Good Published June 21, 2012
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  Uncategorized

  The Case for Video Games as Music

  If you’re a regular Kotaku Melodic reader, you’re no stranger to the idea that despite many developers’ cinematic aspirations, video games have more in common with music than they do with film. It’s an idea that I’ve been pushing at Kotaku for a while now, starting with my first article as a Kotaku columnist last…

  By Kirk Hamilton Published June 21, 2012
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  Uncategorized

  The Band That Made the Scott Pilgrim Movie Like 300% Better

  It’s not like Edgar Wright’s cinematic adaptation of Bryan Lee O’Malley’s excellent Scott Pilgrim books wasn’t good on its own. But there was a moment for me in this film when it went from “Okay, this is fun” to “Holy shit, this is awesome,” and it happened because of a band, and because of a…

  By Kirk Hamilton Published June 21, 2012
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  Uncategorized

  From Dark Souls to Valkyrie Profile: The Motoi Sakuraba Mixtape

  Some game composers are absolute workhorses. They’ll be so prolific in such a short span of time, that you’ll almost forget that they did entire soundtracks. Motoi Sakuraba is just such a composer. The Valkyrie Profile Series, Dark Souls, the Baten Kaitos Games, the Star Ocean Games and every freakin’ Tales Game: That’s a pretty…

  By Chris Person Published June 21, 2012
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  Uncategorized

  Check Out This Unbelievable Performance of the Mario Theme on Wineglasses. Wineglasses.

  This one has been out in the ether for a little while now, but somehow I hadn’t seen it. Which means that I hadn’t lived, because damn. Thankfully, Journey composer Austin Wintory linked to a similar video of another person performing the Harry Potter theme (equally impressive, so I’ll embed it below), and I went…

  By Kirk Hamilton Published June 21, 2012
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  Uncategorized

  May The Incredible Music of Final Fantasy Live On Forever

  No matter how you feel about the current state of Final Fantasy—and if you’re a fan of role-playing games at all, you likely have some sort of unshakeable conviction about which was the best, which was the worst, and how Square Enix has ruined everything—there’s one fact you can’t deny: It’s got some awesome jams.…

  By Jason Schreier Published June 21, 2012
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  Welcome to the New Kotaku Melodic!

  If you’ve been following along this week, you may have noticed that we’ve trimmed up our programming blocks throughout the week. And so, Kotaku Melodic is down to a svelte 1 hour, which has a few benefits, chief of which means that we’ll be more focused, with less filler and higher standards for what gets…

  By Kirk Hamilton Published June 21, 2012
• Uncategorized

  Even Poetry Might Not Be Enough To Make TimeSplitters 4

  TimeSplitters 4 is not in development. That’s been made clear But Crytek CEO Cevat Yerli still wants to hear how many TimeSplitters fans are out there, and so he’s put out a call on Twitter. In response, a large group of fans got together on Facebook in an attempt to beg the German studio to…

  By Jason Schreier Published June 21, 2012
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  Rockstar Marketing Maven Exits the House of Grand Theft Auto

  Alex Moullé-Berteaux, the head of marketing at Rockstar Games, is out after five years at the company. While some may tie this to the perception that the well-reviewed Max Payne 3 has not proven to be the blockbuster of a Grand Theft Auto or a Red Dead Redemption, Rockstar says the split was amicable and…

  By Evan Narcisse Published June 21, 2012
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  Report: NBA 2K13‘s Cover will Feature NBA Elite‘s Star

  NBA 2K13 is running a Twitter campaign enticing folks to fill in tiny squares on a jigsaw puzzle to reveal the next star or stars gracing the basketball title’s cover. Pastapadre has obtained an image that, while not the cover art itself, contains three extremely unsubtle hints about who the honorees will be. In the…

  By Owen Good Published June 21, 2012
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  College Football’s New Postseason Presents a Few Options for NCAA Football to Run

  College football is all but certainly headed for a four-team playoff in 2014, a move that would dramatically alter not only the game on the field but the one on the Xbox 360 and the PlayStation 3. The plan is not yet finalized, and even if it was, it is way too late to get…

  By Owen Good Published June 21, 2012
• Uncategorized

  Whoa Nellie, Hold the Phonnnne, It’s Time for Sportaku

  From the Worldwide Leader in Sports … Video Games, your 6 p.m. Sportaku begins now.

  By Owen Good Published June 21, 2012
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  How to Create Your Own Custom Difficulty Level: Don’t Read the Instructions

  Commenter Cursed Frogurt demonstrates the perils of playing a game without reading / having access to the instruction booklet, making Dead Space just a little more deadlier in the process. Have you ever accidentally created your own difficulty level in a game? Perhaps in a way that dramatically changed the way the game felt? When…

  Speak Published June 21, 2012
• Tips & Guides

  Five Tips for Forming the Perfect Pokémon Team from the Greatest Player in the World

  Having been crowned the Pokémon World Champion two years in a row, Ray Rizzo is the man to beat at this year’s competition. One would think a player of his caliber would keep his secrets to himself, but he’s ready to share them with the world. With the 2012 Pokémon U.S. National Championships rapidly approaching,…

  By Mike Fahey Published June 21, 2012