• Culture

  The Stunning Video Game Art of Thierry Doizon

  Thierry “BARONTiERi” Doizon is something of a legend in the world of video game concept art, having been in the business since 1995. In that time, he’s worked for companies like Ubisoft, Eidos and Acclaim, while contributing to series and games such as Assassin’s Creed, Prince of Persia and Deus Ex: Human Revolution In addition…

  By Luke Plunkett Published July 13, 2011
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  Nintendo Fans, This is Way Sexier Than a Petition or Letter

  Hey, Nintendo. If you won’t take heed of polite letters and emails from fans asking for Japanese games to be localised, maybe listen to this guy instead. I’m a big supporter of Operation Rainfall. But even if I weren’t, I’d still listen to this. Hell, I’d pay to listen to this guy read the phone…

  By Luke Plunkett Published July 13, 2011
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  Want To Play Some Minecraft Adventure?

  Then….go to the Mojang booth at PAX, where the Minecraft Adventure update will be playable. [@notch]

  By Brian Ashcraft Published July 13, 2011
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  The StarCraft Tournament Where Facebook, Microsoft and Google are Competitors

  Well now this is interesting. Sean “Day[9]” Plott, who we’ve featured here before on Kotaku, has helped put together a StarCraft II tournament. Only, instead of it being man versus man, it’s company versus company. And the companies are big ones Inspired by an internal Facebook competition, the “After Hours Gaming League” is billed as…

  By Luke Plunkett Published July 13, 2011
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  Square Enix Wants to Bring Old MMO to the PS Vita (Wait, What?)

  Never one to shy away from porting a game, Square Enix talked about doing just that in the latest issue of Japanese game mag Famitsu. The choice, this time is rather odd. According to Square Enix’s Hiromichi Tanaka, the Tokyo-based game maker is considering whether or not to bring a straight Final Fantasy XI port…

  By Brian Ashcraft Published July 13, 2011
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  Put Mass Effect’s Normandy On Your Shelf (Again)

  That little toy replica of Mass Effect’s Normandy we showed you a few months back will soon have a twin. But not an identical twin. While the first ship is in Systems Alliance livery and will be out in November, there’ll be a second version of the Normandy available a month later. This time in…

  By Luke Plunkett Published July 13, 2011
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  Dead Rising‘s Creator All Big with Glowing Eyes

  Turn off your computer sound. Right now. This clip’s audio quality (and picture quality) is horrid. However, it does show off a special attack, the likes of which gaming has never seen. Keiji Inafune is the creator of Dead Rising and former producer of Mega Man. Inafune has never been shy about voicing his opinion…

  By Brian Ashcraft Published July 13, 2011
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  These Tank Battles Look Awfully Gratuitous

  Gratuitous Space Battles is one the unsung heroes of PC strategy gaming. Especially given its wonderful name. But if Gratuitous Space Battles don’t tickle your fancy, then perhaps Gratuitous Tank Battles will. While Positech’s new game retains the top-down view of its predecessor, things sound a little more involved this time; GSB’s “send them all…

  By Luke Plunkett Published July 13, 2011
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  Modern Warfare Actor Won’t Go to Court for Assault Charge

  Earlier, British TV star Billy Murray, who voices Captain Price in Modern Warfare, was charged with assaulting his wife and 27-year-old daughter. Charges were dropped by the Crown Prosecution Service, reports the Mirror, ceasing any further actions. [Mirror Thanks, Tom!]

  By Brian Ashcraft Published July 13, 2011
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  StarCraft II Brings its Players Closer Together

  Blizzard’s strategy smash StarCraft II will soon be “linking” many of its regions together, in a move that will give its players a whole new world of people to kick ass with/against. Beginning July 25, Battle.net will link the following servers together: • Europe -> Russia • Korea -> Taiwan • North America -> Latin…

  By Luke Plunkett Published July 13, 2011
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  Middle-Aged Man Arrested over Plastic Schoolgirl (Stupidity Ensues)

  Ruiko Saten is not real. She’s a flower-in-her-hair schoolgirl character in anime To aru Kagaku no Railgun. Earlier this spring, in Shizuoka, Japan, one of her plastic figures was stolen! According to a Sankei News report on MSN, 47-year-old Yasuyoshi Nakatsukasa apparently located a Ruiko Saten figure at second hand shop A-Too. The 20 centimeter…

  By Brian Ashcraft Published July 13, 2011
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  Another Day, Another Awesome Half-Life Fan Movie

  It may be a little rough around the edges in some places, but in others, this fan-made Half-Life 2 movie is one of the most impressive I’ve ever seen. Half-Life fan film [Super Punch]

  By Luke Plunkett Published July 13, 2011
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  There Are Unexpected Problems Bringing Old Games to the 3DS

  Nintendo has a “3D Classics” range on its 3DS, where it takes old games and gives them a 3D makeover. Sounds great in theory, but in execution, the company is having some problems. “In the original version, the game unfolds on a flat surface” says Nintendo’s Takao Nakano, speaking about the attempts to bring Xevious…

  By Luke Plunkett Published July 13, 2011
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  CultureTotal Recall

  Let’s Pour One Out for Westwood Studios, Creators of the Real-Time Strategy Genre

  Of all the studios Electronic Arts has bought over the decades, few were as talented or important to the history of video games as Westwood Studios. Yet despite essentially pioneering the real-time strategy genre as we know it, creating one of the most popular franchises of all time and doing not one, not two, but…

  By Luke Plunkett Published July 13, 2011
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  The Netflix Conundrum

  Hello, Kotaku readers. Time for another open thread, where you can chat about video games, vent about Netflix’s new rate hike, espouse your distaste for budget deficit talks or any other thing that crosses your mind. I’m still on the fence about this new Netflix rate and plan change, as I’m one of those dinosaurs…

  By Michael McWhertor Published July 12, 2011
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  Mega Man X: A Space Odyssey

  Warren Louw pulled out all of the stops when taking Mega Man X out of this world! He submitted an incredible UDON’s Mega Man Tribute Contest piece. More Mega Man Tribute submissions can be found HERE! Mega Man X by Warren Louw (CGHUB) (Facebook) (Twitter) Need your daily fill of geek eye candy? If so,…

  By Michael McWhertor Published July 12, 2011
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  What Does The Big EA Buyout Mean for PopCap Games (and for Bejeweled in World of Warcraft)?

  What will the $750 million buy out of PopCap Games, makers of Plants vs. Zombies and Bejeweled, do to the beloved developer of quirky, casually engaging games? It could mean you get future PopCap Games faster—but it doesn’t mean the end of games like Peggle in World of Warcraft. Despite PopCap Games making versions of…

  By Michael McWhertor Published July 12, 2011
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  A Brave Attempt To Play a Game About Cleaning Up The Streets… the Boring Way

  Discovering that this game existed was a moment of perverse joy for me. I knew that it would be deeply boring—it really is-–and that I would have to play it extensively for no reason other than to take joy in being quite deliberately boring. It’s the kind of non-challenge I relish, and I gleefully set…

  Jim Rossignol | Rock Paper Shotgun Published July 12, 2011
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  GameStop Wreaks Havok on the X-Men, Gives Spider-Man an Identity Crisis

  With two Marvel superhero video games coming from Activision this fall, GameStop ransacks comic book continuity for fresh outfits to provide preorder customers of X-Men: Destiny and Spider-Man: Edge of Time Spider-Man developer Beenox really went to town on the alternate costumes in its previous outing, Spider-Man: Shattered Dimensions, so this time around the preorder…

  By Mike Fahey Published July 12, 2011
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  BioShock for PlayStation Vita Will Be A Surprising, All-New, Weird Experiment

  Ken Levine and Irrational Games are going to get all weird on you with the next BioShock game—not BioShock Infinite, the one after that, the one coming to Sony’s new PlayStation Vita at some point. BioShock creative director Ken Levine tells IGN that the next entry in the series that he announced at E3 2011…

  By Michael McWhertor Published July 12, 2011