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  It’s A Shame We Never Got This BioShock Movie

  Gore Verbinski, director of Pirates of the Caribbean, was signed up to do a BioShock movie. It turned out to be too expensive, and now there’s a new director. Shame. The expensive one sounded awesome. Quint from AICN took a tour of Verbinski’s GORE studios last week, and asked around about the fate of the…

  By Luke Plunkett Published September 14, 2010
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  A Week In Comments

  How To Beat Three People At Civilization V Multiplayer Comment by: TeamBlacula Nomination by: MrGOH Hello Gamers. Look at Civ V. Now look at your game. Look back at Civ V. Look back at your game. Look at your city. Look at the barbarians. You’re on a horse. Riding to defeat the barbarians from the…

  By Brian Ashcraft Published September 14, 2010
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  Report: Apple Gaining Fast On Nintendo

  Ah, this might be what Apple was talking about when it claimed it was the “number one portable game player”. While the comment made recently by Steve Jobs raised eyebrows – mostly because he never backed it up with figures – research from NewZoo shows that while Apple’s iDevices (iPod Touch, iPhone, iPad) are the…

  By Luke Plunkett Published September 14, 2010
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  The American Version of Gladiator Begins Office Hijinks

  Acquire’s Gladiator Begins for the PSP is perhaps best known for its underboob-heavy, gladiator cosplaying mascot girl, one who engages in Japanese office publicity stunts hijinks that violate most corporate dress codes. America, how do you respond? Stateside publisher Aksys Games offers tit for tat to drum up interest in the North American release of…

  By Michael McWhertor Published September 14, 2010
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  Steam Adds A Wallet Service

  Valve’s Steam service quietly added a novel new feature over the weekend; the ability to add funds to a “Steam Wallet“, giving you an online account balance just like you get with Xbox Live and the PlayStation Network. The minimum amount you can add is $5, with further increments available at $10, $25, $50 and…

  By Luke Plunkett Published September 14, 2010
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  It Seems Yang & Yun Might Indeed Be In Super Street Fighter IV Arcade

  The fighting game nuts at Eventhubs had men on the ground during a recent location test for the Japanese arcade release of Super Street Fighter IV, where attendees say that, yes, Yang and Yun have been added to the roster. This was rumoured a few weeks back, and without pictures or official word from Capcom…

  By Luke Plunkett Published September 14, 2010
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  Nintendo Marks Super Mario’s Anniversary With A Commercial

  This September is the 25th anniversary of Super Mario Bros. The game went on sale in Japan on September 13, 1985. Nintendo has released a new television ad that celebrates this watermark — complete with a cartridge blow.

  By Brian Ashcraft Published September 13, 2010
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  The Off-Topic Tokyo Edition

  Konnichiwa, kids. It’s nighttime at Kotaku, but here in lovely Chiba, Japan, it’s lunchtime. So maybe we can chat over lunch about all things not just video game related. Sound good? Personally, I’m still recovering from watching Brian Ashcraft eat a huge bowl of nattō—you know, the slippery, slimy fermented soy bean treat!—at breakfast and…

  By Michael McWhertor Published September 13, 2010
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  Rookie NFLer Asks For Slight Ratings Adjustment

  Ndamukong Suh, the first-round draft choice of the Detroit Lions, traces his video games bonafides to from Tecmo Bowl to Modern Warfare. In light of that pedgree, the lineman thinks he should get a Madden agility rating of “one million.” Suh offered the comment tongue-in-cheek to ESPN. He’s got a 77 agility rating in Madden…

  By Owen Good Published September 13, 2010
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  Meet The MoveMen, Heroes Of The PlayStation Move

  Will a pair of glowing, bobble-headed heroes make you a fan of the PlayStation Move? The MoveMen, stars of a new PlayStation Move ad push, are here to try to sell you one, stylishly. The campaign, directed by FilmFaktisk’s Lars Åndheim, may be limited only to Norway, sadly—just as Microsoft’s similarly orb-headed Sanrokumaru mascot is…

  By Michael McWhertor Published September 13, 2010
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  Tokyo Game Show 2010: What’s Happening

  Kotaku has landed in Tokyo to tackle the annual Tokyo Game Show, an event that promises to be full of game announcements, top notch cosplay and maybe an awkward dinner or two with Japanese video game developers. What should we expect? On Wednesday, Electronic Arts holds its pre-TGS showcase (starting at 4pm), where we expect…

  By Michael McWhertor Published September 13, 2010
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  Psychonauts Meets Inception (And It Works)

  Double Fine Productions’ Psychonauts, the classic psychic adventure, when cut to ape Christopher Nolan’s Inception scene-by-scene works shockingly well. Either consider this fan-made mash-up a dose of clever nostalgia or a reminder that, yes, you really should play some Psychonauts Thanks to Zak Canard for the tip!

  By Michael McWhertor Published September 13, 2010
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  Malaysia Gets Its Halo: Reach On

  You may be prepping to go stand in a line somewhere, but some international gamers already got their copy of Halo: Reach. Take Malaysia and these folks at Gamer’s Hideout in the Tropicana City Mall in Petaling Jaya. See more here. [Thanks Chapree]

  By Brian Crecente Published September 13, 2010
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  Black Ops Gets Two Preorder Bonuses

  A special limited edition “laser cel” – limited to 100,000; we said nothing about it being “rare” – is one of two pre-order bonuses for Call of Duty: Black Ops. The other’s a download code for an avatar item. Pre-ordering through Amazon gets you the laser cel, provided you’re among the first 100,000 to do…

  By Owen Good Published September 13, 2010
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  PSP Dominance Gives Sony Half Of Japan’s Weekly Hardware Pie

  The PlayStation Portable is still on top in Japan—thanks to MonHun Nikki!—helping, along with the PlayStation 3, to give Sony a healthy portion of the weekly hardware take in Japan. Nintendo takes just a little bit less. As is normally the case, the Nintendo DS family is the week’s bestseller, with nearly 40,000 units sold…

  By Michael McWhertor Published September 13, 2010
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  Jockeying For Position In FIFA 11

  In American football, this type of motion is called “strafing.” In association football, it’s jockeying. This two minute tutorial gives you another good look at the soccer sim’s gameplay while educating you on the finer points of advanced defense. FIFA 11 arrives two weeks from tomorrow in North America, Sept. 30 in Australia and Oct.…

  By Owen Good Published September 13, 2010
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  Missing Tokyo

  To: Ash From: Crecente Re: We Have Arrived In Tokyo Man, I miss going to Tokyo this year. It was my call, and likely the right one. I’ve been traveling way too much lately and the house remains on the market. But still, a nice Japan visit could have been fun. Are you guys planning…

  By Brian Crecente Published September 13, 2010
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  Remember the Halo: Reach Launch Parties

  People were already starting to line-up this morning in New York’s Times Square for the official launch of Bungie’s Halo: Reach. Halo fans in New York will be treated to a live performance by hip-hop’s Kid Cudi at the Best Buy Theater in Times Square. That even will also be broadcast live in HD on…

  By Brian Crecente Published September 13, 2010
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  When The Game Comes On, Madden Goes Off

  An interesting little graphic EA Sports sent us today illustrates what most would expect: An actual NFL game crashes Madden NFL’s participation numbers. But it still holds on to about 34,000 hardcore users from kickoff to final gun. These two charts (click to zoom in) show the online traffic for Madden NFL 11 on PS3…

  By Owen Good Published September 13, 2010
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  Video Games Help Us Make Faster Decisions

  Scientists from the University of Rochester have found that playing fast-paced action video games helps players make decisions 25 percent faster than normal, yet no less accurate. We’ve long known that playing video games helps sharpen reflexes and motor skills, but a new study proves that gaming also has a strong effect on our cognitive…

  By Mike Fahey Published September 13, 2010