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  FarmVille Creators Take On The Wild Frontier

  Masters of the Ville Zynga are making a move into Oregon Trail territory with FrontierVille, the latest social game to devour the time and productivity of people the world over. TechCruch caught sight of Zynga’s latest, FrontierVille, while poking about Facebook on a developer test account. From the sighting they pulled the logo seen here,…

  By Mike Fahey Published April 12, 2010
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  Talk Amongst Yourselves

  Water levels in video games get all the special attention. This Monday, TAY celebrates desert levels… or, really, anything you want to talk about here that is video-game-related. Confused about commenting on Kotaku? Read our FAQ

  By Stephen Totilo Published April 12, 2010
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  My Favorite Cereal Is…

  To: Crecente From: Bashcraft Weetabix. It’s so great. So, so great. I think I’m gonna go have a bowl right now. Watch out! What you missed last night Modern Warfare 2 Guest Stars On Family Guy Look At The New Pokemon Series Sony’s Motion Controller Has A New Name Our Definitions For 2D And 3D…

  By Brian Ashcraft Published April 12, 2010
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  The Accidental Preacher

  Traditionally, historically, video games and religion don’t mix. Make a game with strong religious context that deals seriously with the issues and you’re often left with something heavy-handed, preachy and self-righteous. Make a strong video game that is fun to play that also happens to include religion and often you’re left with something distasteful. But…

  By Brian Crecente Published April 12, 2010
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  Bulletstorm To Feature “Outrageously Large Guns”

  No game can wait for Jimmy Fallon, it seems. Bulletstorm, one of the two games expected to be announced on NBC late night tonight by Gears of War creator Cliff Bleszinski, just got another outing, complete with more wild details. Bulletstorm emerged on Friday on the cover of the next Game Informer, with some basic…

  By Stephen Totilo Published April 12, 2010
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  Ousted Modern Warfare 2 Creators Respawn, Sign With Former Rivals

  The drama involving the creators of one of the biggest franchises in gaming continues as Jason West and Vince Zampella, the fired former lead creators of Modern Warfare 2, have formed a new company, Respawn Entertainment. EA, their formal rival, is backing. [UPDATE: Check out Kotaku’s interview with West and Zampella about Respawn Entertainment.] The…

  By Stephen Totilo Published April 12, 2010
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  They’re Gonna Make An Apocalypse Now Game? Really?

  Francis Ford Coppola’s 1979 Vietnam War epic Apocalypse Now could very well be getting a video game. Oh dear. Earlier this January, Killspace Entertainment, a new developer with designers from an array of studios like Pandemic, Obsidian and EALA, licensed web domains apocalypsenowgame.com and warisnotagame.net The studio is currently working on an original title as…

  By Brian Ashcraft Published April 12, 2010
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  Sci-Fi Author: Halo Full of “Bull**** Archetypal Characters”

  You might like Halo. You might not. Crysis 2 lead writer and sci-fi novelist Richard Morgan says he doesn’t like Halo at all “I don’t like the Halo series at all,” says Morgan, best known for his dystopian novel Altered Carbon. “Okay Halo is not actually bad, it’s just, you know, average.” Average? Do explain!…

  By Brian Ashcraft Published April 12, 2010
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  Call Of Duty: Battle Of The Activision Logo [Update]

  The courtroom drama unfolding over the Call of Duty franchise is in many ways big, and important, and heavy, but it’s not entirely without petty crap. Take Modern Warfare 2’s use (or, not) of the Activision logo, for example. Seems that while a wrangle was going on behind the scenes prior to Modern Warfare 2’s…

  By Luke Plunkett Published April 12, 2010
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  Online Gaming Rig Redefines The Meaning Of “Multiplayer”

  This guy doesn’t just play massively-multiplayer title EVE Online. He plays it as multiple characters, so that he can get more of the good stuff. Thing is, he doesn’t use software. He does it the old-fashioned way. Multiple monitors, multiple mice, even multiple keyboards, all connected with conduit pipe and, of all things, dowel. At…

  By Luke Plunkett Published April 12, 2010
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  Our Definitions For 2D And 3D Are Broken, Please Fix

  For years now, video games have been divided into two categories: 2D and 3D. With the advent of 3D televisions and portable consoles, those definitions might be antiquated. Time for an update! 2D video games refer to action happening on a 2D plane and typically are either side-scrolling or vertically-scrolling. What’s more, the characters and…

  By Brian Ashcraft Published April 12, 2010
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  Old Game Sells For Over $30,000

  Remember that crazy auction for an old Taiwanese bootleg masquerading as Atari classic Air Raid? Well, it just went under the hammer. For over $30,000 Yes, when the dust settled over the weekend’s bidding, 52 shots at taking home the game had been made, with the winning bid coming in at $31,600. Not bad considering…

  By Luke Plunkett Published April 12, 2010
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  Japanese Housewives, Online Gaming Addicts

  A small percentage of Japanese housewives lose themselves in torrid love affairs. An even tinier percentage become heavily addicted to online games, a new book claims. Writer Yuki Ishikawa tells the story of nine online gaming housewives in her book, Netoge Haijo. “Netoge” means “online games” while “haijo” means “wrecked women”. One 37-year-old woman interviewed…

  By Brian Ashcraft Published April 12, 2010
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  Take That, Nintendo!

  Forget Osaka’s shady R4 cartridge retailers, the city has one shop that is openly advertising the device. And rubbing it in Nintendo’s face in the process. The R4 cartridge itself is not a piracy device; however, it can be used to play pirated Nintendo DS games. A court injunction was filed in 2009 against Chinese…

  By Brian Ashcraft Published April 12, 2010
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  Sony’s Motion Controller Has A New Name

  The “main” part of Sony’s motion controller, the wand bit, is the PlayStation Move. The other, smaller peripheral? We originally called it the “sub-controller”, but it appears that title was a work-in-progress, its final name being the… Navigation Controller. Boring, yeah, but then, so was “sub-controller”, so at least this is an improvement. And doesn’t…

  By Luke Plunkett Published April 12, 2010
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  Darksiders: The Book Of Hell (And Pretty Ladies)

  A few months back, publishers THQ promised that early purchasers of Darksiders would get their hands on a “Hellbook”, featuring concept art from the game. Well, those “books” are now on their way, and they look pretty good. Course, they’re not really “books”. Just a collection of digital art, including things like pre-production art, promo…

  By Luke Plunkett Published April 12, 2010
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  Final Fantasy Artist Directing First Feature Film

  With credits ranging from Speed Racer to Gatchaman, Yoshitaka Amano is best known among gamers for his Final Fantasy illustrations, character work and logo-work. A seasoned veteran who entered the anime industry when he was 15, Amano is directing his first animated feature film, Zan. The film is the product of Amano’s new production studio,…

  By Brian Ashcraft Published April 12, 2010
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  You Ain’t Seen Nothin’ Yet

  Shigeru Miyamoto, the creator of classic Nintendo series like Mario and the Legend of Zelda, hints that while his past deeds are what have made him famous, we shouldn’t discount his future, either. “In the past five years I’ve been working on such unusual titles like Wii Fit Plus and Wii Sports Resort”, he told…

  By Luke Plunkett Published April 12, 2010
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  Rumor: THE iDOLM@STER 2 Singing and Dancing in 2011

  Officially unconfirmed, but you’re surprised? THE iDOLM@STER, a pop star management simulator, was originally released in Japanese arcades back in 2005. The inevitable Xbox 360 console port was followed with endless DLC as well as spin-off titles on the PSP, Nintendo DS and a mecha anime created by Sunrise, the studio responsible for Gundam. The…

  By Brian Ashcraft Published April 12, 2010
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  Look At The New Pokemon Series

  Pokémon Black and White is a completely new Pocket Monster series. And this fall, the fifth-generation Pokémon series will be released on the Nintendo DS in Japan. Here is a sneak peak. Scans of Black and White have been published in Japan’s CoroCoro Magazine. The scans show a battle scene between new Pocket Monsters Zoroark…

  By Brian Ashcraft Published April 12, 2010