Kotaku

Konami All Cashed Up

Blu-Ray Was Totally Worth It

We took a lot of heat at launch for including Blu-Ray in PS3. Now it looks like that investment is being justified.

Tour of Giant Gundam

RX78 Attraction [Danny Choo]

Phil Harrison Speaks On Madden, Home, Wipeout HD

Mark Rein Ready For Epic's Ass To Get Kicked

All those records we broke with Gears of War are going down on September 25. We've had a nice nine, ten months of being the record holder, and now we're going to get our ass kicked. In a good way.

ConCON

To: Ash
From: Crecente
Re: Car Navi Blows Chunks

Our van has an aftermarket GPS navigation system. I love it. I end up using it even when I don't need to, which endlessly annoys my wife.

Today's the last day of the month, and the beginning of a real whopper of a month. While July felt hectic with just E3, August has BlizzCon, QuakeCon, Fan Faire, PAX and Leipzig. It is going to fly by. I spent much of the day arranging our coverage for the three cons later this week. I suspect the most interesting will be BlizzCon, followed by QuakeCon and then Fan Faire. In the middle of my planning I decided to shoot the Penny Arcade guys an email begging them to move PAX to the first half of the year, when absolutely nothing happens. I have no idea how they feel about that, but it sure would make my life easier. :)

What you missed:
SOE will be revealing a new game on Friday
Don't forget your homework
Need us some interns
This is almost as bad as the PS3 price drop secret
Best of E3
LukeS spills the beans on H3 Co-Op
BlizzCon Deets

The first batch of downloadable content for Turn 10 Studios' Forza Motorsport 2 will be available to download just hours from now, scheduled to hit Xbox Live at 2 AM PDT late tonight/early tomorrow morning. The first pack is free and features three Nissan rides, the 2007 Sentra SE-R, Altima, and 350Z. Slightly less attractive for Microsoft Point misers is the Peugeot 908 race car which one can download from the Xbox Live Marketplace for 50 MS points, about 63 cents. Whatta bargain!

Further details, including info on some upcoming Nissan sponsored contests, at the official site.

Nissan Brings 2007 Cars to Forza Motorsport 2 [Forza Motorsport 2]

After attempting to recount the plot line of Konami's Metal Gear Solid 2 last night over beers—and failing spectacularly—I was pleased to see Simon from GameSetWatch linking to an extremely detailed analysis of the game's narrative, analyzing the parallel, sometimes complimentary themes of the first two Metal Gear Solid scripts. A good read for anyone who has gotten over their Raiden hate and wants to revisit the often convoluted MGS storyline.

Driving Off the Map: A Formal Analysis of Metal Gear Solid 2 [Delta Translation Group via GSW]

PS3 To Get DVR Functions, Digital Tuner In 2008

Army of Two Gameplay

Over two minutes of EA's Army Of Two gameplay, not a second of "witty" dialogue and a brief look at the game's weapon customization system. Lots of co-op shooting, tasty hovercraft piloting and a plethora of crouched walking are all featured. These two must make weekly trips to the chiropractor.

Japan Gets Halo History Pack

And by Halo History Pack, Microsoft of Japan means a "Platinum Collection" package featuring both Halo: Combat Evolved and Halo 2 for a paltry 2,980 yen (about $25 USD). Microsoft is readying the super-budget two-in-one Halo History Pack to get Japanese gamers—okay, Western ex-pats—hyped up for the Xbox 360 release of Halo 3. The double pack, with built-in backward compatibility updates, ships to Japanese retailers on September 12.

Sick to death of hearing about everything Halo yet? You'd better get out of this chickenshit outfit now then, buddy, 'cause it's only going to get worse.

Halo History Pack [Xbox Japan]

Final BlizzCon Schedule Spawns

George Harrison Reportedly Retires From Nintendo

GameDaily Biz is reporting that Nintendo of America's Senior Vice President of Marketing and Corporate Communications George Harrison—rumored to be departing the company alongside NoA employees Perrin Kaplan and Beth Llewelyn—has announced his "early retirement" to employees today. Nintendo has yet to officially confirm the departure.

Harrison, a 15-year vet at Nintendo, was reportedly one of the employees who would opt out of relocating to the company's new California digs in an effort to be closer to Silicon Valley partners and Bay Area third-party publishers.

Source: George Harrison Has Announced His Retirement [GameDaily Biz]

He may not respond to my annoying little IMs about Halo 3 Co-Op, but former Kotakuite Luke Smith did one better and posted all of the game's Co-Op details on Bungie... I suppose that's OK, it is his job now.

Here's the details, the game will support four-player co-op via both Live and System Link with up to two player per a television on split-screen. To access the game you go into the lobby and set the mode as Campaign and then invite your friends. Unfortunately, you won't be able to drop into an active co-op game.

The lead gamer plays as the EmCee, while player two gets to control the Arbiter and players three and four control "two brand new Elite characters." Hit the jump for their descriptions.

This is it, the official list of winners for the Game Critics Awards: Best of E3 2007. Before you jump to the full list, some stats:

- Rock Band leads with three wins including Best of Show. Mass Effect earns two including Best Console.
- Xbox 360 is leading platform with 11 wins, followed by eight wins for games playable on PS3
- Electronic Arts leads with six wins total, followed by Microsoft with three

Grats to Rock Band for Best of Show and LittleBigPlanet for Best Original. Hit the jump for the full, official and final list.

Analysts Say 360 "Running Behind" On Sales, Apply Pressure