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Kotaku
In Brief
In Brief
In Brief
I'm Free Of My Achievement Complex
Background story: I have two 360s. One I paid for, one is a loaner from MS. Thanks to the awful phone connection setup at my house, only one console is connected to the internets. That console is in my office, and only really gets use as an XBLA/multiplayer rig. The Elite in my living room, that's hooked up to my TV, and that's where I do most of my 360 gaming. So. What's happened is my Elite has racked up a ton of achievements and points. My other 360, the one that's online, hasn't. With 5 minutes spare today waiting for my PC to reboot, I figured I'd switch the HDDs over, update my gamercard with all the stuff I'd earned, won, etc over the past few months. That was a mistake. More »
Clip
New Simpsons Trailer is Japanese for Fun Fun
Picking up where the apparently banned The Simpsons episode "Thirty Minutes Over Tokyo" leaves off, the above trailer lampoons all things Japanese. This time around, it's games like Katamari and Pokémon. Mr, Sparkle for added big super happy fun fun!
New Simpson Game Trailer [TV in Japan]
financial woes
Atari Battling To Retain Dragon Ball Z License
More good (read: company collapsing) news for Atari, as Dragon Ball Z license holder FUNimation has leveled an accusation against the publisher, claiming breach of contract. According to the Gamespot report of the complain, FUNimation sees the license agreement as terminated, with Atari disagreeing and continuing to sell the games based on the series.
For those who aren't twelve years old, Dragon Ball Z is a long running anime series based on the manga created by Akira Toriyama, who's also responsible for art direction of Dragon Quest and Blue Dragon, among other non-dragony things. Dragon Ball also happens to be one of Atari's major revenue sources, in a time when it really, really needs the revenue.
Let's all hope for a speedy resolution, so that our nation's children can continue to enjoy more Dragon Ball goofiness.
Atari fights to keep Dragon Ball Z [Gamespot]
In Brief
This Week, On Epic v SK...
The Epic vs Silicon Knights drama continues! And we're still in year one, with only seven more to go. Don't know how we're going to stay this excited for that long. You may recall that a little while back, Epic tried to have Silicon Knights' case against them dismissed. Something about it being fiddlesticks and codswallop. Well, unfortunately for Epic, the US District Court for the Eastern District of North Carolina doesn't see it that way, and their motion to dismiss has been...well, dismissed! There's no walking away now, this one's to the death.Epic's Motion to Dismiss UE3 Case Denied [Next-Gen]
Gallery
Super Mario Galaxy Screen Dump
Nintendo of Europe released some 175 screenshots of Super Mario Galaxy today, loaded with new screens (treats) and old screens (tricks) nabbed directly from the already seen trailer. I've uploaded 100 of the newish shots in the gallery below, trying to avoid anything old or already duplicated. If you're in a media blackout, make sure to skip 'em. If you're thirsty for more Galaxy, enjoy.
Clips
Happy Halloween, Call of Duty Style
I'm a sucker for anything holiday related in video games, whether it's along the lines of unique releases Christmas NiGHTS, specially themed events in World of Warcraft or Phantasy Star Online, or even jack o' lantern headed special forces units in Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare. Thank you, Infinity Ward. I realize you're releasing it a bit late, but I hope you've seen fit to put this in the final version of the game.
uncharted: drake's fortune
Uncharted Demo Due Next Week
An update on Naughty Dog's Uncharted: Drake's Fortune was tucked away in the comments on the official US PlayStation blog, one that reveals info on the game's demo. According to director Amy Hennig, the playable demo for Uncharted will be released on the PlayStation Network next Thursday, November 8 for North American PlayStation 3 owners. Obviously, this is subject to change and a subject to get extremely excited about.
Happy Halloween From Naughty Dog! [PlayStation.blog via 1UP]
Sony
New York-based importer National Console Support warns customers today that getting their hands on a Japanese version of the DualShock 3 might be tricky. It writes in its semi-daily news updates that offers from one overseas distributor has the following requirement: "In order to obtain 1 Dual Shock 3, we also have to buy 1 PlayStation 3 40GB console." That's a hefty tax.
More »
Importer Warns Of DualShock 3 Import Price Gouging
New York-based importer National Console Support warns customers today that getting their hands on a Japanese version of the DualShock 3 might be tricky. It writes in its semi-daily news updates that offers from one overseas distributor has the following requirement: "In order to obtain 1 Dual Shock 3, we also have to buy 1 PlayStation 3 40GB console." That's a hefty tax.
More »
Clips
Alone In The Park
spoiler
Hidden Playable Character In Mario Galaxy Revealed
In a rare leak for a Nintendo game, it appears scans of the Super Mario Galaxy strategy guide reveal a second, as yet unknown playable character. No, it's not the penguin shown above, but someone familiar. The secret character won't be available from the outset of the game and will, in fact, require a fairly high amount of item collecting to unlock.
While the alternate playable character probably won't come as a whopping surprise to longtime Nintendo fans, in the interest of helping some of our more sensitive readers spoiler-free, details on the secret are after the jump.
More »
happy halloween
Rockstar Games solution to remove the Adults Only stigma from Manhunt 2? Smoke, mirrors, a couple of wavy lines—it all amounts to a blurry filter that makes each of the game's brutal executions harder to make out that scrambled soft porn on premium cable. Not the most elegant solution, but it apparently turned something AO into A-OK for the Entertainment Software Ratings Board. Today, it appears that some industrious Russian hackers may have found a way to eliminate that excessive obscuration, essentially "uncensoring" the game.
More »
Manhunt 2 "Uncensored" By PSP Hackers
Rockstar Games solution to remove the Adults Only stigma from Manhunt 2? Smoke, mirrors, a couple of wavy lines—it all amounts to a blurry filter that makes each of the game's brutal executions harder to make out that scrambled soft porn on premium cable. Not the most elegant solution, but it apparently turned something AO into A-OK for the Entertainment Software Ratings Board. Today, it appears that some industrious Russian hackers may have found a way to eliminate that excessive obscuration, essentially "uncensoring" the game.
More »
Eidos
Kane & Lynch Break Out Early
Eidos announced earlier today that it's shooter Kane & Lynch: Dead Men is the lucky recipient of an early release from the publisher. The PlayStation 3, Xbox 360 and PC versions will all ship a week ahead of schedule on November 13, giving it plenty of time to settle in to retailers before the post-Thanksgiving rush.
Unfortunately, it's now going head to head with big names Assassin's Creed and Super Mario Galaxy. We wish it the best of luck. Oh who am I kidding? Everything is coming out over the next two weeks. The Dead Men moniker couldn't be more apt.
Clips
Mega64 Does Super Mario Bros. 3
This Mega64 clip, I swear I've seen it before. Maybe it was shown at the Game Developers Conference earlier this year, maybe it sneaked online at some point prior, or maybe I have some pre-cognitive ability to know the details of Mega64 comedy bits. Regardless, it's something the creators of this clip have labeled as new and it's Kuribo's Shoe, something I've always been fascinated by for some inexplicable reason. Please, won't you watch?
objections overruled
Phoenix Wright Makes Ace Attorneys?
Phoenix Wright may be a fun...ish game, but it certainly can't teach you to be a real lawyer like those guys on TV, right? Not so! Capcom producer Minae Matsukawa tells a story of real life proof that Phoenix Wright is the best lawyer teaching tool for the DS of all time....a gentleman came up to me and said that he was a professor at a law school! He told me that as an educator of lawyers-to-be, he highly recommended the "Ace Attorney" games to his students.Was it a prank? More »
patch watch
Resistance Patch Arrives, Adds Full DualShock 3 Fun
The latest patch for Insomniac Games' Resistance: Fall of Man hits today, bringing with a host of new features. Included in "Patch 6" is rumble via the still unreleased DualShock 3 for both single and multiplayer games. Also new is the ability to take screen shots with a USB keyboard, with snaps saved to the Cross Media Bar's photo section. Password protected custom game options have also been added. In addition, there's a ton of new features that will probably only appeal to longtime online players, plus the usual bug fixes and balance changes.
The full list of changes in the latest patch is after the jump, courtesy of Insomniac's James Stevenson, a man who simply cannot be faulted for his gaming blog preference.
More »
Portal
