Kotaku

GTA IV On PC: No Comment

Nintendo: Our Online Is Not For You

Different services do things differently. Nintendo's three goals for Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection are to make the service free, easy and safe. These goals are there not just for young players, but also older ones and new players. Nintendo is bringing a lot of new people into the world of video games, and we want to reduce barriers while making the online experience as enjoyable as possible.

For a long, long time I've been credited unduly... Not so much these days, because the role of a designer is much, much more understood. But for a very long time, I was way, way over-credited for many things.

GameSpot's GTA IV Score-Change Down To A "Bug"

...there was a bug in our publishing system on Monday that caused the incorrect score for GTAIV, a 9.5, to appear for on some pages for a while. This happened hours before we posted the actual score with the review, a 10. This has all led to a lot of talk and speculation so I'm going to set things straight, short answer: it's not true.

GTA IV Thief Gets Some Local News Air Time

San Diego area Grand Theft Auto fan Dennis Richard Fiel, recently arrested on suspicion of stealing a couple copies of GTA IV, got some TV time on the local news. You may remember Fiel from our previous boring old text-only post, but now you can watch his police cruiser window kicking and photorgrapher spitting prowess via YouTube. His parents must be so proud! It's filled with local news-isms, making it worth the watch. I wonder if the police officer asking Fiel "Do you wanna get tazed?" got a response. Thanks, Ryan!

Atari, Infogrames To Get Merge On

Can't say we didn't see this one coming. Infogrames, already the majority shareholder in the struggling Atari—the company recently delisted from the NASDAQ stock exchange—will soon "acquire the remaining outstanding equity interests of Atari." Atari will then become a wholly owned subsidiary of Infogrames, something both parties agree (at least in the press release) is good news for the financially underperforming publisher of Dragon Ball Z, Godzilla and Alone in the Dark games.

Infogrames has also agreed to spot Atari $20 million to keep them operationally afloat. You know what that means, Atari employees? Bagel Mondays are back!

Full release after this.

Xbox 360 To Be Europe's "Biggest Loser" Say Analysts

The analysts at DFC Intelligence have gazed into the crystal ball to receive word from the future of the European console war and the news is somewhat of a downer for Sony. But it's far worse for Microsoft. A new report calls for "strong" sales of the PlayStation 3 but that Sony should expect to lose a "big chunk" of the PS2 install base. Wii is expected to dominate, but won't move software like the PS3 may.

The analyzing wizards at DFC see an Xbox future filled with doom and gloom, with the 360 "continuing to struggle" in Europe, despite UK acceptance. They have better news for the Euro industry as a whole, with 2008 expected "to break all kinds of sales records." And they all lived happily ever after. The end.

DFC: 360 Likely "Biggest Loser" in Europe [Next-Gen]

Guitar Hero: Aerosmith Oozes Muppet Ugly

Assault Heroes remains one of the best arcade shooter experiences on Xbox Live Arcade today - exactly the sort of game I used to play in arcades with my friends back in the day. Now Wanako Studios is readying Assault Heroes 2 for release next month, promising all of the action of the original and more. The new game adds hijackable enemy vehicles entering the mix, as well as taking the firefight into outer space for the first time. The game is due out on XBLA May 14th for the standard fee of 800 Microsoft points. In honor of the release date announcement, here's enough screens to create your own little Assault Heroes 2 flipbook.

Report Casts Doubt On GTA IV Related Stabbing

A stabbing reported by the BBC to have occurred by a perpetrator waiting in line for a midnight UK launch of Grand Theft Auto IV may be completely unrelated and the result of "media panic" according to conflicting reports. VNU cites GamesRadar as the source, which credits a GameStation employee who told the outlet that the crime committed against a passer-by "had categorically not pre-ordered the game" and that the victim was not in the store's queue.

Theories abound that drunken pub goers nearby had been the ones getting all stabby. We're not sure who to believe in this case, the BBC (sorry, who?) or some guy who works at GameStation who cracked the case for GamesRadar. It's all so confusing and tangential, but at least we got a fun story out of it! :(

Grand Theft Auto stabbing disputed [VNU]
GTA stabbing "nothing to do with GTA" [GamesRadar]

You may already be aware that three more souls have been confirmed to appear in Soulcalibur IV—Yoshimitsu, Talim and Rock—but have you seen these three in action at 720p yet? No? Then to the gallery with you, where you'll see even more shots of my personal go-to soul Yoshimitsu and plenty of beefy Rock pics. Yes, that is a rhinoceros head!

Ugh

To: Ash
From: Crecente
Re: Aw Fuckles, Wife Back in Hospital
Sorry to hear about your wife Ash, I can't imagine. It's gotta be super rough on mini-bash too. I don't know how Tristan would handle something like that, and I don't want to know.

You should take your son out for the day during the upcoming holidays, use the time to bond with him. As much time as I spend with Tristan (working at home and all) I still know the bond he has with Trish is much stronger, so it's always nice to get a little one-on-one time with him.

One word of advice, two actually: Order out.

What you missed:
PixelJunk Monster Encore - Wife Powered
Weakening U.S. Dollar Spurs PSN Prices Drop for Canada
How To Visit The Beating Heart Of Liberty City
GTA IV Info Dump: Reviews, Problems and Comparisons
How To Bring The West to Japan
Advocacy Groups Want Games Locked Up
MADD Demands AO Rating for GTA IV
echochrome? Thursday!

Boom Blox Hits Next Week, New Trailer Hits Now

As the minimal headline suggests, Sony's long awaited Escher-esque 3D puzzler echochrome will arrive digitally on North American shores tomorrow. The PlayStation 3 and PSP versions will each ring up at $9.99 and features 56 platform specific, ultimately controller flinging puzzles. I'm off to sell a pint to scrounge up the funds for both.

echochrome arrives tomorrow! [PlayStation.blog]

The Behemoth, developers behind upcoming Xbox Live game Castle Crashers, plan to hand out bronze Castle Crashers trophies to the top leaderboard slots once the game comes out.

The devs say they hope to show off the statues, which are made of "genuine genuine bronze", during this year's upcoming Comic Con. They also showed off one of the statues gnarly arms. Apparently, casting bronze isn't as easy as one would expect.... I'd expect it to be really hard.

Gnarly Arms [The Behemoth Dev Blog]