Capcom: Arcade Invader

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Capcom: Arcade Gamers and iPhone Gamers Are Very Similar [IPhone]

Posted: March 16th, 2010, 8:40am PDT by Brian Crecente

Tags: iPhone

Arcade Gamers and iPhone Gamers Are Very Similar

The iPhone version of Street Fighter IV drew inspiration not from the console, but from arcades, the game's producer told Kotaku in an interview. More »

Hakan Oils Up For Super Street Fighter IV [Street Fighter]

Posted: March 9th, 2010, 9:30pm PST by Luke Plunkett

Tags: street fighter

#streetfighter

While everyone pretty much knew he was coming, it's still nice to see Capcom take the wraps off Super Street Fighter IV's final new character Hakan with a couple of trailers. More »

Mega Ran Raps Up Mega Man 10 [Clips]

Posted: March 9th, 2010, 10:20am PST by Mike Fahey

Tags: Clips

#clips

Click here to read Mega Ran Raps Up Mega Man 10

Did you know that rapper Random, AKA Mega Ran, crafted a single dedicated to Capcom's recently released Mega Man 10? Well you do now, and you've got the new music video to prove it. More »

Dwindling Tokyo Game Show Hopes To Be World's Biggest Game Gathering [Japan]

Posted: March 9th, 2010, 7:40am PST by Brian Ashcraft

Tags: Japan

#japan

Click here to read Dwindling Tokyo Game Show Hopes To Be World's Biggest Game Gathering

From a Japanese game developer saying that the Japanese industry was "finished" to lower attendance, last year's Tokyo Game Show was disastrous. This year can only go up. More »

Review Round-Up: Zombie Alice Mega Toys [List]

Posted: March 5th, 2010, 5:00pm PST by Stephen Totilo

What freaks out an old-school gamer more, a Sonic kart-racer or a Mega Man with an easy mode? We have reviews of those games and more, plus two unoriginal movies, all subjected to our subjective blue-and-red judgments this week.

The Secret Armory of General Knoxx Micro-Review: Hot Coals Over a Cakewalk
In which Owen Good levels some difficulty level complaints.

The Crazies Movie Review: Left 4 Dead In a Small Town
In which Crecente celebrates the arrival of the thinking zombie.

Sonic & Sega All-Stars Racing Review: Remaster System
In which McWhertor uses the word "Nintendoes."

Mega Man 10 Micro-Review: Capcom Had Mercy
In which I praised old-school jumping over trucks.

Toy Soldiers Micro-review: A Farewell To Arms?
In which Ashcraft feels like he is eight-years-old.

Match Defense Toy Soldiers Micro-Review: Finally, Mom Can Help
In which I tried to to take Portugal.

Alice In Wonderland Movie Review: A Bitter Underland
In which Fahey isn't angling for back-of-DVD blurbs with lines such as "It's the movie equivalent of Sonic & The Black Knight."

Mega Man 10's Endless Mode Coming Later, For Download [Dlc]

Posted: March 1st, 2010, 1:00pm PST by Stephen Totilo

Tags: Dlc

Mega Man 10, the newest retro-game to hit consoles, may be out for the Wii today and coming soon to the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3, but its Endless Mode is further off.

The new Mega Man, like Mega Man 9, will include an endless mode, a level of Mega Man that goes on forever. You will have to pay for it. We've asked Capcom when and for how much. But just know for now that if you see a line of question marks in you Mega Man 10 game, it's for that mode, coming later, if you want it.

I'd turn on my PlayStation 3 to confirm the language I saw regarding the Endless Mode in a preview copy of the game's digital instruction manual. But that would require turning on my PS3, something I am afraid of doing today.

Alternate playable character Proto Man was included in the preview version I played, indicating that he is not DLC this time. For Mega Man 9, he was. The new game also includes a series of unlockable challenge levels, which begin with tasks such as running across a room and culminate with harder strings-attached boss battles.

[UPDATE: Thank you, reader Nintendo 451, for word that Endless Mode will be out on the Wii on April 26, for three bucks, according to Nintendo.]

The Nintendo Download: The Blue Bomber Returns [Downloadables]

Posted: March 1st, 2010, 8:40am PST by Mike Fahey

Tags: Downloadables

Eight new titles and eight new robot masters come to Nintendo's DSi, WiiWare, and Virtual Console this morning, with Capcom's retrolicious Mega Man 10 leading the charge.

It used to be when a big name title hit WiiWare, Nintendo would hold back on the rest of the week's releases to make sure said title got enough attention. Mega Man 10 needs not such coddling, especially when it includes everyone's new favorite robot master, Sheep Man. With their power combined, Dart Rage and Happy Hammerin' for WiiWare stand no chance.

Remember, if you hate our gallery format, you can always clipck here and view this week's games in a straight line.

Mega Man 10

Publisher: Capcom Entertainment, Inc.
Players: 1
ESRB Rating: E (Everyone) – Mild Cartoon Violence
Price: 1,000 Wii Points
Description: Fans of all ages can enjoy the newest entry in this historic 8-bit franchise. As a special service to new players, there's an Easy Mode – a first for a Mega Man game. This new feature means novices and longtime fans alike can all have a shot at making it to the end of a Mega Man game. Also, you can now play as Proto Man and try Time Attack Mode from the beginning, or watch play-through videos from players all over the world.

Dart Rage

Publisher: JV Games Inc.
Players: 1-4
ESRB Rating: E (Everyone) – Alcohol Reference
Price: 600 Wii Points
Description: Grab your Wii Remote™ controller and prepare for the ultimate game of darts on your Wii console. Dart Rage features the most realistic throwing system available today. With pixel-perfect accuracy and no buttons to push, you'll be completely immersed in the game's realism. Dart Rage puts you in the spotlight as you compete against friends, the computer or both. With four great games to choose from – including 301-901, Cricket, Poker and American (Baseball) darts – Dart Rage has plenty of options to keep the game fresh. There's also a VS mode in which multiple players can compete at the same time in a race to the finish. Rock out to a sizzling soundtrack as a commentator announces your every shot.

Happy Hammerin'

Publisher: GAMEBRIDGE
Players: 1-4
ESRB Rating: E (Everyone) – Mild Cartoon Violence
Price: 500 Wii Points
Description: Happy Hammerin' is a party game suitable for friends and families. Compete against each other by bashing moles using the Wii Remote controller. Use the Wii Remote like a hammer and let off some steam as you frantically try to bash the moles popping up all over the screen. Play against the CPU or go head-to-head with up to four players. (Additional accessories are required for the multiplayer modes and are sold separately.) Players can challenge themselves in three different modes: Mole Adventure (1-2 players), Mole Marathon (1 player) and Party Battle (1-4 players). Mole Adventure consists of four stages with three difficulty types. The faster you bash, the more points you get. With broadband Internet access, register your scores online and compete against the best mole bashers from around the world.

FATAL FURY SPECIAL

Original platform: NEOGEO
Publisher: D4 Enterprise
Players: 1-2
ESRB Rating: T (Teen) – Mild Suggestive Themes, Violence
Price: 900 Wii Points
Description: Originally released in 1993, this fighting game pits 15 different fighters against each other. The cast includes the original eight characters from Fatal Fury 2, as well as three new characters (Billy, Axel and Laurence) and a new boss (Wolfgang). Also, three characters from the original Fatal Fury (Duck, Dan and Geese) have returned to the fight. Building on the appeal of the previous game with two-line battles, special moves and powerful finishers, this game is truly worthy of its "special" distinction. And if certain special conditions are met, special guest Ryuu Sakazaki will make an appearance.

Let's Golf

Publisher: Gameloft
Players: 1-2
ESRB Rating: E (Everyone)
Price: 800 Nintendo DSi Points
Description: Grab a club, take a swing and pray for a birdie in Let's Golf. Discover a fun-filled experience that's accessible to anyone. Choose from four customizable characters and play 45 holes in three beautiful 3-D locations: Fiji Beach, the English Countryside and the Scottish Lochs. Enjoy easy-to-learn controls that even let you blow into the microphone to add spin to your ball. Take photos with your Nintendo DSi™ system's built-in camera and add them to your personal profile. For the most fun, play Hot Seat Multiplayer with friends on a single Nintendo DSi system and see who's the best.

newVideoPlayer( {"type":"video","player":"http:\/\/www.youtube.com\/v\/G2fc00qqaYM&hl=en&fs=1&fmt=22","customParams":[],"width":500,"height":412,"ratio":0.824,"flashData":"","embedName":null,"objectId":null,"noEmbed":false,"source":"youtube"} );
Globulos Party
Publisher: GlobZ
Players: 1-2
ESRB Rating: E (Everyone) – Comic Mischief
Price: 500 Nintendo DSi Points
Description: Globulos Party is a collection of mini-games that are very simple to understand and fun to master. The 20 games are: 4-Square, Arena, Basket, Bomber, Bomber-King, Croquet, Darts, Darts-King, Soccer, Funky-Soccer, Ice Hockey, Monster, Pétanque, Pinball, Rally, Football, Snooker, Sumo, Tic-Tac-Toe and Volley. Enjoy more than 15 hours of solo fun and nearly unlimited game play with the three multiplayer modes.

newVideoPlayer( {"type":"video","player":"http:\/\/www.youtube.com\/v\/2Evk0bRh5es&hl=en&fs=1&fmt=22","customParams":[],"width":500,"height":412,"ratio":0.824,"flashData":"","embedName":null,"objectId":null,"noEmbed":false,"source":"youtube"} );
VT Tennis

Publisher: Virtual Toys
Players: 1
ESRB Rating: E (Everyone)
Price: 500 Nintendo DSi Points
Description: VT Tennis is an ace of a tennis game for the Nintendo DSi system. Using the innovative stylus and touch-screen controls, train your budding tennis star to serve, lob and smash his way to victory with precision swipes in all directions. Advance your player statistics in this fast-paced tournament of game modes, featuring Quickmatch, Tennis School and World Championship. The objective is to reach No. 1 in the world rankings. To do this, players will have to unlock courts as they compete in championships all over the world. At the start of career mode, players will find themselves in last place in the rankings. From this moment on, you must battle your way up. You can play on all types of surfaces – grass, clay, hard courts and wood – and learn the best techniques for winning each tournament on the different surfaces. Seventeen tough courts, each more difficult than the last, stand between you and your final victory.

Flips: Terror in Cubicle Four

Publisher: Electronic Arts
Players: 1
Price: 500 Nintendo DSi Points
Description: There's something strange going on with the loo in cubicle four of the girls' toilet. It's spewed green goo on Stacey's shoes and almost had new boy James for lunch. Can he and his friends, Alexander and Lenny, flush out the cause of the trouble, or will the terrifying toilet plague the school with problems forever?

Tokyo Game Show Dated, Should Be Moved [Tgs2010]

Posted: February 26th, 2010, 4:30am PST by Brian Ashcraft

Tags: Tgs2010

To the chagrin of Kotaku, this year's Tokyo Game Show will be in September. Such a bad idea. But hey, they've been doing this show for twenty years. So that must mean they know what they're doing.

This year is the show's 20th anniversary, and The Computer Entertainment Supplier's Association, the TGS organizers, hope to attract more visitors from Asia by hosting a Asian gaming industry forum to discuss the future of gaming in the continent.

TGS 2010 will be held from September 16 to September 19 in Chiba, outside Tokyo. With the glut of game shows in the late spring and summer, the Tokyo Game Show would be way better suited to a late fall date.

At last year's Tokyo Game Show, Capcom developer Keiji Inafune stated, "Personally when I looked around [at] all the different games at the TGS floor, I said 'Man, Japan is over. We're done. Our game industry is finished.'"

This event needs to be held later in the year.

Your Lost Planet 2 Preorder Bonus Has Changed [Capcom]

Posted: February 25th, 2010, 1:20pm PST by Mike Fahey

Tags: capcom

Remember back in November, when Capcom announced a Wesker skin as a GameStop preorder bonus for Lost Planet 2? Forget that. Now the company is giving GameStop preorder customers two exclusive underwater combat maps. What about Wesker?

There's good news, and better news. The good news is, players who preorder Lost Planet 2 will no longer receive Albert Wesker from Resident Evil as a preorder exclusive. How is that good news? Capcom has decided to give Wesker to everybody, preorder or no, so Wesker shall be yours, no matter what!

GameStop preorder customers will be receiving two exclusive multiplayer maps in Wesker's stead, both featuring underwater combat. There's Helix, an underwater NEVEC mining facility, complete with Aqua Catapults, and Back to the Island, featuring island beaches and a battered carrier. Both maps will feature special Vital Suits that transform into submarines. You'll probably have to make the trademark Transformers noise yourself.

And the better news? Capcom has also announced split screen multiplayer for Lost Planet 2, a feature that doesn't show up enough in today's multiplayer shooters.

In summary, that's free Wesker for everybody, watersports for GameStop preorder customers, and split screen multiplayer for you and a friend. Everyone wins!

Nintendo Summit News Round-Up [Nintendo Summit]

Posted: February 24th, 2010, 2:20pm PST by Mike Fahey

Tags: Nintendo Summit

The Nintendo Summit in San Francisco is positively bursting with news, with release dates for the Nintendo DSi XL, Super Mario Galaxy 2, Metroid: Other M, and plenty of information on the games coming in the first half of 2010.

Nintendo of America's Cammie Dunaway kicked off today's festivities with the long awaited pricing and release date details for the bigger and arguably better Nintendo DSi XL.

With the hardware announcement out of the way, Cammie then shifted focus on the other side of Nintendo's business, the games, first doling out release date information for one of the company's biggest games of the year, Super Mario Galaxy 2, with a new trailer and a batch of fresh screens to help get the excitement flowing.

Following the Super Mario Galaxy 2 news came release dates for several smaller yet still eagerly anticipated titles. Sin & Punishment 2 is finally making it to North America as Sin & Punishment: Star Successor, while news of Picross 3D's release had our own Michael McWhertor typing excitedly in all caps. He's a bit of a fan.

Fans eagerly awaiting the WiiWare version of PC adventure game Cave Story received good news as well, with the game slated for release next month.

Then Nintendo announced they would be taking over publishing rights for Square Enix's Dragon Quest IX in North America, talked about multiplayer co-op in Prince of Persia: The Forgotten Sands for the Wii, dropped a release date and multiplayer details for Capcom's Monster Hunter Tri, and laid out plans for DSiWare and WiiWare over the coming months.

Nintendo also revealed Disney's Guilty Party, a series of whodunit mini-games for the Wii, scheduled for release in the second half of 2009.

Finally, saving the best for last, Nintendo finally put a date on Metroid: Other M, Tecmo's take on the classic franchise, delivering new screens and story details to boot.

"Nintendo finished 2009 with a bang, and we're continuing our momentum into 2010," said Cammie Dunaway, Nintendo of America's executive vice president of Sales & Marketing. "With Nintendo DSi XL, Super Mario Galaxy 2 and Metroid: Other M coming in the first six months of the year, we're making sure all our fans have great game content to enjoy year-round."

Be sure to stay tuned to Kotaku throughout the rest of the day, with hands-on impressions of Super Mario Galaxy and Metroid: Other M coming your way around 10PM Kotaku time.

Speak-Up On Kotaku: Game Mash-Ups, T-Shirts, Singalongs, And Viewtiful Woes [Speak-Up]

Posted: February 24th, 2010, 1:20pm PST by Mike Fahey

Tags: Speak-Up

In this week's thrilling episode of Speak-Up on Kotaku, Rear Admiral Meatwad, Nathan Obbards, Steve Rowland, and Trygle12 discuss t-shirts, Viewtiful Joe, commenting games, and the unofficial Andrew Ryan theme song.

Don't like the gallery layout? Click here to view everything on one page.

About Speak-Up on Kotaku: Our readers have a lot to say, and sometimes what they have to say has nothing to do with the stories we run. That's why we have that little box on the front page of Kotaku. You know, the one with "Got something to say?" written in it? That's the place to post anecdotes, photos, game tips and hints, and anything you want to share with Kotaku at large. Just make sure to include #speakup in your comment so we can find it. Every Wednesday we'll pull the best #speakup posts we can find and highlight them here.

Would You Like To Play A Game?

Nathan Obbards would like to play a little game with you.

Alright, time for a little game.

We did this with movies a little back over at Giz, but I think we should do it with video games now.

Take two titles and combine them where they have words in common and create a description about what the video game is about.

I'll start:
Mario Brothers In Arms - When two brothers are thrust into a world shattering conflict, they must stick together to secure the pipelines, crush their enemies, and rescue a princess. Along the way, the will fight bands of MG42 wielding and heavily armored bands of fuhrer Bowser's elite shock troops, Koopa Troopers. The only question is, will Operation Market Peach be a success?

Look what I found on VGBoxArt!

Consider The Alternative

Rear Admiral Meatwad has his own ideas as to what a Kotaku t-shirt should look like.

Come Back, Joe!

Steve Rowland begs Capcom for the return of a franchise that seems to have sputtered out before its time.

Dear Viewtiful Joe,

I miss you.
For a while there, we had something going on... what happened? Viewtiful Joe 1 & 2 were amazing, but then you changed.

Ever since clover closed down... you've been different. I got my hopes up when I saw you in the news the other day, but then I realized that you were a side character. Viewtiful Joe 3 can happen! You can save the earth for the 3rd and final time.

Please...

*wipes at tears*

Let Me Clear My Throat

Direct from Trygle12, it's the Andrew Ryan theme song! Sing along, BioShock fans!

Are ya ready kids?

AYE AYE CAPTAIN!

I can't hear you!

AYE AYE CAPTAIN!

OOOOOOOOOH

WHO LIVES IN A SKYSCRAPER UNDER THE SEA?
AN-DREW RY-AN!
ECCENTRIC AMBITIOUS AND MOUSTACHED IS HE!
AN-DREW RY-AN!
IF THE REST OF THE WORLD BE SOMETHING YA FEAR!
AN-DREW RY-AN!
COME DOWN TO RAPTURE IN A BATHYSPHERE!
AN-DREW RY-AN!

ANDREW RYAN!
ANDREW RYAN!
ANDREW RYAN!
AN-DREWWWWW RY-ANNNNNN!

Nintendo Details Upcoming WiiWare And DSIWare Titles [Nintendo]

Posted: February 24th, 2010, 12:20pm PST by Mike Fahey

Tags: Nintendo

As if Cave Story wasn't enough, Nintendo has plenty more downloadable games coming out in the first half of 2010, from Art Style and WarioWare for WiiWare to a DSiWare fighter that puts you inside the game.

If you've been keeping up with the flood of Nintendo news this morning, you'll know that Cave Story hits WiiWare on March 22nd, but the WiiWare party starts on March 1st, when Capcom's Mega Man 10 makes the scene. Then on the 8th, Max & the Magic Marker arrives, charging players to use their Wii remote as a drawing tool, helping Max reach his ultimate goal, whatever that might be. Maybe he really wants to play Cave Story. Rounding out March we have WarioWare: D.I.Y. Showcase, a standalone WarioWare title featuring interoperability with WarioWare D.I.Y. on the Nintendo DS.

Two new WiiWare Art Style titles also make the lineup for early 2010. Rotozoa features a tiny creature that absorbs tiny colored organisms through its tentacles to grow larger, and Art Style: light trax features a techno-music backed race between colored light beams, which sounds a great deal like Bit Generation's dotstream, which is fine by us.

This spring will also see the release of Ghostfire Game's Rage of the Gladiator and a port of gorgeous PC puzzle platformer And Yet It Moves from Broken rules. Then, come the summer, we'll be treated to Super Meat Boy!, which needs no introduction.

DSiWare explodes this year with the spring release of Nintendo's Photo Dojo, a fighting game in which you take photos of yourself, record sounds, and then become a character in a side-scrolling beat-em up. Sounds like an interesting use for that DSi camera we've been poking at for months.

Spring also brings Nintendo's Metal Torrent to DSiWare, a multiplayer shooter involving converting your opponent's bullets to cubes to increase your score, and X-Scape, also from Nintendo, which is an exploratory adventure involving exploring more than 20 planets, navigating 3D tunnels, and fighting giant robots.

It looks like Nintendo has a fine lineup coming, at least for the first half of the year. Things are beginning to look up for the weekly Nintendo Download.

Monster Hunter Tri Dated For April, Online Multiplayer Goes Free [Release Date]

Posted: February 24th, 2010, 11:30am PST by Mike Fahey

Tags: Release Date

It's a Monster Hunter Tri information explosion, as Nintendo and Capcom reveal new information on the North American release of this eagerly anticipated title, including the release date, exclusive demos, preorder incentives, and the freedom of online multiplayer.

Nintendo kicked off the Monster Hunter Tri information overload today at its summit in San Francisco, announcing an April 20th release date, along with the news that unlike Japan, there will be no subscription fees associated with online play in the North American version of the game. Fans still get all of the Wii Speak-enabled online monster hunting they can handle, without having to pay a dime, unless they want to purchase additional items for the game in the Nintendo Store.

Capcom is helping out on that front too. Along with a GameStop-exclusive demo of the game, available on March 8th, folks who preorder Monster Hunter Tri from the retailer will also score a 500 Monster Hunter Tri Points Card, good towards purchases in the Nintendo Wii or DSi shopping channels.

As mentioned previously, Monster Hunter Tri will be available in two flavors. Players can opt to purchase a copy of the game bundled with Nintendo's new Classic Controller Pro for $59.99, or spend $10 less on just the game itself. Considering the Classic Controller Pro will retail for $19.99 by itself, the bundle is probably the way to go.

As if all of this information wasn't enough, Capcom also released 11 new Monster Hunter Tri screens to commemorate the announcements. Enjoy!

Mark Beaumont, Capcom COO, Dies Suddenly [Update] [Breaking]

Posted: February 23rd, 2010, 3:40pm PST by Owen Good

Tags: Breaking

Capcom has announced that Mark Beaumont, its chief operating officer for North America and Europe, died suddenly this morning.

Beaumont, in his late 50s, was officially Capcom's executive vice president, officer and Head of North America, South America and Europe consumer software publishing. He was promoted to the position in 2008. He joined Capcom in 2005 from Midway, where he had been the executive vice president for publishing at Midway before joining Capcom in 2005.

MCV reported the cause of death as a heart attack. Reached by Kotaku, Capcom representatives declined all comment beyond this statement, released by the company at 4:14 U.S. Mountain time:

Our COO and dear friend, Mark Beaumont, passed away this morning. This sudden loss has left us with deep sadness. Our hearts go out to his family and loved ones. We will remember him for his humor, passion and commitment to Capcom and our industry. He was a great leader and visionary and his spirit will carry on in everything that we do. Please join us in memory of Mark.

Resident Evil 5: Lost In Nightmares Micro-Review: Less Fighting, More Frightening [Review]

Posted: February 23rd, 2010, 2:20pm PST by Stephen Totilo

Tags: Review

The brief new downloadable episode for Resident Evil 5 isn't very scary, but it does show how a Resident Evil 5 can be more terrifying than the original game Capcom released in 2009.

Resident Evil 5: Lost In Nightmares is a flashback scenario starring Mark McGwire-bodied Resident Evil 5 hero Chris Redfield and his partner in zombie-killing from the first Resident Evil game, Jill Valentine. It controls like RE5. It can be played in co-op like RE5. But we're not in Africa this time. We're in the mansion of the founder of the Umbrella Corporation. In this mansion, there are puzzles to solve, sturdy axe-men to fight, points to tally and windows in a hallway that ... dogs aren't going to jump through them and attack, are they?

Loved
Quiet Doesn't Mean Too Quiet: It takes a while to find anything in Lost In Nightmares that needs killing or re-killing. For a long time, Chris and Jill are in the horror movie set-up phase, creeping through a mansion, exploring its crannies and crank puzzles, and, as the player, you're waiting. When are the enemies going to pounce? The base Resident Evil 5 game was boldly built to generate tension and fear while assaulting its playable characters with crowds of infected enemies under a blazing mid-day sun. Lost In Nightmares provides an old-fashioned type of tension, in a darker, lonelier place. It's a welcome return to an earlier style, rendered beautifully in RE5-level graphics. Even when the shotgun-shooting starts, the enemies are fewer, not because the game can't render more enemies, but because, well, it's creepier this way.

Swift And Efficient: Lost In Nightmares is not just short, which you may or may not like, but svelte, which is a less controversially good thing. The classic Resident-Evil-1-style puzzles that have you collecting two pieces of a plaque so a door will open may not be clever but they pass briskly and are pleasant to do. The game charges the player to do just about nothing that is tedious and instead invites them to move from one interesting corner of the mansion to the next. Had it required the player to linger, the mansion may have begun to bore, but this is a Resident Evil scrunched into a feature film run-time. Everything is stripped down and only what is needed and works is left in. This is tidy game development worth praising.

Hated
Drake And Chloe, Where Are You?: Resident Evil always had dialogue that smelled like Gouda. And, sure, buddy-fiction dialogue standards are low. But the stiff exchanges and lack of convincing human interaction of Redfield and Valentine is tougher to tolerate on this side of Uncharted 2, which has a set a standard about how video game characters could quip and emote with each other, during high and low moments, with a sense that blood flows through their veins rather than oil. Chris Redfield shouldn't be Drake. Jill Valentine need not be Chloe. But the two should seem human, because, as of October 2009, mannequin action heroes in video games feel archaic.

Resident Evil 5: Lost In Nightmares provides a pleasantly uneasy return to the style of Resident Evil 1, and adds as a bonus a re-mixed version of the series popular score-attack mode Mercenaries, with a slew of new franchise characters. There is good and just varied enough content here for the Resident Evil fan. If you didn't like RE5 you might even like this — if you don't mind your games to be in fighting trim and a little lacking in the human charm department.

Resident Evil: Lost In Nightmares was developed and published by Capcom for the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 on February 18. Requires a copy of Resident Evil 5. (Lost In Nightmares and another new downloadable scenario will both be included in the March-slated Resident Evil 5 Gold Edition version of RE5. Lost In Nightmares retails for about $5.00 USD on Xbox Live Marketplace and PlayStation Network. A copy of the episode was given to us by the publisher for reviewing purposes. Played through the adventure in 90 minutes, dabbled with Mercenaries Reunion, didn't like the boss battle.

Confused by our reviews? Read our review FAQ.

Street Fighter IV iPhone in Action [Clips]

Posted: February 23rd, 2010, 9:00am PST by Brian Crecente

Tags: Clips

newVideoPlayer( {"type":"video","player":"http:\/\/www.youtube.com\/v\/J5qrwzzM3Kk&hl=en&fs=1&fmt=22","customParams":[],"width":500,"height":412,"ratio":0.824,"flashData":"","embedName":null,"objectId":null,"noEmbed":false,"source":"youtube"} ); Commenter Senics pointed us to this video from Slide to Play showing off a bit of Street Fighter gameplay on the iPhone.

While the game appears to have smooth gameplay, and some pretty nice graphics, I have some major concerns.

Playing the game requires swiping your thumb around on the corners of the screen, pretty typical for an iPhone game, but in this video it looks like thumbs take up a whole lot of real estate during a fight. More importantly, though, it looks like the person playing was having a lot of trouble delivering the moves.

Maybe Capcom should have looked at streamlining the game so it used more motion or perhaps, shudder, just button pushes to deliver special attacks. I know, I know, that's crazy talk. But if you're going to a controller-free platform maybe a virtual stick isn't the best way to do it.

Street Fighter IV's iPhone Roster, Lineup Revealed [IPhone]

Posted: February 22nd, 2010, 9:30pm PST by Luke Plunkett

Tags: iPhone

When Street Fighter IV lands on the iPhone in March, it won't be as full-featured as 2009's console versions. Then again, it won't cost $50, either.

Capcom confirmed today that there will only be eight fighters available in the handheld version of the game, those being Ryu, Ken, Guile, Blanka, Chun-Li, Dhalsim, M. Bison and Abel.

A reduced roster comes with a reduced price, however, with the game set to retail for $10. Not a bad deal considering the graphics and all, but that control scheme is going to take some work...

Street Fighter 4 iPhone release details revealed: $10 in March with eight characters [GamePro]

Hey Look, It's Ibuki (Again!) [Super Street Fighter IV]

Posted: February 22nd, 2010, 3:00am PST by Brian Ashcraft

Tags: super street fighter iv

Remember on Friday when we said we had all the Super Street Fighter IV Ibuki you could stand? We lied.

Capcom has released a slew of screens showing the ninja assassin's special moves. Here they are! Super Street Fighter IV will be out this April.

All The Super Street Fighter IV Dudley, Makoto, And Ibuki You Can Stand [Scrrens]

Posted: February 19th, 2010, 8:20am PST by Mike Fahey

Tags: scrrens

Now that Capcom has officially outed Makoto, Ibuki, and Dudley as new playable characters in Super Street Fighter IV, the flood of new screenshots, art, and versus videos can begin! Sagat versus Dudley! Ibuki versus Makoto! Ready, fight!

These new screens, concept art, and videos should give Street Fighter fans something to do while we wait for Capcom to reveal Hakan, the Arab grappler and last playable character in the updated version of Street Fighter IV. I for one am hoping they scrap plans for him and instead make Ibuki's raccoon playable, but that's just my dream.

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PAL PlayStation Store Update: Who Needs Yakuza 4 When You've Got Yakuza 3? [Europe]

Posted: February 19th, 2010, 3:30am PST by Luke Plunkett

Tags: Europe

This week's European store update is a good one, PAL gamers finally getting their hands on a Yakuza 3 demo that isn't in Japanese.

I played the crap out of the Japanese demo last year, but then, it was in Japanese. You kind of had to just fumble your way through it. Now that I know you have to find a way around the cops to get to the Milennium Tower? It all makes sense.

PS3 STORE
Special Offers

(Available until the 4th of March)

* Marvel vs. Capcom 2 (was – £11.99/€14.99 now – £5.49/€6.99)
* Super Street Fighter 2 Turbo HD (was – £11.99/€14.99 now – £5.49/€6.99)
* Call of Juarez: Bound in Blood – Old West Map Pack (was – £7.99/€9.99 now – £3.99/€4.99)
* Tom Clancy's End War Faction Elite Pack (was – £3.19/€3.99 now – £1.59/€1.99)
* Shaun White Snowboarding The Glamour Pack (was – £3.99/€4.99 now – £2.39/€2.99)
* Brothers In Arms D-Day (PSP) (was – £15.99/€19.99 now – £7.99/€9.99)
* Prince of Persia: Revelations (PSP) (was – £15.99/€19.99 now – £7.99/€9.99)
* Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (PSP) (was – £15.99/€19.99 now – £7.99/€9.99)
* Lilo and Stitch: Trouble in Paradise (PSone) (was – £3.99/€4.99 now – £3.19/€3.99)
* Bug's Life (PSone) (was – £3.99/€4.99 now – £3.19/€3.99)

minis month

(Available until the 4th of March)

* Tetris (was – £3.99/€4.99 now – £3.49/€3.99)
* Sudoku (was – £3.99/€4.99 now – £3.49/€3.99)
* Bowling 3D (was – £3.99/€4.99 now – £3.49/€3.99)
* Yetisports Pengu Throw (was – £2.49/€2.99 now – £1.74/€1.99)
* Red Bull X-Fighters (was – £3.99/€4.99 now – £3.49/€3.99)
* Let's Golf (was – £3.99/€4.99 now – £2.49/€2.99)
* Stand O'Food (was – £3.99/€4.99 now – £3.49/€3.99)
* Spot the Differences (was – £2.49/€2.99 now – £1.24/€1.49)

Downloadable Games

* Revenge of the Wounded Dragons (£6.29/€7.99) Rating: PEGI 16

Availability: All locales

Peggle(£6.29/€7.99) Rating: PEGI 3

Availability: All locales

Demos (free)

* Sonic & SEGA All-Stars Racing Rating: PEGI 7

Availability: All locales

* Yakuza 3 Rating: PEGI 18

Availability: Not available in Germany

* Digger HD Rating: PEGI 3

Availability: All locales
minis

* Alien Zombie Death (£2.49/€2.99) Rating: PEGI 7

Availability: Not available in Australia, New Zealand, Portugal and Russia

* Retro Cave Flyer (£2.49/€2.99) Rating: PEGI 3

Availability: Not available in Australia, New Zealand and Portugal
Add-On Game Content

* Assassin's Creed II
* Sequence 13 Bonfire of the Vanities (£3.19/€3.99)
* Sequence 13 Bonfire of the Vanities & Secret Locations (£5.49/€6.99)

Rating: PEGI 18

Availability: All locales

* Resident Evil 5
o Desperate Escape (£3.99/€4.99)
o Lost In Nightmares (£3.99/€4.99)
o Costume Pack 1 (£1.59/€1.99)

Rating: PEGI 18

Availability: All locales

* Burnout Paradise
o Complete Edition Bundle (Full game and all DLC packs) (£23.99/€29.99)
o Complete DLC Bundle (£15.99/€19.99)

Rating: PEGI 7

Availability: All locales

* Star Wars: The Force Unleashed – Hoth Mission Pack (£7.99/€9.99)

Rating: PEGI 16

Availability: Not available in Russia, Saudi Arabia, South Africa and UAE

* Buzz! – National Geographic Kids Quiz (£6.29/€7.99)

Rating: PEGI 3

Availability: All locales

* Dante's Inferno – Florentine Dante Costume (£1.59/€1.99)

Rating: PEGI 18

Availability: Not available in Russia

* Dragon Ball: Raging Blast – Saiyans Pack (free)

Rating: PEGI 12

Availability: All locales

* Rock Band
o Fascination by Alphabeat (£0.99/€1.49)
o Let Forever Be by The Chemical Brothers (£0.99/€1.49)
o Stray Cat Strut by Brian Setzer (£0.99/€1.49)
o Weightless by All Time Low (£0.99/€1.49)
o Otis Redding Pack 01 (£4.39/€6.59)
o Fa-Fa-Fa-Fa-Fa (Sad Song) (£0.99/€1.49)
o I'm Sick Y'all (£0.99/€1.49)
o I've Got Dreams To Remember (£0.99/€1.49)
o Love Man (£0.99/€1.49)
o (Sitting On The) Dock of the Bay (Take 2) (£0.99/€1.49)

(contains the following tracks which are also sold separately)

Rating: PEGI 12

Availability: Not available in Czech Republic, Greece, Luxembourg, Poland, Russia, Saudi Arabia, South Africa and UAE

* Guitar Hero 5
o Blink-182 Track Pack (£4.39/€5.49)
o Adam's Song (£1.59/€1.99)
o All the Small Things (£1.59/€1.99)
o First Date (£1.59/€1.99)

(contains the following tracks which are also sold separately)

Rating: PEGI 12

Availability: Not available in Russia, Saudi Arabia, South Africa and United Arab Emirates
Videos (free)

* FIFA 10 Ultimate Team Trailer

Dynamic Themes

(animated)

* Flower Dynamic Theme (£1.59/€1.99)

Premium Themes

(static)

* Resident Evil 5 Custom Theme (£1.19/€1.49)
* Amazing Peaks Theme (£1.19/€1.49)
* Haemorrhage Theme (£1.19/€1.49)

Premium Avatars

* MAG Raven Badge (£0.20/€0.25)
* MAG Raven Character (£0.20/€0.25)
* MAG S.V.E.R. Badge (£0.20/€0.25)
* MAG S.V.E.R. Character (£0.20/€0.25)
* MAG Valor Badge (£0.20/€0.25)
* MAG Valor Character (£0.20/€0.25)

Wallpaper (free)

* Topatoi Wallpaper 5

PSP STORE

Special Offers (also available via the PS3 store)

(Available until the 4th of March)

* Brothers In Arms D-Day (PSP) (was – £15.99/€19.99 now – £7.99/€9.99)
* Prince of Persia: Revelations (PSP) (was – £15.99/€19.99 now – £7.99/€9.99)
* Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (PSP) (was – £15.99/€19.99 now – £7.99/€9.99)
* Lilo and Stitch: Trouble in Paradise (PSone) (was – £3.99/€4.99 now – £3.19/€3.99)
* Bug's Life (PSone) (was – £3.99/€4.99 now – £3.19/€3.99)

minis month

(Available until the 4th of March)

* Tetris (was – £3.99/€4.99 now – £3.49/€3.99)
* Sudoku (was – £3.99/€4.99 now – £3.49/€3.99)
* Bowling 3D (was – £3.99/€4.99 now – £3.49/€3.99)
* Yetisports Pengu Throw (was – £2.49/€2.99 now – £1.74/€1.99)
* Red Bull X-Fighters (was – £3.99/€4.99 now – £3.49/€3.99)
* Let's Golf (was – £3.99/€4.99 now – £2.49/€2.99)
* Stand O'Food (was – £3.99/€4.99 now – £3.49/€3.99)
* Spot the Differences (was – £2.49/€2.99 now – £1.24/€1.49)

Downloadable Games (also available via the PS3 store)

* SOCOM Fireteam Bravo 3 (£24.99/€39.99)

Rating: PEGI 16

Availability: All locales

* Half-Minute Hero (£23.99)

Rating: PEGI 12

Availability: Released in UK only (further locales to be added)

* Disgaea 2: Dark Hero Days (£23.99/€29.99)

Rating: PEGI 16

Availability: All locales

* SEGA Rally (£13.99/€17.99)

Rating: PEGI 3

Availability: All locales
Demo (also available via the PS3 store) (free)

* Thexder Neo Demo

Rating: PEGI 7

Availability: All locales
minis (also available via the PS3 store)

* Alien Zombie Death (£2.49/€2.99)

Rating: PEGI 7

Availability: Not available in Australia, New Zealand, Portugal and Russia

* Retro Cave Flyer (£2.49/€2.99)

Rating: PEGI 3

Availability: Not available in Australia, New Zealand and Portugal
Add-On Game Content (also available via the PS3 store)

* LittleBigPlanet
o The Wedding Theme Level Kit (£2.39/€2.99)
o The Wedding Theme Costume (free)

Rating: PEGI 7

Availability: All locales

How To Unlock The Resident Evil 5 DLC "Classic" Camera [Capcom]

Posted: February 19th, 2010, 3:00am PST by Brian Ashcraft

Tags: capcom

The new Resident Evil 5 downloadable content "Lost in Nightmares" is available. It features a special surprise.

As an easter egg, the game has a hidden "classic" camera angle mode from the earlier titles. Here's how to unlock it: Talk to the front door a couple of times until it says "?" instead of investigate.

"Lost in Nightmares" is the first major story DLC for Resident Evil 5. Protagonist Chris Redfield joins forces with Jill Valentine from the previous RE titles.

Thanks, Adrian!

Uncharted 2 Wins Just About Everything At The 13th AIAS Awards [Dice10]

Posted: February 18th, 2010, 10:30pm PST by Luke Plunkett

Tags: Dice10

The last of the backs have been patted and the last of the glasses "chinged" over at the 13th annual Interactive Achievement Awards, otherwise known as the "serious awards" for the video game industry.

As you're about to see, next year will be known as the 2nd annual Uncharted 2 awards. Other games to do well on the night include Scribblenauts, Batman: Arkham Asylum and Brutal Legend, while surprises include Modern Warfare 2 "only" picking up two awards, a general snub for Nintendo products and Assassin's Creed II - which had the misfortune of going up against Uncharted in around half of those categories - won nothing.

Game of the Year:

Uncharted 2: Among Thieves

* Publisher: Sony Computer Entertainment
* Developer: Naughty Dog
* Producer: Sam Thompson
* Creative Director: Amy Hennig
* Game Director: Bruce Straley

Outstanding Achievement in Game Direction

Uncharted 2: Among Thieves

* Publisher: Sony Computer Entertainment
* Developer: Naughty Dog
* Producer: Sam Thompson
* Creative Director: Amy Hennig
* Game Director: Bruce Straley

Casual Game of the Year

Flower

* Publisher: Sony Computer Entertainment America
* Developer: thatgamecompany
* Producer: Kellee Santiago
* Creative Director: Jenova Chen

Fighting Game of the Year

Street Fighter IV

* Publisher: Capcom
* Developer: Capcom
* Producer: Yoshinori Ono

Role-Playing/Massively Multiplayer Game of the Year

Dragon Age: Origins

* Publisher: Electronic Arts
* Developer: Bioware
* Producer: Mark Darrah
* Creative Director: Mike Laidlaw
* Game Director: Mark Darrah

Sports Game of the Year

FIFA Soccer 10

* Publisher: Electronic Arts
* Developer: EA Canada
* Producer: David Rutter
* Creative Director: Gary Paterson
* Game Director: Kaz Makita

Racing Game of the Year

Forza Motorsport 3

* Publisher: Microsoft Game Studios
* Developer: Turn 10 Studios
* Producer: Korey Krauskopf
* Creative Director: John Wendl
* Game Director: Dan Greenawalt

Outstanding Achievement in Game Design

Batman: Arkham Asylum

* Publisher: Eidos/Warner Bros Interactive Entertainment
* Developer: Rocksteady Studios
* Lead Level Designer: Ian Ball

Adventure Game of the Year

Uncharted 2: Among Thieves

* Publisher: Sony Computer Entertainment
* Developer: Naughty Dog
* Producer: Sam Thompson
* Creative Director: Amy Hennig
* Game Director: Bruce Straley

Social Networking Game of the Year

Farmville

* Publisher: Zynga
* Developer: Zynga
* Producer: David Gray
* Creative Director: Mark Skaggs
* Game Director: Bill Mooney

Strategy/Simulation Game of the Year

Brutal Legend

* Publisher: Electronic Arts
* Developer: Double Fine Productions
* Producer: Caroline Esmurdoc
* Creative Director: Tim Schafer
* Game Director: Tim Schafer

Action Game of the Year

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2

* Publisher: Activision
* Developer: Infinity Ward
* Producer: Mark Rubin
* Game Director: Jason West

Family Game of the Year

The Beatles: Rock Band

* Publisher: MTV Games
* Developer: Harmonix Music Systems
* Producers: Paul DeGooyer, Jeff Jones, Alex Rigopulos
* Creative Director: Chris Foster
* Game Director: Josh Randall

Outstanding Innovation in Gaming

Scribblenauts

* Publisher: Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment
* Developer: 5th Cell Media
* Producer: Joseph M. Tringali
* Creative Director: Jeremiah Slaczka
* Game Director: Jeremiah Slaczka

Outstanding Achievement in Animation

Uncharted 2: Among Thieves

* Publisher: Sony Computer Entertainment
* Developer: Naughty Dog
* Lead Animators: Josh Scherr, Jeremy Lai-Yates, Mike Yosh

Outstanding Achievement in Visual Engineering

Uncharted 2: Among Thieves

* Publisher: Sony Computer Entertainment
* Developer: Naughty Dog
* Technology Director: Pal-Kristian Engstad

Outstanding Achievement in Art Direction:

Uncharted 2: Among Thieves

* Publisher: Sony Computer Entertainment
* Developer: Naughty Dog
* Art Directors: Erick Pangilinan, Robh Ruppel

Outstanding Achievement in Story -Adapted

Batman: Arkham Asylum

* Publisher: Eidos/Warner Bros Interactive Entertainment
* Developer: Rocksteady Studios
* Writers: Paul Dini, Paul Crocker

Outstanding Character Performance

Batman: Arkham Asylum – Joker

* Publisher: Eidos/Warner Bros Interactive Entertainment
* Developer: Rocksteady Studios
* Writers: Paul Dini, Paul Crocker
* Voice Actor: Mark Hamill

Outstanding Achievement in Online Game Play

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2

* Publisher: Activision
* Developer: Infinity Ward
* Lead Online Designer: Todd Alderman

Outstanding Achievement in Story - Original

Uncharted 2: Among Thieves

* Publisher: Sony Computer Entertainment
* Developer: Naughty Dog
* Writers: Amy Hennig, Neil Druckmann, Josh Scherr

Outstanding Achievement in Original Music Composition

Uncharted 2: Among Thieves

* Publisher: Sony Computer Entertainment
* Developer: Naughty Dog
* Composer: Greg Edmonson

Outstanding Achievement in Soundtrack

Brutal Legend

* Publisher: Electronic Arts
* Developer: Double Fine Productions
* Music Supervisor: Emily Ridgway

Outstanding Achievement in Game Play Engineering

Uncharted 2: Among Thieves

* Publisher: Sony Computer Entertainment
* Developer: Naughty Dog
* Lead Game Play Programmer: Travis McIntosh

Outstanding Achievement in Sound Design

Uncharted 2: Among Thieves

* Publisher: Sony Computer Entertainment
* Developer: Naughty Dog
* Sound Designer/Audio Lead: Bruce Swanson

Outstanding Achievement in Portable Game Design

Scribblenauts

* Publisher: Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment
* Developer: 5th Cell Media
* Lead Level Designer: Matt Cox

Portable Game of the Year

Scribblenauts

* Publisher: Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment
* Developer: 5th Cell Media
* Producer: Joseph M. Tringali
* Creative Director: Jeremiah Slaczka
* Game Director: Jeremiah Slaczka

For a full list of the nominations, see here.

PlayStation Store Update: Kazuma Kiryu & Ryo Hazuki All-Stars Racing [North America]

Posted: February 18th, 2010, 4:40pm PST by Michael McWhertor

Tags: North America

Sega offers double the demo in this week's North American PlayStation Store update, with the Yakuza 3 and Sonic & SEGA All-Stars Racing demos leading the charge of new and interesting things to download to your PlayStation 3.

If you're into downloadable content add-ons for games that you already own, the Assassin's Creed II "Bonfire of the Vanities" and Resident Evil 5 "Lost In Nightmares" expansions are also here. Same for the Star Wars: The Force Unleashed Hoth Mission Pack, breathing some new life into your old copy of the LucasArts game. There's much more, including the highly anticipated trainwreck release of PlayStation Network reality show The Tester and plenty of price drops.

Read on!

Games & Demos for PlayStation 3
PSone Classics: Magic Carpet (5.99)
PSone Classics: Mass Destruction ($5.99)
PSone Classics: Sorcerer's Maze ($5.99)
Yakuza 3 Demo
Sonic & SEGA All-Stars Racing Demo

Games & Demos for PSP
SOCOM Navy SEALs: Fireteam Bravo 3 ($39.99)
Puzzle Chronicles ($29.99)

Expansions & Add-ons
Assassin's Creed II Sequence 13: Bonfire of the Vanities ($4.99)
Assassin's Creed II Sequence 13: Bonfire of the Vanities & Secret Locations ($9.99)
BUZZ! National Geographic: Kids Quiz Pack ($7.99)
Dante's Inferno Florentine Dante Costume ($1.99)
Dragon Ball: Raging Blast Saiyan's Pack (free)
Resident Evil 5 Lost In Nightmares ($4.99)
Resident Evil 5 Costume Pack 1 ($1.99)
Star Wars: The Force Unleashed Hoth Mission Pack ($9.99)

Rock Band tracks

"Let Forever Be" by The Chemical Brothers ($1.99)
"Weightless" by All Time Low ($1.99)
"Stray Cat Strut" by Brian Setzer ($1.99)
"Fascination" by Alphabeat ($1.99)
"I've Got Dreams to Remember" by Otis Redding ($1.99)
"(Sittin' on the) Dock of the Bay (Take 2)" by Otis Redding ($1.99)
"Love Man" by Otis Redding ($1.99)
"Fa-Fa-Fa-Fa-Fa (Sad Song)" by Otis Redding ($1.99)
"I'm Sick Y'all" by Otis Redding ($1.99) ($1.99)
Otis Redding Pack 1 ($8.49) - "I've Got Dreams to Remember," "(Sittin' on the) Dock of the Bay (Take 2)," "Love Man," "Fa-Fa-Fa-Fa-Fa (Sad Song)," and "I'm Sick Y'all" by Otis Redding.

Game Videos
The Tester Season Premiere: Episode 1 "The Critical Eye" (free)
Pulse 2/18 Edition
MAG: How To – Career Overview
MAG: How To – Commando
MAG: How To – Direct Action
MAG: How To – Field Support
MAG: How To – Rapid Assault
MAG: How To – Sniper
ModNation Racers PSP Announcement Trailer
Yakuza 3 Gameplay Trailer
Assassin's Creed II: Battle of Forli Trailer
Sonic the Hedgehog 4 Episode 1 – Announcement Trailer
Vancouver 2010 Winter Olympics Gameplay Trailer 1
Fret Nice Trailer

Themes & Wallpapers
Resident Evil 5 Customizable Theme Pack ($1.99)
Amazing Peaks Theme ($1.99)
Hemorrhage Theme ($1.99)
Fret Nice Wallpaper

Promotions
Marvel vs. Capcom 2 sale (now $7.49, original price $14.99)
Call of Juarez: Bound In Blood – Old West Map Pack Sale (now $5.99, original price $9.99)
Shaun White Snowboarding The Glamor Pack Sale (now $2.49, original price $4.99)
Shaun White Snowboarding Target Limited Edition The Glamor Pack Sale (now $2.49, original price $4.99)
Tom Clancy's End War Faction Elite Pack Sale (now $1.99, original price $3.75)
Brothers in Arms D-Day Sale (now $7.49, original price $14.99)
Prince of Persia Revelations Sale (now $4.99, original price $9.99)
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (TMNT) Sale (now $9.99, original price $19.99)
Topatoi price drop (now $7.99, original price $9.99)

Judging The Covers Of Games, And How To Make Them Better [Feature]

Posted: February 18th, 2010, 10:20am PST by Luke Plunkett

Tags: FEATURE

You see them every day, whether browsing in a store, clicking through the internet or looking at a shelf in your living room, but have you ever wondered what kind of thinking goes into creating a game's cover?

I have.

See, at heart, I'm a bit of a design nerd. I often like seeing, and hearing about, the stuff that goes into something more than the thing itself. And with a title's box art often the most iconic and memorable images of a game, I sat down with Charles Bae from Rokkan, a company specialising in marketing and design work for video games (and which works with 2K, Rockstar and Konami, among others), to learn more about the ups and downs of designing a game's cover art and logo.

ART IS DEAD

"The digital age killed box art as we know it today", Bae says. "Rather than using Photoshop as a tool, the industry has somehow put itself in a straight jacket". A reliance on computer graphics, post-production and conservative design has resulted in a formula Bae describes as Hero + Logo = Box Art.

"The actual process of box art creation has remained relatively the same in the past 20 years: compile audience research, create concept sketches, go through focus groups and internal rounds of reviews from key stakeholders (usually too many cooks in the kitchen), and produce the final box art".

Yet for all that work and planning, all the money and meetings spent nailing down concepts, the formula still holds true; the vast majority of games feature a cover that shows the lead character (or a composition of characters) and a logo. Great. Bae says things have gotten so dire that it's now almost taboo to present a publisher with any design that breaks from this tired, clichéd rule.

To show you the "formula" in action, let's look at Bae and Rokkan's first contracted piece of work: the design of the logo and cover for BMX XXX. Rokkan was hired to present an alternative for publishers Acclaim, a fresh look to compete with the company's agency of record.

"For research, the Rokkan team took photos of signage from adult video stores and strip clubs in NYC (neon and more structural signs), and used that as the basis for the logotype" he says. "The logotype we came up with was a structural and bulky neon sign with thick metal casing".

"What we wanted to do was to convey the behind closed doors feel of going to an adult entertainment venue. So we came up with the idea to have the cover with the neon sign, as the entrance to the strip-club. The box would be a gate fold so you can open the front like a book cover and on the inside you would see the inside of the strip club (strippers and a dude on a BMX bike)."

And having paid these specialists to give the publisher something new, something that didn't look like your run-of-the-mill piece of box art, what did Acclaim go with instead? This. One of the worst covers you'll ever see.

Bae also says that those aghast at the differences between box art from Japan to Europe to North America can blame market research, which has armed publishers with three differing images of what a consumer prefers in each region. It's why, for example, American games feature more generic covers; a publisher may be looking at data which says Japanese or European customers are generally more receptive of a "conceptual or metaphoric" cover, so they dumb down the US version. But nowhere did it say American customers didn't want an "artier" cover, or couldn't understand it, so we end up with disputes like the one we saw with Heavy Rain.

To be fair, though, unlike the rest of us, publishers aren't in this for the art. They're in it for the money, and if a cover needs to be leveraged to help sell a game – by putting a recognisable character on the front – then that's what's going to happen. "Immediacy in conveying the key character of a game is an important factor for marketers when deciding on what the box art is going to be", Bae says, "which is a core reason why we see the same thing over and over again.

It doesn't always have to be like that, however. Two other industries that use/need covers – books and film – get away with using abstract artwork just fine. "The audience for books is much wider than video games", Bae says. "You have teens and adults over age 50 who are reading the same books. Therefore book covers need to appeal to a wider audience. Hence a more conceptual approach that is often times metaphoric of the story, seems to work better than a cover that is literal and targeted to one age group."

Gaming should also take cues from films that fit the "sophisticated, academic, philosophical, classical and intellectual" criteria. This is a generalization, but look at any DVD from the Criterion Collection. This is a prime example of the conceptual cover in film". Judging by the keenness the gaming community has taken to designing its own "Criterion" covers, it's a point many of you agree with.

TYPEWORK

"I think creating the logo for a game is more fun than creating the art, because we have more creative license to create a unique logotype" Bae says. "Again, since box art has become a bit formulaic, creating logotype is a more expressive and experimental experience. The logo also stays with the game, on sequels, etc. The logo has a longer shelf-life and is therefore, at least for us, a more enjoyable aspect of the box art."

But with importance comes difficulty; Charles says that coming up with a logo can be a lot trickier than people would imagine.

"BioShock 2 has the "2" deliberately centered into position. Typesetting the "2" and the "BioShock" text is not as simple as it seems. Careful letter spacing was done to allow the "H" to float in the center of the logo. With letters of different widths, it's harder than one would think. Obviously the designers on this took a lot of care in positioning the logotype. Whether we agree with the placement of the "2" or not, there is no arguing the finesse and deliberate spacing/positioning."

Phew. One example Bae has less approval for is Capcom's Super Street Fighter IV logo. "Adversely, we have the Super Street Fighter logo that is a throwback to the treatment of the original Super version of SFII. The difference is that the "SUPER" and the general treatment of logo on top of logo, doesn't feel refined or finished. It looks more like a sketch idea for the logo, rather than the final logo. The chrome finish to "SUPER" is really poor and all of the glows and shadows around the type make it look messier than it should be. A little more time and effort would have resulted in the same logo, just in a finished and more polished state."

To illustrate this point, Bae provided a reworked logo Rokkan whipped up. The changes are minimal, but then, minimal changes can often make the biggest difference.

Course, it's not all bad when it comes to games and their artwork. While the majority of regular boxes are bland affairs, many games feature collector's editions that boast different artwork, which is usually more restrained and classy. Think Mass Effect 2, Metal Gear Solid 4 or Bayonetta.

"In the marketer's eyes, conceptual covers may appeal only to hardcore gamers – the select few that will purchase a game with sheer devotion, regardless of what the box cover looks like. This is the reason a 'Collector's Edition' of a game often uses a different, more sophisticated and conceptual cover from the standard retail pack."

Even among standard editions of games, though, there are highlights. You'll no doubt have yours, and I have mine, but we asked the expert, Bae, for his pick of the bunch, with some reasons as to why.

The Grand Theft Auto Series: "By not using a render, they have immediately differentiated the game from all others, and have established a visual language that can stay with the franchise forever."

Left 4 Dead Series: "Finally a photo is on the front of box. The photo of the hand has been treated and stylized successfully in such a way that George A. Romero would be proud. The hand itself is realistic, which enhances our fear of zombies and their cool factor."

Quake Series: "While it's evolved a few times, it still maintains the integrity of the original logo. Not only is the "Q" recognizable but, similar to Left 4 Dead, it's part of a brand system to denote subsequent sequels to the game (the added vertical bar in the "Q" for Quake 2 and 3). A strong and well-designed brand goes a long way. Halo has Quake to thank for their logo."

Katamari Damacy: "I love the original Katamari Damacy cover because it is so anti-box cover. It looks more like a book cover. This is the only game that I've ever purchased at a store because of the cover alone. I had no idea what the game was about, nor had I ever heard of it."

Borderlands: "Ok this is the only game box I will mention that follows the Hero+Logo formula, but is an exception to the rule. The front of box character represents the look of the game (the concept art look being a contributing factor to its appeal). More importantly, the pose and action of the character is expressive and explains to the viewer, the attitude of the people who inhabit the world of Borderlands. They are crazy mofos. The intense red is very aggressive and makes the game jump off the shelves… it has great 'pop factor'".

THE FUTURE

With the present sticking with the same rules (which you could also call mistakes) as the past, what could the future hold for cover artwork in the video game business?

"The recent fail for game covers such as Heavy Rain and Super Street Fighter IV are prime examples of game publishers getting real-time feedback for the decisions they've made", Charles says. "Now, what they do with the feedback is up to them."

By the time a game's fanbase recoils in horror, it's normally too late to make any changes. With covers revealed late in a game's marketing cycle, a publisher has already signed off on the artwork, and it's probably already being printed somewhere, ready to be slipped into a game box.

"The company that decides to let the fans design the box will be the publisher that will be recognized in taking the first step to making a cover that has the potential to be a great crowd pleaser, and totally buck the system.", Bae says, the increasing penetration of digital game releases providing the perfect opportunity for this.

Then again, the more games become digital, the less they'll need a cover...

Watch Out, Don't Stop Me Now, I Will See YOU Tomorrow [Note]

Posted: February 18th, 2010, 6:30am PST by Brian Ashcraft

Tags: Note

To: Crecente
From: Bashcraft
RE: Ouch

Man, I'm feeling ROUGH. Just sick and tired and fevery, but watch out! Because I'll tell you what, I'll be back here tomorrow, same bat time, same bat channel. Know why?

THIS JOB IS FUN.

Seeya tomorrow Kotaku people!

What you missed last night
Race And Nationality: More Than Promoting Dante's Inferno In Japan
Capcom Wrestles With Xbox 360 Disc Restrictions
Nintendo Goes To Court Again, This Time Over DS Piracy
New Starcraft II Screens, With That Beta-Fresh Smell
Assassin's Creed II PC's DRM Sounds As Pleasant As A Stab In The Neck

Capcom's PSN Range Going For A Song [Capcom]

Posted: February 18th, 2010, 5:00am PST by Luke Plunkett

Tags: capcom

Capcom announced yesterday that for the next five weeks, the publisher's range of PlayStation Network titles will see their prices clashed by 50%.

Starting tomorrow, Marvel vs Capcom will be down to $7.50 until February 25. Then Street Fighter II HD will go on sale for the same price, and so on and so on, until March 25, when the deal comes to a close.

The full sale schedule looks like this:

February 18, 2010 – Marvel vs. Capcom 2 for only $7.49!
February 25, 2010 – Super Street Fighter II Turbo HD Remix for only $7.49!
March 4, 2010 – Super Puzzle Fighter II Turbo HD Remix for only $4.99!
March 11, 2010 – Age of Booty for only $4.99!
March 18, 2010 – 1942: Joint Strike for only $4.99!

MvC2 and SFIIHD for $15? That's a deal.

Marvel vs. Capcom 2 50% Off…and a Comment Contest! [Sony]

Sony: Wii's Loss Is Our Gain [PS3]

Posted: February 18th, 2010, 4:30am PST by Luke Plunkett

Tags: PS3

Over the past few months, a number of big third-party publishers like EA & Capcom have distanced themselves from the Wii. Ah well. There's always the PS3!

"What publishers have said is they're not going to spend the resources on Wii... In my job, we compete against Microsoft and Nintendo, and we're competing for resources", SCEA Senior Vice President of Publisher Relations Rob Dyer (pictured) told IndustryGamers.

"So when I walk into a publisher, I ask, 'Where are you guys pushing your resources?' In the past, it was 'Look how hot the Wii is,' or 'Look how hot the DS is,' and 'We should put resources there.' They did that and realized, 'You know what, third-party product just doesn't sell on that platform.' So now they're taking those resources, coming back to us and saying, 'Sony we're going to be able to provide you with that exclusive content,' or 'We're going to put more engineers on it and figure out to maximize the Blu-ray and get more out of PS3.' That's what we're seeing now".

Maybe the PS3 can finally get that version of Monster Hunter, eh?

PS3 Benefiting From Wii Publisher Backlash [IndustryGamers]

Capcom Wrestles With Xbox 360 Disc Restrictions [Lost Planet 2]

Posted: February 18th, 2010, 2:00am PST by Brian Ashcraft

Tags: Lost planet 2

The PS3's Blu-ray format offers developers plenty of space to fill. But the Xbox 360 doesn't use Blu-ray, it uses DVD. That makes things tricky if a studio is planning to release a multi-platform title like Lost Planet 2.

In a recent interview, Lost Planet 2 producer Jun Takeuchi said Capcom had to cut a significant amount from the game. When asked how development was going, he replied, "There wasn't especially any big trouble. More than those kind of difficulties, the edited content was way too much and dealing with that was more difficult than anything."

"This time, truly, the content that was cut was significant," Takeuchi added, "and at the end, we had to wrestle with disc space."

Takeuchi went on to expand on how difficult it was to make those cuts, saying that it was a situation in which the team was on the verge of crying as they shaved down their game to fit on the disk — though Takeuchi is most likely being facetious. The upside to these cuts? "I think we could be able to add that content at a later date as downloadable content." Everybody wins!

The original Lost Planet was first released as an Xbox 360 exclusive and eventually ported to the PC and the PS3.

カプコン竹内「『ロストプラネット2』はディスク容量との戦いだった、泣く泣く削った部分もある」 [はちま起稿] [Pic]

Marvel vs Capcom vs...Disney's Lady Villains? [Screengrab]

Posted: February 18th, 2010, 1:30am PST by Luke Plunkett

Tags: screengrab

As seen on deviantArt, via GameSetWatch.

This Super Street Fighter IV Trailer Thinks Dudley, Ibuki, And Makoto Are Playable [Clips]

Posted: February 17th, 2010, 3:30pm PST by Mike Fahey

Tags: Clips

newVideoPlayer( {"type":"video","player":"http:\/\/bg-video.cp.motionbox.com\/motionboxons\/flash\/VideoPlayer.swf?type=sd&video_uid=4c99d8b2191be3c1c4&security_token=prod3.a038d919cc5e9e98","customParams":{"allowScriptAccess":"always"},"width":500,"height":319.65,"ratio":0.6393,"flashData":"","embedName":"mbox_player_4c99d8b2191be3c1c4","objectId":"mbox_player_4c99d8b2191be3c1c4","noEmbed":false,"source":"motionbox"} ); While we're waiting for Capcom to officially announce Ibuki, Dudley, and Makoto as new playable characters in Super Street Fighter IV, let's watch them in this trailer depicting them as three new playable characters in Super Street Fighter IV.

Between the Famitsu scans and the random mailings, it's only a matter of time before Capcom makes the these three new characters official, and they'll likely do it with a trailer that looks very much like this one. Feel free to watch it over and over again while we wait for the announcement.

Oh yes! I nearly forgot. Well, technically I did forget, but I have the power of editing. Watch the ending for a voice clip that's likely Hakan, the long-rumored Arab grappler.

Thanks to Joey for passing this along.

Monster Hunter 3 Coming Later This Year [Rumor]

Posted: February 17th, 2010, 5:00am PST by Brian Ashcraft

Tags: Rumor

Game Wave, the Hong Kong game magazine that ran an article about the PS3 Slim before it was officially announced, is back with another rumor.

According to the cover of an upcoming issue, Monster Hunter Portable 3 will be out at the end of this year.

PSP title Monster Hunter Freedom 2 was originally released back in Japan in 2007 and got an expansion the following year. Monster Hunter 3, while unconfirmed, does seem logical. While Game Wave might have gotten the PS3 Slim announcement from Gamescom correct, the publication has ran erroneous rumors in the past. So be aware of that.

Kotaku has reached out to Capcom for a comment.

Update: When asked about this rumor, Capcom UK pointed out that the "cover is basically the Tri logo with the word Portable superimposed". If and when Capcom announce another Portable, it will have a new logo and not just a Photoshop job.

跨傳媒遊戲新聞速遞 - GAMEWAVE第503期經已出版 [Cross Media]

Even Capcom Wants Street Fighter IV On The PSP [PSP]

Posted: February 16th, 2010, 11:30pm PST by Luke Plunkett

Tags: PSP

With Street Fighter IV about to make an unexpected trip to the iPhone, it's understandable that Capcom has handheld ports on the brain. Could the PSP be next?

Answering some fan questions on her blog, Capcom's Natsuki Shiozawa has revealed she'd like to see the game appear on Sony's handheld. As would anybody wondering why the game would be ported to the iPhone and not to a handheld more suitable for rapid button pressing.

Like, say, a PSP.

Still, if Capcom is thinking handhelds, and SFIV sells well on iPhone, a PSP port surely couldn't be far away.

質問に答えちゃうシリーズ（10）[Nakky Blog, via Examiner]

Sega Not Developing Sonic 4 [Sonic]

Posted: February 16th, 2010, 9:00pm PST by Luke Plunkett

Tags: Sonic

Well, here's our first genuine surprise since the official reveal of Sonic 4: Sega, and its cherished Sonic Team studio, isn't developing the game.

Instead, Osaka-based Dimps will be. Best known for their recent work on Street Fighter IV with Capcom (and also for its work on Dragonball Z's cartoon fighters), Dimps will also be known to Sonic fans as the developers behind games like Sonic Rush and Sonic Advance.

Those titles are among the best Sonic games in recent memory, showing that while the blue hedgehog continued to blunder through ill-suited 3D environments, there was still life in the concept of a fast, 2D Sonic game.

Meaning this is a rare example of smart thinking by Sega Japan, realising that if this game had any chance of success whatsoever, it was best to put it in the hands of somebody not only experienced at decent 2D Sonic games, but who also did not have "Sonic Team" on their business cards.

Rumor: Three New Characters Announced For Super Street Fighter IV [Street Fighter Iv]

Posted: February 16th, 2010, 5:30pm PST by Luke Plunkett

Tags: street fighter iv

Supposed scans from the latest issue of Famitsu - along with some equally supposed off-screen shots - suggest that there might be three more characters on the way for Super Street Fighter IV.

Those three characters - as expected - are Ibuki, Makoto and Dudley, all of which made their debut in Street Fighter III, and all of whose inclusion will no doubt please the more hardcore Street Fighter fans among you.

You'll recall Capcom telegraphed this move, at least partially, earlier in the week when they sent Crecente a very special Valentine's Day package.

With three of the four characters from last year's "leak" now joining the fight, that leaves one more unannounced fighter. Could an official reveal for Hakan be much further off?

Final Fantasy XIII Creators On The Influence of Call of Duty, Card Games & The Toyota Prius [Interview]

Posted: February 16th, 2010, 2:40pm PST by Michael McWhertor

Tags: Interview

Square Enix's long in the making Final Fantasy XIII finally comes to North America in March, a game that is less like a traditional Japanese role-playing game, its creators say, and more like a first-person shooter like Call of Duty.

That is how Final Fantasy XIII designer and writer Motomu Toriyama describes the latest game in the 22-year-old series, born on the Nintendo Entertainment System. Toriyama told Kotaku that the design of Final Fantasy XIII doesn't follow the JRPG "template" intentionally, a choice that has received mixed response.

"The basic RPG functions are to go into towns, prepare for battle by going to shops, then go out in the field," Toriyama explained. "In that sense, Final Fantasy XIII doesn't have towns or shops—it's more that players are thrown into a story, presented with different situations as they move forward in the field and keep progressing that way."

Here's how that relates to Call of Duty, in Toriyama's mind.

"In that sense it's more similar to an FPS genre, like Call of Duty," he said. "That's not to say it's an action shooting game at all, so Final Fantasy XIII takes some different aspects of different genres, transcending different types of games."

If a Western designed first-person shooter having any sort of influence on the design choices made by the men carrying the keys to the Final Fantasy franchise has you feeling lightheaded, Toriyama doesn't see the series swinging too wildly in that direction. "Final Fantasy as a series will probably never [adopt] a first person shooter style. The concepts the teams are always working with have the character always on screen and visually trying to make battles look exciting."

"With the Final Fantasy series, there has always been dialogue, players relating to the characters in a sense that they see characters on screen," adds producer Yoshinori Kitase. "We really want the characters to have a personality," Kitase said, a series staple that would be affected by shifting players to a first-person view.

"Maybe a third person shooter style would be a more realistic fit with the Final Fantasy series," added Toriyama.

Final Fantasy XIII's creators appear to feel strongly about the balance of presentation and immersion in their game, due to arrive March 9 for the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 in North America. They say that concerns about the game's oft-criticized linear nature are not lost on them, but that the decision to put players on a guided path was purely by design.

"We received a lot of comments about the earlier portion of the game game being quite linear," Toriyama said when asked about the game's response in Japan. "But from a development standpoint, this was an intentional path that we created for players. We really wanted the world and its characters to sink in with players, especially because the battle system was completely new. We wanted to ensure that players could get a hold on the system during the later portions of the game."

"Because of the Final Fantasy name, we saw that more players had a strict view of the game and had high expectations," Kitase said. "Players really took every topic and blew things out of proportion, especially before the game was released."

Players expressed concerns over Final Fantasy XIII's "foreign terms," Kitase said, taking issue with names like Cocoon, fal'Cie and l'Cie, as well as the game's story itself.

"Once people were able to play the game and have the story told to them," Kitase said, the mythology is "really explained in detail in the game."

The game's more highly praised and complex battle system, which features the role-changing Paradigm Shift mechanic and giant allies that players can summon and ride in Gestalt Mode, was in part designed by Yuji Abe, the man behind Final Fantasy XIII's battle moments.

Abe says that the game's battle mode was designed to be "speedy and to include a lot of tactics," to "have a visually exciting experience, but be able to control it as well." He says he was influenced by his own gaming interests, which include action heavy arcade games and card-based titles.

He cited arcade games like Sega's card-based real-time strategy game Sangokushi Taisen, Taito's Darius series of side-scrolling shooters and Capcom's fleet of fighting games—not previous Final Fantasy battle systems—as sources of inspiration.

"I like a lot of games that let you achieve high scores, so that might be something that's reflected in Final Fantasy XIII's battle system," Abe said.

As for the game's unusual Gestalt Mode, which sees the series staple Eidolon summons—Odin, Bahamut, Shiva, et al.—transform into rideable beasts and vehicles, Abe says they were added to introduce an "'element of surprise' where the operation of Summons would completely change." The game's giant summoned Eidolons weren't always something for the game's main characters to ride.

"One of the things that changed from the original concept was that Odin was originally going to transform into a sword," Abe said. "But then after [we decided to have] the Shiva sisters turn into a bike, we turned all of the summons into some form of a ride."

"It was really the art team that created the transformations. The goal was to make sure that they look completely different, that each of the summons are unique from each other." One of those summons, Bahamut, who has taken the form of a dragon in previous Final Fantasy games, references another vehicle familiar to Final Fantasy fans—the flying airship.

It was also influence by the real world, according to Toriyama.

"The car was inspired by the Toyota Prius," he said "and uses the clean eco-friendly Crystal Engine to operate it."

Street Fighter IV Brings The Fight To The iPhone [IPhone]

Posted: February 15th, 2010, 9:40am PST by Mike Fahey

Tags: iPhone

Capcom brings their biggest brawler yet to one of the smallest gaming devices, announcing an iPhone version of Street Fighter IV, due out in March. How are Ken and Ryu handling the trip?

From the looks of the screenshots, which you can find more of at IGN, the dynamic duo is a little worse for wear, but that's what happens when you take the current-gen code and shrink it down so it fits on the iPhone. That's what Capcom has done, taking assets directly from the game's console cousins, maintaining a bit of the 2.5D look and feel, while utilizing the good-old virtual joystick and button combo to overcome the platform's lack of external controls.

While Ken and Ryu are the only two characters confirmed for the iPhone version of Street Fighter IV, Capcom tells us that they'll be introducing a mix of classic and new characters, so there is hope that you'll soon be able to carry Rufus around in your pocket.

And you'll be able to compete against your friends, with Bluetooth multiplayer built right in.

Now we just have to wait for Mad Catz to announce iPhone Tournament Edition Fight Sticks and we'll be good to go.

Street Fighter IV for iPhone Revealed [IGN]

The Nintendo Download: And Justice For Some [Downloadables]

Posted: February 15th, 2010, 8:40am PST by Mike Fahey

Tags: Downloadables

Our new gallery format for The Nintendo Download highlights the fact that, other than big releases like Phoenix Wright Ace Attorney: Justice for All, DSiWare and WiiWare titles aren't getting nearly as much exposure as they should.

Just look at the lineup we have here. DSiWare Spotto! from Nintendo? Nothing to see here. I had to grab a WiiWare screen for Virtual Toys' Spaceball: Revolution, and title images for EA's Scrabble Classic and Gameloft's Real Soccer 2010.

I'm just saying that some of these titles might sell more than a handful of copies if someone would tell us what they are before we read the official descriptions, which can be found alongside the pictures in the gallery below.

Phoenix Wright Ace Attorney: JUSTICE FOR ALL
Publisher: Capcom Entertainment, Inc.
Players: 1
ESRB Rating: T (Teen) - Blood, Mild Violence, Suggestive Themes
Price: 1,000 Wii Points
Description: Phoenix Wright is back as the second game in the popular Ace Attorney hand-held franchise comes to the WiiWare service. As Phoenix Wright, you'll play through four shocking new cases in first-person perspective. The game features two unique game play modes. In Investigations Mode, you'll survey crime scenes, interview witnesses and gather evidence. You'll then present findings, listen to testimonials and examine witnesses in Court Mode. JUSTICE FOR ALL also includes a new "Psyche-Lock" feature that allows Phoenix to use a line of questioning to reveal inconsistencies in witness testimony.

Art of Balance
Publisher: Shin'en Multimedia
Players: 1-2
ESRB Rating: E (Everyone)
Price: 800 Wii Points
Description: Grab your Wii Remote™ controller and build a balanced stack in this physics-based puzzler, featuring 100 levels that challenge not only your skills but also your imagination. The game is easy to pick up and hard to put away. Play alone or invite a friend to grab a second Wii Remote controller and drop in at any point for co-op play. There's even a dedicated two-player split-screen "versus" mode for extra fun.

newVideoPlayer( {"type":"video","player":"http:\/\/www.youtube.com\/v\/mIC5sYoIV6Q&hl=en&fs=1&fmt=22","customParams":[],"width":500,"height":412,"ratio":0.824,"flashData":"","embedName":null,"objectId":null,"noEmbed":false,"source":"youtube"} );

WarMen Tactics
Publisher: CALARIS
Players: 1
ESRB Rating: T (Teen) - Blood, Violence
Price: 800 Wii Points
Description: In the year 2013, civil unrest across the globe has prompted world leaders to merge the police and military into a single force called the Department of Control. This force is opposed by a resistance made up of former military members who refused to join the Department. Marco is one of them, and the game tells his story. Join Marco as he is deployed on a mission to destroy scrambler devices placed around the city. Created to reflect the realities of urban warfare, the game requires players to take cover behind walls and other obstacles as they strive to defeat enemies and advance to the next post.

Spotto!
Publisher: Nintendo
Players: 1
ESRB Rating: E (Everyone) - Mild Cartoon Violence
Price: 200 Nintendo DSi Points™
Description: Meet Spotto, a plucky duck on a mission. Ill-behaved ghosts have kidnapped Chikkie Wowwow, President Wowwow's daughter. Spotto, being the world's foremost Bombirdier, must follow these ghosts to a haunted house and use his trusty bombs to blast the baddies. Take control of Spotto, adjusting his aim with the stylus and trying to toss bombs into the ghosts' mouths in 50 "explosive" stages. Along the way, you'll avoid obstacles (or use them to your advantage), find powerful Super Bombs to inflict even more damage and even encounter a frighteningly large ghost or two. With multiple modes of play and numerous solutions for successfully blasting ghosts to pieces, this is one haunted house you'll want to visit often.

Spaceball: Revolution
Publisher: Virtual Toys
Players: 1
ESRB Rating: E (Everyone) - Mild Fantasy Violence
Price: 500 Nintendo DSi Points
Description: Spaceball: Revolution will put your intelligence and skill to the test as you solve puzzles in a futuristic environment. Copy the figures that appear on the top screen, using energy balls that make the boxes correctly change color. It won't be an easy task. Different obstacles will be thrown into your path, challenging you to polish your aim and think rapidly. Fifteen different levels are waiting for you in Spaceball: Revolution. Are you up to the challenge?

Scrabble Classic
Publisher: Electronic Arts
Players: 1-4
ESRB Rating: E (Everyone)
Price: 800 Nintendo DSi Points
Description: Scrabble, one of the world's most popular board games, is enjoying a tremendous surge in popularity, both online and in the real world. Scrabble for the Nintendo DSiWare service allows you to play this exciting game in both Single Player and Multi-Player modes.

Real Soccer 2010
Publisher: Gameloft
Players: 1-4
ESRB Rating: E (Everyone)
Price: 800 Nintendo DSi Points
Description: Real Soccer is back for the most exciting season yet. Choose from more teams than ever before and compete in new stadiums around the world. Lead your team to victory on the field and make tactical decisions as the coach.

Prehistorik Man
Publisher: Interplay
Players: 1
ESRB Rating: E (Everyone) - Mild Violence
Price: 800 Nintendo DSi Points
Description: Life is hard for Sam the Prehistorik Man. With three-and-a-half hours of work each week, there's barely time to fit in all the sleeping, eating and cave-painting that needs to be done. When greedy dinosaurs guzzle his village's winter food source, Sam gets mad. Armed with his best club and his powerful hunter's voice, Sam needs your help to proceed through 22 levels of food-gathering and dinosaur-bashing. With fast-paced action, hundreds of secret areas, weapons and unlikely vehicles to find, you'll need to be smart. Well…smarter than Sam, anyway.

Sonic & Knuckles
Original platform: SEGA Genesis
Publisher: SEGA
Players: 1
ESRB Rating: E (Everyone)
Price: 800 Wii Points
Description: Sonic, the world's fastest hedgehog, continues his adventures in this fourth installment of the Sonic The Hedgehog™ series. This time, he buddies up with his former enemy, Knuckles the Echidna, in order to defeat the evil Dr. Eggman (a.k.a. Dr. Robotnik). At the end of Sonic The Hedgehog 3, Dr. Eggman's ultimate orbital weapon for global domination, the Death Egg, was badly damaged in an epic battle with Sonic. The Death Egg, losing power rapidly, hurtled back down to the planet below and crash-landed on the mysterious Angel Island again. Now Sonic and Knuckles must put a stop to Dr. Eggman once and for all before Eggman and his no-goodniks find the secret to Angel Island's floating power, the Master Emerald. This game features Lock-On Technology, which allows you to play as Knuckles in other Sonic titles available for the Virtual Console, including Sonic The Hedgehog 2 and Sonic The Hedgehog 3, as long as these titles are part of your Virtual Console library.

Kotaku Originals: Ronnie the Hedgehog [Original]

Posted: February 13th, 2010, 8:00am PST by Owen Good

Tags: Original

Who better to guest star on Kotaku in Valentine's Week than porn star Ron Jeremy? His opinion on sex versus violence in video games was one top story in a week that saw major reviews and news from X10.

Kotaku Talk Radio

News
Perfect Dark XBLA Could Get More New Maps, Weapons
Microsoft: This Will be the Biggest Year In The History of Xbox
Original Survivors Get Chatty In Left 4 Dead 2's The Passing
Left 4 Dead 2's "The Passing" Coming March, Followed By Comic, More L4D DLC
Alan Wake Slated For May 18, Looks Good
We're At X10, In The Shadow Of Apple?
Dev Eyes Call of Duty: World at War for iPhone
iPhone's World at War: Zombies Getting Verruckt Tomorrow
Playing The Tatsunoko Vs. Capcom Credits
Mass Effect 2's Yamm Isn't So Bad, Yo
Hey, Little Sister
Mad Catz Is Making Mad Moneyz
Final Fantasy XIII Gets An Xbox 360 Bundle In North America
Star Trek MMO Log, Stardate 2010.09
Silent Hunter 5, Anno Headed to iPhone
Reviewing the Reviewers: Or How To Break A Broken System
Pocket God Leaps From iPhone to Comic Book
Final Fantasy's Angry Australian Motorbike
Diablo III's Female Monk Has The Cutest Haircut
Finding The State Of The HD Generation
EA: "Something Far-Reaching Coming From Mass Effect" In 2011
Relax, Square Enix Is Doing Just Fine

Sports
Check That - Check Swings Are Back in MLB 2K10
Hold the Phone, NHL 2K11 May Not Be Dead After All
The Madden Sim Bags Its Sixth Victory in Seven Years
EA Sports 2010 Releases Do Not Include NCAA Basketball
Grading Madden's Preseason Predictions

Opinion
Those Who Play Video Game Tic-Tac-Toe Will Be Judged
What Games Could Be Shooters?
Something's Not Quite Right About Nintendo's Aussie Pirate
Speak-Up On Kotaku: Damaged Packages, Missing PS2s, Bad Science, And Cheating
Is Love Plus Better Than Love?
The Daddening Of Video Games

Columns
can videogames make us happy?
Stick Jockey's Super Sim Spectacular
Love In Hell: Dante's Inferno's Take on Romance

Reviews, Previews, Hands-On and Impressions
SOCOM: U.S. Navy Seals Fireteam Bravo 3 Review: Fire In The Hole!
Sins Of A Solar Empire: Diplomacy Micro-Review: Talk Is Cheap
Frankenreview: Heavy Rain
Tatsunoko vs. Capcom: Ultimate All-Stars Review: FanFic Comes to Life
Battlefield Bad Company 2 Impressions: The Tougher Battle
Alpha Protocol Impressions: Looks Deceive
Frankenreview: Dante's Inferno
Heavy Rain Review: No Wrong Conclusion
Dante's Inferno Review: Big Ideas, Small Problems
Frankenreview: BioShock 2
White Knight Chronicles Review: Workin' On Our Knight Moves
BioShock 2 Review: In Case Of Rapture
Infinite Space Preview: Seems Vast And Charty

Numbers
Japan Is Still Big Portable Country
New Super Mario Bros. Wii Was January's Biggest Game In The U.S.

Love
Will You Be My Player 2?
Love - Exciting and New
The Emotion, And Humor, Of Mass Effect 2's Romantic Interludes

Road to the IGF
Mile Marker 27: Super Meat Boy!
Mile Marker 28: Trauma
The Road to IGF Is Paved With Good Games

Fun
Left 4 Dead: The Movie Is A Dominican Republic Exclusive
Kotaku 'Shop Contest: Proto-Natal Edition

Marcus, Dom, And Wesker Party In Lost Planet 2 [Screens]

Posted: February 12th, 2010, 1:20pm PST by Mike Fahey

Tags: Screens

Here's a group of guys you probably never expected to see in the same game, much less fighting side-by-side.

By the time Capcom and MIcrosoft got around to announcing the cameo appearances by Gears of War's dynamic duo Marcus and Dom in Lost Planet 2, I had completely forgotten about the GameStop preorder skin of Resident Evil's Albert Wesker the company paraded out back in November.

Put them all together, and what do you get? Well for one, a new batch of screenshots.

Review Round-Up: Heavy Bioshock Vs Capcom... In Hell [List]

Posted: February 12th, 2010, 1:00pm PST by Stephen Totilo

Tags: List

You would have thought it was Christmas or something. We sure did review a lot of big games this week. We said they were mostly good, but you didn't all believe us.

Doodle Jump Micro-Review: Boing!
In which Brian Ashcraft does one of those all-blue reviews that seem to drive some of you crazy. Downloadable games = micro-reviews. And, people, micro-reviews = three Loves/Hateds. So sometimes you get all blue.

BioShock 2 Review: In Case Of Rapture
In which Michael McWhertor confirms that the worst part of the first Bioshock — "Welcome... to the Circus of Vaaaaalue!" — is GONE from the sequel.

White Knight Chronicles Review: Workin' On Our Knight Moves
In which Michael Fahey knocks a Japanese role-playing game for making it too obvious who the villain is. Oh, they never do that.

Dante's Inferno Review: Big Ideas, Small Problems
In which Brian Crecente assures us that he doesn't want all of his games making a point that sodomy and gluttony are rest stops on the road to Hell.

Heavy Rain Review: No Wrong Conclusion
In which I praised the baby-rocking.

Tatsunoko vs. Capcom: Ultimate All-Stars Review: FanFic Comes to Life
In which Crecente really liked the game, but thinks you need at least $130 to enjoy this game as much as he did.

Sins Of A Solar Empire: Diplomacy Micro-Review: Talk Is Cheap
In which Luke Plunkett must go to war, because you forced him to.

Super Street Fighter IV Girls Gone Wild [Clips]

Posted: February 12th, 2010, 11:30am PST by Mike Fahey

Tags: Clips

newVideoPlayer( {"type":"video","player":"http:\/\/www.youtube.com\/v\/dUYYLJaQPw0&hl=en&fs=1&fmt=22","customParams":[],"width":500,"height":412,"ratio":0.824,"flashData":"","embedName":null,"objectId":null,"noEmbed":false,"source":"youtube"} ); Capcom celebrates Valentine's Day with a new trailer featuring Chun-Li, Cammy, and Juri from Super Street Fighter IV, beating the living daylights out of each other.

I'd like to make it perfectly clear here that it was Capcom that presented this as a Valentine's Day tie-in, and not me. I personally don't find women beating up other women that romantic, but I suppose it takes different strokes.

Along with the vid, Capcom's got some lovely SSFIV Valentine's Day cards over at the Unity blog, perfect for printing out and handing to your significant other in lieu of actual presents. They won't mind that one bit.

Kotaku Originals: Rated C for Creepy [Original]

Posted: February 6th, 2010, 8:00am PST by Owen Good

Tags: Original

Impertinent remarks - calling Sony's motion controller "Arc" and the ESRB's bluntly accurate description of the activities in Dead or Alive: Paradise - highlighted our front page this week. Dante's Inferno sneaked in underneath it. Our original news coverage:

K Monthly - January 2010

Kotaku Talk Radio

Reviews, Previews, Hands-On and Impressions
Doodle Jump Micro-Review: Boing!
Tournament of Legends Preview: Two-Fisted Combat
Trenches Micro-Review: An Interesting Take on Tower Defense
Starship Defense Micro-Review: The Most HD DS Game
Crush The Castle Micro-Review: Fun With Trebuchets
KrissX Micro-Review: Fun With a Purpose
Blood Bowl Review: No Fun League
Glory of Heracles Review: A Forgetful Adventure
Brothers In Arms 2: Global Front Preview: Back To FPS
MAG Review: World of Shadow Warcraft
No More Heroes 2: Desperate Struggle Review: Repetitious Rebel

Columns
Speak-Up On Kotaku: Press Start, Men Of Repo, Game Prices, And Avatar Effect 2

Features
Romance With Disabled Girls: How (And Maybe Why) An Unusual Video Game Came To Be

News
I Will Now Attempt To Explain A Battle System
Mario Vs Mario: How Three Wii Sequels Are Chasing Their Predecessors
Capcom Kicks Out New Super Street Fighter IV Screens
Better Scores: Musical Selections For Your Next Game Video
Megadeth's "Rust In Peace" Hits Rock Band Store Next Week
Sega Offers Reasons Iron Man 2 Won't Be Dreadful
More Fist of the North Star Screens, Yes Already Dead
Dead Space PS3 Is A Very Limited Edition
NSFW: Behold! The Underboob Gladiator Lady Body Pillow
What Happens On Xbox LIVE When You Press A+A+A
How Does Konami Do Without Metal Gear Solid?
Sony: PS3 Sales Up, PSP Sales Down
You Should Relax About BioShock 2, No Freak Outs!
So, How Did Mass Effect 2 End For You?
Red Faction Guerrilla Sequel At E3 2010, Arrives By April '11
A Peek Inside Mass Effect Redemption #2
The 10 Most Avidly-Played Wii Games In America (As Of Feb 1)
Will There Be A Last Guardian Announcement At E3 Or TGS?
This Is Exactly Why I Hate Peripherals
EB Games Pushing For Changes To Aussie Game Ratings
After Mario, The Next Nintendo Wii Game With Depth
Yup, Final Fantasy XIII Is Coming On Three Discs
This Game Guide Cover Gets To The Points
Namco Bandai To Cut Over 600 Jobs
Nier Dated For Japan
The Cutest PSP Bundle Of 2010
Quantum Theory Delayed To "Improve Quality"
On The iPhone, GT May Not Stand For Gran Turismo
Raven (and I) Need You!
iPhone Chart Toppers: X Games and Spore Creatures Hit
Xbox 360 Controller/Game Bundle, 250GB Drive Hit Japan

Star Trek Week
Why There Hasn't Been A Truly Great Star Trek Game
The Star Trek Influence In Your Games
Phasers Set to Fun
Star Trek MMO Log, Stardate 2010.02
As The World Becomes Star Trek ...
Building The Perfect Star Trek Frankengame
Memories of Strange New Worlds, Strange New Ideas

Sports
2K's NBA Team Steals Key Player Back from EA
UFC Undisputed Sells 3.5 Million
Stick Jockey: The Replacements, Still Replaced in Video Games

Art and Video Games
John Romero Bows Before Gaming's Masters
Finding The Art In Video Games

LOL
Commander Shepard's Toughest Choice Yet

Nobody Noticed DJ Ravidrums in this Pic
Death of A Wii

Outreach
2010 Life Love Game Design Challenge Offers $2.5K Prize

Zelda, MGS And More, Japanese Game Creators Talk 2010 [Famitsu]

Posted: February 3rd, 2010, 2:30am PST by Brian Ashcraft

Tags: Famitsu

This year could be a huge year for video games. That's what folks say every year, and that's what we are saying about this one.

In the upcoming issue of Japanese game magazine Famitsu, some of the industry's biggest names talk about their current projects and hinted at things to come. Let's have a look:

Konami
• Hideo Kojima: He thinks that 3D televisions will become the norm. Kojima declare this year the "Year of Peace Walker". He also mentioned that Peace Walker will have a very long story and expressed his desire to make another home console title.

Capcom
• Ryozo Tsujimoto: When asked what's going on with the next Monster Hunter, Tsujimoto replied, "Well, what should we do?" When Famitsu asked if there will be a sudden announcement, he told the magazine to look forward to something.

• Jun Takeuchi: The Resident Evil 5 talked about the necessity of appealing to a world-wide audience.

Level-5
• Akihiro Hino: The Level-5 CEO announced that there will be a "surprising announcement" this year.

Nintendo
• Eiji Aonuma: When asked whether the game will go on sale this year, "We're doing everything we can to have people play the game as soon as possible." At the year's E3, he says he'd like to have something in playable form. (However, this is not confirmation it will happen, it is just his desire.)

Other designers sounded off as well. SEGA's Toshihiro Nagoshi (Yakuza, Super Monkey Ball) talked about the importance doing titles that stand out, while Square Enix mentioned it was working on a number of non-Dragon Quest titles.

The Street Fighter IV That Could Have Been [Sfiv]

Posted: February 3rd, 2010, 2:00am PST by Luke Plunkett

Tags: sfiv

There's an interesting piece up over on Capcom's Japanese Street Fighter blog today, showcasing some of the concept art used during the production of Street Fighter IV.

Of particular interest is this show of the various art styles the team toyed with before settling on the "bubbly", rounded and colourful look of the final game. You can see them in the screen above, showing a Ryu that at times looks like he fell out of Street Fighter III, and at other times walked straight out of the Street Fighter II anime.

There's plenty of insight into the development process to be had in the full interview, which has been translated by the fighting game nuts over at Shoryuken.

第16回：キャラクターデザインについて [Capcom]

Kotaku Originals: iPad the Score [Original]

Posted: January 30th, 2010, 8:00am PST by Owen Good

Tags: Original

Apple's unveiling of a tablet PC threatened to crowd out the rest of the games and devices news this week, but we didn't let that stop us from delivering our usual slate of reports, reviews and rumors.

iPad
Hands On With Apple's iPad, Everything But The Games
iPad Doubts: A Gamer's Problems With Apple's Wonder Machine
Hands On With Apple's iPad, Just The Games
This Is Kotaku's First Post Written On An iPad
Apple's iPad, aka TouchXL, Detailed
Sizing Up The Apple iPad
EA Plays Need For Speed On The iPad
The iPad Blows Up iPhone Apps Real Good
Apple Introduces The iPad
Apple Liveblog: Revenge Of The Tablet
Could Apple's Tablet Use Natal-Like Technology?

Reviews, Previews, Hands-On and Impressions
Split Second Preview: Happy With Second Place
Another Impossible Preview
Assassin's Creed II: The Battle of Forli Micro-Review: An Un-Macchiavelian Plan
Matt Hazard: Blood Bath and Beyond Micro-Review: A Bloody Fun Hazard-Time
Frankenreview: Mass Effect 2
Muscle March Micro-Review: Flex Crimes
MAG: First-Day Impressions of a Burgeoning War
Mass Effect 2 Review: Once More Unto The Breach
Alienware Area-51 m15x Laptop Review: It Ain't Heavy, It's My Laptop

News
WarioWare D.I.Y. Has Made Me A User Generated Content Convert
Star Trek Online Boldly Goes Live
A Million Copies of Dragon Quest VI Shipped In Japan
Final Fantasy Creator Working On Wii Game
Ready For Some More Nintendo Software Lifetime Sales?
Where Is Metal Gear Arcade?
Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker Delayed in Japan
Here Are Your Commander Shepards
Introducing "Vanquish", A New Game From The Creator Of Resident Evil
Grand Theft Auto: Episodes from Liberty City Announced for PS3 and PC
Rumor: SOCOM Devs Working On "Star Wars: Battlefront Online"
There's More To Record Of Agarest War Than Sex Appeal
Why A Man Plays Mario
Six PADDs I Would Actually Buy
The Battle Of Forli Was A Costly Battle Indeed
Rumor: DJ Hero Goes Mobile
Nintendo Game Sales: Mario, Pokemon, Zelda Selling Millions (Millions!)
Nintendo Reveals Lifetime Hardware Shipment Figures
Show Us Your Commander Shepard
Strange Things Are Afoot At Red Five Studios
The Resonance of Fate Fashion Parade
Bleszinski Explains How Gears of War Ended Up In Lost Planet 2
PS3 Version of Bayonetta Getting Update
Glory of Heracles Creators Explain Their New Nintendo DS RPG
Rumor: Red 5 Studios Goes Down, Hit By Layoffs
Bayonetta Is Not Too Sexy, But Maybe Too Serious
Latest Forza 3 Pack Lets You Choose the Cars
Monster Hunter Frontier Not Confirmed For The West
Dead Rising, The Movie
What Are Gears of War Characters Doing In My Lost Planet 2?
X10 Sees Microsoft Return To Hosting Its Own Game Show
What Is Xbox Japan's Big Capcom Announcement?
Rumor: LA Noire's Development More Of A Mess Than We'd Imagined
Sixteen Games That Make iPhone Gaming Worthwhile
Few Of History's Top Books Made Into Games, Good Or Bad
One Of These Games Is The New Duke Nukem Forever
Are Game Companies Spoiling Their Own Games?
The Secret World: Postcards From The Edge Of Madness
iPhone Chart Toppers: Wars... in Chinatown
Monster Hunter Tri Controller Bundle Bound For America
Get Mass Effect 2's DLC For Free (Free!) [Update]
Dead Or Alive Paradise, A Trailer Comparison
Who Can Capcom Fight Next?
Reaching Level 80 In World of Warcraft
Kotaku 'Shop Contest: iSlate Edition

Columns
Well Played: Game Developers See Potential, Not Gold Rush in Apple's iPad
Speak-Up On Kotaku: Sequel Limits, Disc Swapping, Forklifts, And Haggis
Well Played: Gaming: The Fifth Network
Stick Jockey: The Problem(s) with Olympic Video Games

The Final Fight Of Aliens Vs. Predator [Clips]

Posted: January 29th, 2010, 9:20am PST by Mike Fahey

Tags: Clips

Sega takes a trip down Aliens Vs. Predator memory lane, unearthing this little gem from Capcom that probably should have stayed earthed. It's time to hunt!

Sega's blog post starts with the first Alien film and keeps going, covering the Atari 2600 game, the Atari Jaguar port of AvP, and this Final Fight clone from Capcom, in which the Predators arrive on Earth just in time to help giant cyborg and cute scrappy girl cleanse the planet of its infestation.

If Capcom tried to release this game today, the pure ire from the assembled Aliens Vs. Predator fans of the internet would spontaneously combust the entire company. Those were indeed the good old days.

Aliens: A Retrospective [Sega Blogs]

Europe Wins The Super Street Fighter IV Box Art Battle [Cover Story]

Posted: January 27th, 2010, 9:30am PST by Mike Fahey

Tags: Cover Story

Compared to the European box art for Super Street Fighter IV, the North American version looks like it was thrown together using clip art.

Once again, North America gets stiffed in the box art department. It happened with Heavy Rain, but Sony instituted a fix of sorts. Perhaps Capcom will do the same for Super Street Fighter IV. This is simply depressing.

Xbox Japan Honcho Sees Bright Future For Xbox 360 [Candy House]

Posted: January 27th, 2010, 2:00am PST by Brian Ashcraft

Tags: Candy house

You know Takashi Sensui. He's the head of Xbox Japan. And, as far as Japanese game execs go, he's a believer. He doesn't give up.

This is the same exec who rode in a candy gondola and always has a sour face whenever he sees me approaching.

Traditionally, the Xbox 360 has had a rough time in Japan. There have been bright spots, such as when Tales of Vesperia was released on the console, causing Xbox 360 sell-outs in Japan. However, the console was largely ignored by the Japanese buying public last year.

At yesterday's Xbox Japan event with Capcom, Sensui was upbeat, stating that the announcements were "exceedingly reassuring" for the company. "Several years from now, I am convinced that the Xbox 360 will be the most evolved and most widely diffused piece of game hardware." Strong comments from Sensui, Famitsu.com notes. Strong comments indeed.

A couple more big titles on the Xbox 360 and widespread use of the Project Natal motion controls, and it could happen. Maybe.

カプコン珠玉の4タイトルを披露—"CAPCOM TITLE PREMIERE FOR XBOX 360"詳報 - ファミ通.com [Famitsu]

Bleszinski Explains How Gears of War Ended Up In Lost Planet 2 [Gears Of War]

Posted: January 26th, 2010, 11:00pm PST by Brian Ashcraft

Tags: Gears of War

Gears of War protagonists Marcus and Dom are appearing in the Xbox 360 version of Lost Planet 2. Gears of War is developed by American studio Epic, while Lost Planet is from Japan's Capcom. How did this crossover happen?

Capcom contacted Epic. It seems that it's as simple as that. "They [Capcom] contacted us about the cameo and we said 'heck yeah,'" Gears of War designer Cliff Bleszinski tells Kotaku. "We're mutual fans of each other's work and crossovers are darned cool so we sent over the Marcus and Dom models for implementation."

For Lost Planet 2, Capcom is working from Epic's original Marcus and Dom character models, but that does not necessarily mean it is working from Epic's Gears of War controller layout.

"I can't speak about the controls for LP2," Bleszinski adds. "Anything else about how it's accessed or used in game remains to be revealed. I'll leave that to Capcom's capable hands."

First Lost Planet 2 Screens Of Marcus And Dom [Lost Planet 2]

Posted: January 26th, 2010, 9:30pm PST by Brian Ashcraft

Tags: Lost planet 2

As announced yesterday in Tokyo, Gears of War characters Marcus and Dom will be coming to the Xbox 360 version of Capcom's Lost Planet 2.

Three screens have been released of the Gears characters in their Lost Planet 2 setting. To see the characters in motion, check out the trailer Kotaku posted that announces the Lost Planet 2 collaboration with Gears of War.

Xbox360版『ロストプラネット2』に『GoW』のマーカスとドミニクが参戦！（動画あり） [Kotaku Japan]

Is Lost Planet 2 Doing Marcus Fenix Right? [Compare And Contrast]

Posted: January 26th, 2010, 5:20pm PST by Mike Fahey

Tags: Compare And Contrast

Gears of War's Marcus Fenix and hetero life companion Dominic Santiago are getting the Lost Planet 2 treatment, but is Capcom's MT-Framework 2.0 treating them right? Let's compare!

First off, we're taking an image from a brief trailer shown during the announcement of the Gears guys' cameo in Lost Planet 2, so until we get some crisp, clean screenshots sometime soon, mind the blur factor. As for comparing a trailer to an actual game screen, Capcom has informed us that the trailer was created within the same MT-Framework 2.0 engine that Lost Planet 2 is built with, so what you see should be what you're going to get.

I'm fascinated by video game cameos, much like I'm fascinated by comic book characters crossing over into other books. It's a chance to see your favorite characters in a new light, crafted by the hand of a different artist.

That having been said, I'm pretty sure Microsoft was very specific about how Marcus and Dom should look, leaving little room for interpretation. The result is two similar but slightly different versions of the two popular characters.

Comparing the two, the shot from Gears of Wars 2 is definitely more detailed, while Lost Planet 2's Marcus and Dom are much shinier. They probably had time to polish up that armor during the long trip to wherever the hell Capcom put that second planet. The LP2 models lose a little definition, but the key elements are all in place, and there's no way you could mistake these two for another couple of over-muscled commandos.

Any thoughts? Which rendering of Marcus and Dom do you prefer? Would you want to get lost on a planet with them?

Chainsaw Plus Paddle Equals Dead Rising 2's Paddlesaw [Zombies]

Posted: January 26th, 2010, 11:00am PST by Stephen Totilo

Tags: Zombies

You know how it goes: You see two everyday items that, apart, are ordinary but, together, might help you survive a zombie apocalypse?

Capcom now shows us that Dead Rising 2's duct tape option allows gamers to cobble together such weapons. That confirms our own Brian Crecente's theory from September:

With the increased presence of duct tape in the game I can't help but wonder if that new skill will be the ability to craft your own weapons by attaching things together with duct tape.

The weapons customization in the upcoming 2010 multiplatform game was described at a Capcom-Microsoft event earlier today in Japan. And now we can see it in an official Capcom screenshot released today:

No word yet on how much variety the weapons customization options will be, though I doubt that will stop readers here from offering some possible combo suggestions.

For the record, Crecente's other DR2 theory is that the game will involve some sort of video-capture system, to one-up the photography system of the first game. We have no confirmation on that. It's a theory.

Dead Rising 2 New Screenshots Show Off Weapon Creation [Capcom Unity blog]

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Monster Hunter Frontier Not Confirmed For The West [Capcom]

Posted: January 26th, 2010, 8:20am PST by Brian Ashcraft

Tags: capcom

What do Japan, South Korea, Hong Kong, Macau and Taiwan have in common? They all are regions where action RPG Monster Hunter Frontier has been released on PC. What do North America and Europe have in common?

They are regions where the game has not been released. Just because Monster Hunter Frontier has been announced for the Xbox 360, that does not mean the game is necessarily headed West anytime soon.

Capcom issued the following statement to Kotaku: "Monster Hunter Frontier is an online multiplayer action RPG currently only available in Japan and other Asian territories. Originally released in 2007 for the PC, it has now been confirmed that Monster Hunter Frontier will be released in Japan on the Xbox 360. As yet the title has not been confirmed for release in Europe or North America."

[Pic]

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Tim Tams, Mmmmm Tim Tams [Note]

Posted: January 26th, 2010, 6:30am PST by Brian Ashcraft

Tags: Note

To: Crecente
From: Bashcraft
RE: Home Check

Bought a box of Tim Tams. Man, I love Tim Tams! I had no idea that there are all these different Tim Tam flavors. I've only had regular. Maybe I'll give one of them a whirl. Maybe not. Who knows. The future is mine. And yours. And Tim Tams'.

What you missed last night
Mass Effect 2 Review: Once More Unto The Breach
Xbox Japan's Big Capcom Announcements Are...
What Are Gears of War Characters Doing In My Lost Planet 2?
First Look At Gears of War In Your Lost Planet 2
Super Street Fighter IV Goes All Gonzo

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Monster Hunter Frontier's "Debut" 360 Trailer [Clips]

Posted: January 26th, 2010, 3:30am PST by Luke Plunkett

Tags: Clips

Monster Hunter Frontier, a 2007 PC game, is old. Old as the hills. But Monster Hunter Frontier on Xbox 360 is new, and so is this trailer.

Cutting edge.

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First Look At Gears of War In Your Lost Planet 2 [Clips]

Posted: January 26th, 2010, 3:00am PST by Brian Ashcraft

Tags: Clips

The Lost Planet 2 trailer featuring Gears of War characters has leaked onto the internet.

Check out Gears characters Marcus and Dom as they battle their way through a snowy environment against an alien Akrid enemy.

YouTube - CAPCOM vs Epic Games - LOST PLANET 2 vs GEARS OF WAR [digilog86@YouTube Thanks, General M!]

Dead Rising, The Movie [Dead Rising]

Posted: January 26th, 2010, 1:30am PST by Brian Ashcraft

Tags: Dead Rising

We've come full circle. Capcom's zombie horror series Dead Rising is based on George Romero's zombie films. Now, the game series is making the leap to live action.

The movie is set in an alternative reality in which areas effected by outbreaks are strictly quarantined, and those living in the area are coordinated off from the rest of the country. Two brothers George and Shin, hatch a plan to escape.

Starring actors Hiroki Yoshida and Hiroshi Yazaki, Shibyou　Osen DEAD RISING is a live-action movie co-written and directed by Dead Rising designer and Mega-Man creator Keiji Inafune. The gory, blood-driven trailer features first-person-shooter style action, exploding heads and inventive wheelchair modification.

The movie will be released this year on Xbox LIVE and via the official site. Yeah.

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What Are Gears of War Characters Doing In My Lost Planet 2? [Gears Of War]

Posted: January 26th, 2010, 1:00am PST by Brian Ashcraft

Tags: Gears of War

In a collaboration with Capcom, American game developer Epic is lending Gears of War's main characters Marcus Fenix and Dominic Santiago to upcoming action title Lost Planet 2.

The appearance of both Gears characters in Lost Planet 2 was revealed in a trailer shown today at Xbox Japan's Capcom event.

It is believed that the characters will be available as exclusive downloadable characters for the Xbox 360 and will not be appearing in the game's story mode. This is still unconfirmed, however.

This announcement also appears to be the "kick ass news" Gears designer Cliff Bleszinski has been tweeting about.

Lost Planet 2 designer Jun Takeuchi has long professed his admiration for Gears of War. The controls for Resident Evil 5 were influenced by the controls for Gears of War, and Takeuchi even referred to the revamped RE5 controls as "Gears-like".

【速報】「CAPCOM TITLE PREMIERE FOR XBOX 360」概要 [Kotaku Japan]

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Xbox Japan's Big Capcom Announcements Are... [Japan]

Posted: January 26th, 2010, 12:30am PST by Brian Ashcraft

Tags: Japan

PC title Monster Hunter Frontier is coming to the Xbox 360. It was announced at the Xbox Japan event today in Tokyo. But that's not all.

The game first appeared on the PC back in summer 2007.

A closed beta test will begin this May in Japan. Initially, there will be a PC server and an entirely new server. The goal is to eventually integrate the servers.

Service will begin this summer. After getting the game, users pay ¥1,400 ($15) a month. This includes a one month Xbox LIVE Gold membership. And with yearly Gold memberships costing the equivalent of $58, a free month-by-month membership is a good deal.

Three other titles were shown as well:

Lost Planet 2
The game is a multi-platform title and will be coming to the PC, Xbox 360 and PS3. Gears of War character Marcus and Dom make an appearance. The game's release date is May 20 for Japan and May 18 for both North America and Europe.

Dead Rising 2
The game's customized weapon system was shown. Likewise, this is a multi-platform title and will be available on PC, Xbox 360 and PS3. The game was not dated by Capcom, but designer Keiji Inafune said that its release will be separated from Lost Planet 2. Perhaps fall or winter?

Super Street Fighter IV
Another multi-platform title. Features shown include Replay Channel, Endless Battle, Bonus Stage and Team Battle. The character selection screen seems to show three rows of 12 characters. The studio behind the anime Afro Samurai will be providing an original anime. The game will be out on April 28 in Japan for ¥ (US$55). It will be available on April 27 in North America and April 30 in Europe.

【速報】「CAPCOM TITLE PREMIERE FOR XBOX 360」概要 [Kotaku Japan]

What Is Xbox Japan's Big Capcom Announcement? [Xbox 360]

Posted: January 25th, 2010, 11:00pm PST by Brian Ashcraft

Tags: Xbox 360

Later today, Xbox Japan is holding a special event in Tokyo with game developer Capcom. The event was teased last week with an image that simply read:

Capcom x Microsoft
2010.01.26

CAPCOM TITLE PREMIERE
FOR XBOX 360

But what is this new title? There is a scan floating around that purports to announce Monster Hunter Frontier for the Xbox 360 — the scan, however, is suspect. It does bring up an interesting concept: Online PC title Monster Hunter Frontier on the Xbox 360.

The port would seem logical; however, this is still entirely unconfirmed. (Wait until the official announcement later today!) But if it's not Monster Hunter Frontier, what could be?

Monster Hunter Tri
Originally announced for the PS3, the Wii game did not sell as well as hoped. Capcom has shown the ability to port games from the Xbox 360 to the Wii (Dead Rising, anyone?), so porting an HD version to the Wii could breath more life in the title.

Captain Commando HD
Going through all the titles that Capcom has remade of late, there is one gaping hole: Side-scrolling beat 'em up Captain Commando. The game has gotten re-releases in the last decade, indicating that there is still interest in the title.

Final Fight HD
Okay, I lied. There is another gaping hole: side-scrolling beat 'em up Final Fight. We've forgiven you for the travesty that was 2006's Final Fight: Streetwise!

Duck Tails HD
Please? The game was originally released in 1989. It's fantastic.

Devil Kings 3
The series is huge in Japan, where it is known as Sengoku Basara, and it has even spawned a stage play. Devil Kings 3 has been announced for the Wii and the PS3 this spring. How about the Xbox 360?

Onimusha
The series is overdue for a sequel with the last title hitting the PS2 back in 2006. The franchise is one of Capcom's biggest, so we doubt it would go exclusive.

Capcom vs. SOMEONE
Who can Capcom fight next?

Brand New Title
It will be something we've never heard of and released on the Xbox 360 — a timed exclusive. Then several months later, it will appear on the PS3 with extra content and characters.

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A Week In Comments [Hyper Multi-tap]

Posted: January 25th, 2010, 10:00pm PST by Brian Ashcraft

Tags: hyper multi-tap

Heavy Rain's First Nine Minutes Hit The Shower, Down Some OJ
Comment by: evolutionman
Nominated by: Donutta

You know, watching this, I have this gut feeling
that this will be the game that destroys video games.

I look at it, and I think "Pfft, that's just getting me to push buttons at the right time."

Then I think of Boom Boom Rocket of DDR. Parappa the Rapper, even.

Then it's not much of a stretch to realise that all games are making you press buttons at the right time. They're just not as blatant as Heavy Rain or DDR.

Then you realise how futile and, really, uninvolved the whole experience is. You are basically pushing X to experience someone else's vision. Why, then, don't you just go watch a movie or read a book?

David Crane proclaims that a new term will be needed to describe this game, but in fact I just think he's trying to hide the fact that this really just exposes games for what they are.

We should have seen it as Ground Zero Texas... but then who, apart from me, had this misfortune of playing that, ahem, game?

The Lost Characters of Tatsunoko Vs. Capcom
Comment by: pressstart
Nominated by: BryanH

Because you can never, EVER, take the dev/pub/corp employee's word for it. It's all PR spin. That's how the internet people justify all the hate they have for DLC, you know. And whatever they don't like.

That said, I'm more optimistic and just accept what they say, because it's not worth blowing a vein over. Or naive, your choice :)

No Wii For The Kids: Hidden Costs Compel Console Return
Comment by: TylDurden
Nominated by: Sacré bleu: Home streach

I think it was a great article and applaud the writer for making the right decision. He even admitted to failure to fully research his purchase and seems to be a very good father. My 4 year old daughter is a spoiled brat and I'm sure my allowing her access to any movie, song or video game she wants has a lot to do with that (I'm a torrent whore)(she has her own DS, my old fat model, and the Wii is primarily hers cause I sure as hell don't play it). Maybe if I just limited her TV time, spent a little more time with her outside, or reading books. As it is I am one of those shut ins he is talking about. Sure the family and I visit family, sure we visit other couples with kids, but if the choice was mine, I'd be home playing console games every waking moment of my life, and that my friends is why I don't father as much as I should. Am I a bad father? by all means, no. Am I as structured and family oriented as this journalist? No. There's nothing "wrong" with getting the kids a Wii and I don't think thats what he said. For him it worked out better that he didn't. His kids are still happy with what they have so no reason to jump steps and pull out the big guns. He's obviously not that interested in the Wii so power to him. My gaming habits have been a thorn my marriage and career life and I don't think I am a minority. Sure I spend time with my family and work 8 hours a day but thats about all I dedicate. I still cram an easy 40 hours of gaming in a week. (3-4 hours on weekdays and god knows how much on weekends) I dare say anyone who spends more than 10-20 hours a week on games are investing more time in them than work, school, or family. I am not ashamed of my gaming habits. I've come to accept them and enjoy them for what they are, I'm just not going to justify them by slamming someone who chooses not to be ensnared by how fun and addicting they can be.

So thank you mister Chris O'Brien, for inspiring me to take more control of my family life and my childs developement.

The Rock Band Network's Very Naughty Words
Comment by: Edfire77
Nominated by: Gyaruson

Improper use of "God" will get you banned. Improper use of "Allah" will get you KILLED

Mass Effect 2 Is Latest EA Game To Sweeten The Deal For "Original Purchasers"
Comment by: Chirotera
Nominated by: James Henderson

This is always a concern but you have to remember that companies, even gaming ones, are always in it for the money. If they are not turning a profit they are not making money, and thus, will be unable to release more of the products you come to love.

With used game sales as they are, and the piracy numbers (I hesitate to includes these because things could go either way as to their effect on the industry), I see DLC tactics such as this a necessary evil.

So long as we don't see anymore horse armor, I will continue to buy DLC that looks to improve my gaming experience for a particular title, even if that DLC is available only on launch day. Of course, when it's free on launch day, I find little basis for complaint.

Either way, it seems to be EA's model moving forward, so as much as it might annoy you, you're probably going to have to buck up and just go with the flow.

Blizzard Worth $7 Million In 1995, $7 Billion In 2007
Comment by: Curse lily
Nominated by: Showmeyomoves!

God damn it. I should've bought Blizzard back when i had the money, instead i spend it all on POGS.

Want to nominate comments? Send to tips any insightful or funny comments you read from other commenters. (Read: NOT YOURSELF). Be sure to include the post's URL, the commenter's page, the actual comment and your commenter page.

Here's a handy guide to commenting. Read it, learn it, live it, love it.

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Sega Genesis Emulator Coming to iPhone With Its Own Store [IPhone]

Posted: January 20th, 2010, 9:00am PST by Brian Crecente

Tags: iPhone

Gizmodo reports that an official Sega Genesis emulator is coming to the iPhone as a sort of virtual console and store.

The Sega Genesis Ultimate Collection will be a free app that supports a store filled with emulations of classic Genesis titles. The app, said to hit the iPhone next month, will come with Space Harrier II and the ability to purchase four other games.

• Sonic the Hedgehog: $5.99
• Golden Axe: $4.99
• Ecco the Dolphin: $2.99
• Shining Force: $2.99

This seems like a fantastic way to break free of the increasingly bloated App Store and have your own space in which to hawk and sell your games. I'd love to see more publishers doing this. Can you imagine a Capcom Arcade packed with retro emulations?

Ultimate Genesis: Sega's Official Console Emulator for iPhone [Gizmodo]

The Nintendo Download: Everybody Let's Muscle March [Downloadables]

Posted: January 18th, 2010, 8:20am PST by Mike Fahey

Tags: Downloadables

Men (and bears) in tight bikini briefs invade the Nintendo Download this week, bringing Dark Void Zero, Starship Defense, The Secret of Shinobi, and more along for the wild ride.

Namco Bandai's Muscle March (500 Wii points) is one of the oddest titles to hit the WiiWare service so far. Thieves have made off with the protein powder the game's muscle-bound protagonists need to stay in shape. The bandits smashed through walls to escape, so if you want to catch them, you'll need to be in the correct bodybuilder pose in order to fit through the conveniently bodybuilder-shaped holes left behind. If that's too wacky for you, perhaps its WiiWare companion, Wahoo Studios' brain trainer The Amazing Brain Train! (600 points), can take you to a safe place where the thong bears can't get you.

DSiWare gets the lion's share of the new downloadable games this week, with Capcom's 8-bit tribute to the upcoming Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 title, Dark Void Zero (500 DSi points) taking the lead, followed by Q-Games' Starship Defense (500 points), which is essentially tower defense in space. EnjoyUp Games brings Chronis Twins to the DSi this week (500 points), following last week's release of Chronos Twins DS for WiiWare. Gameloft brings up the rear with Me and My Dogs: Friends Forever (800 points), a pet trainer in which you choose between a Chow Chow, Labrador, or Beagle, playing with them, giving them love, and then entering them into competitions to see if your love paid off. It's just like real dogs, only without the smell!

Shadow Dancer: The Secret of Shinobi for the Sega Genesis (800 Wii points) is this week's sole Virtual Console release, definitely strong enough to stand on its own four legs, thanks to the introduction of Yamoto, Joe Mushashi's faithful hound.

What looks good this week? I mean, aside from Muscle March, of course. That one's a given.

WiiWare

Muscle March
Publisher: NBGI
Players: 1-4
ESRB Rating: E 10+ (Everyone 10 and Older) – Comic Mischief
Price: 500 Wii Points™
Description: Muscle March is a quirky Japanese action game stuffed full of macho bodybuilders. The all mighty protein powder has been stolen, so it's up to Tony and his muscle-bound crew to catch the thieves. Choose from a variety of perfectly molded superstars and bring these terrible villains to justice. As the thieves attempt escape, they will smash through walls while making a variety of poses. You must match these poses to fit through the holes and catch up to the thieves. The protein powder will be yours again! Flex your muscles by yourself or with up to three friends in turn-based macho excitement. Posing for a few minutes not enough? Enjoy Endless Rush mode until your muscles bulge and explode! Muscle March will also be the first WiiWare title to offer a polar bear in tight swimwear!

The Amazing Brain Train!
Publisher: Wahoo Studios
Players: 1
ESRB Rating: E (Everyone)
Price: 600 Wii Points
Description: All aboard! Power up your intellect and embark on an epic quest aboard The Amazing Brain Train! Fueled by your mental energy, Professor Fizzwizzle's Brain Train will take you on a brain-boosting adventure. Put your mighty mind to the test and see how far you can go.

Nintendo DSiWare

STARSHIP DEFENSE
Publisher: Nintendo
Players: 1
ESRB Rating: E (Everyone) – Mild Fantasy Violence
Price: 500 Nintendo DSi Points™
Description: STARSHIP DEFENSE takes the tower defense genre into outer space. Defend your space fleet from wave after wave of enemy attacks by equipping a variety of weapons and using a combination of strategic skills and resource management. Attach weapons to your ships using the touch screen, making sure to place them for maximum effect when planning your defense. If you don't, the relentless nature of your enemies could overwhelm you. Increase your chances of success by using energy collected from defeated enemies to install new and more powerful weapons, destroying particular enemies to obtain weapon upgrades, and watching for rare power crystals that unlock advanced attacks, including a devastating black hole. And if you still find yourself in trouble, select an SOS card to call on a special kind of assistance. You'll have to defend your fleet across 30 intense sectors, some with specific challenges, while advancing your rank from lowly recruit all the way to fleet admiral. Are you up to the challenge?

Dark Void Zero
Publisher: Capcom Entertainment
Players: 1
ESRB Rating: E (Everyone) – Fantasy Violence
Price: 500 Nintendo DSi Points
Description: As the '80s were drawing to a close, the developers at Capcom began work on a top-secret project that aimed to set new standards for the platformer genre. That game was called Dark Void. Alas, Capcom suspended development on Dark Void as it began to evaluate the SNES™. Before long, the game was shelved and drifted, unnoticed, into the annals of gaming history. Dark Void became a legendary "lost project" at Capcom. Now, nearly 20 years later, Dark Void is back! To commemorate the game's humble origins, Capcom has commissioned this recreation of the original 8-bit classic, now re-titled Dark Void Zero, on the Nintendo DSi™ system. You play as Rusty, the first human born in the Void, who must take on the Watchers in a quest to stop their domination of Earth. With the aid of Nikola Tesla and his state-of-the-art rocket pack, Rusty must take down the Watchers and their minions across three intense levels of action and intrigue.

Chronos Twins
Publisher: EnjoyUp Games
Players: 1
ESRB Rating: E (Everyone) – Fantasy Violence
Price: 500 Nintendo DSi Points
Description: Enter into the original world of Chronos Twins, where you'll live a fantastic adventure full of innovative ideas never seen before in any game. Thanks to its Dual Gameplay game system you'll be able to control Nec in two temporal scenarios at the same time. Chronos Twins mixes action, platforms, adventure and puzzles to challenge your intelligence and ability. If you like games with a real challenge, there's no doubt that Chronos Twins is the game you're looking for.

Me And My Dogs: Friends Forever
Publisher: Gameloft
Players: 1
ESRB Rating: E (Everyone) – Comic Mischief
Price: 800 Wii Points
Description: Have you always dreamed of having a cute dog to cuddle? Thanks to Me And My Dogs: Friends Forever, you can have up to three of the cutest pups imaginable at the same time and take them with you everywhere you go. Choose from friendly Labradors, playful Chow Chows and smart Beagles. Like real dogs, you'll have to take care of them, feed them, wash them and give them lots of love. Play with them at the park and teach them lots of tricks or train them for competitions at the stadium. You can even call them like in real life thanks to the microphone.

Virtual Console

Shadow Dancer: The Secret of Shinobi
Original platform: Genesis
Publisher: SEGA
Players: 1
ESRB Rating: E 10+ (Everyone 10 and Older) – Fantasy Violence
Price: 800 Wii Points
Description: Easy to play, hard to master, Shadow Dancer: The Secret of Shinobi, first released in 1987, is the sequel to the original Shinobi arcade game, and is one of the only games in the Shinobi series to feature true arcade-style game play. Play as Joe Musashi, the master ninja known to his enemies only as "The Shinobi." This battle is not one you must fight alone, as this is the first game in the Shinobi series to feature your ninja attack dog, Yamoto, who will charge foes on command, leaving them open to a powerful drop kick. Use your mastery of ancient ninja technique to topple the crime syndicate – the Neo Zeed Corporation – and free the foreign dignitaries they have taken hostage in New York City. Good luck, and may the ninja spirits help guide you in your journey.

Gamers-for-Haiti Efforts Gather Momentum [Update] [Philanthropy]

Posted: January 16th, 2010, 11:00am PST by Owen Good

Tags: Philanthropy

Today only, 100 percent of the proceeds from purchases in PopCap's store - they make Bejeweled and Peggle - will go toward Haiti quake relief. This post is our official open thread on ways to contribute to the recovery.

To recap:

• On Wednesday and Thursday, Bungie is encouraging Halo 3 and Halo 3: ODST players to don a Haitian-relief emblem in game, and will contribute up to $77,000 to the cause depending on the number who participate. A special T-shirt also is for sale in the Bungie store, the proceeds of which will go to recovery efforts through the American Red Cross. See this post for more details.

• Zynga, makers of games for Facebook and social media, has also opened a fund drive to help Haiti through the World Food Programme. It joins the company's pre-quake philanthropic efforts to help the impoverished nation. More details here.

• PopCap's sale will go until 11:59 pm. U.S. Pacific Time tonight, and will benefit Haiti through Partners in Health.

• [Update] GamingAngels has been auctioning prize packs since Friday and will continue through the weekend. The items for bid include swag from GamingAngels' own prize closet as well as donations from Electronic Arts, Capcom, Disney Online and PDP Gaming. Saturday's auction features a pack with a handsome Eddie Riggs statue from Brütal Legend. For more details, visit GamingAngels.

• PC game-maker Outspark is offering offering a "Help Haiti" bundle for four of its games from Jan. 15 to Jan. 31, each coming with a donation amount of $5. The bundles deliver in-game boosts and attributes, and all of the proceeds from their sale go to Yele Haiti, a relief organization founded by Haitian-born musician Wyclef Jean.

By no means are these the only ways gamers may contribute. The text-message fund raising campaign has generated more than $10 million in aid and contributions now may also be made through iTunes [link will open iTunes]. And certainly there are other worthy means of contributing.

Feel free to list them in the comments here, and please send any game-specific efforts (undertaken by companies, studios, or groups of gamers themselves) to tipsATkotakuDOTcom. I'll be glad to add them to the roundup.

[Photo via International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies]

When Capcom Says Gold Edition, They Mean Gold Edition [Cover Story]

Posted: January 15th, 2010, 8:40am PST by Mike Fahey

Tags: Cover Story

Sheva gets bumped in favor of Jill Valentine on the cover art for Capcom's Resident Evil 5 update, with a gold etched cover that leaves no room for doubt that this is indeed the Gold Edition.

Ash posted the latest trailer for the Resident Evil 5: Gold Edition earlier, but it's nowhere near as shiny and attractive as the new cover art. As a stalwart support of everything Jill Valentine does, the cover makes me feel better about not playing through Resident Evil 5 when it first came out. It's so pretty!

Playing Dark Void PC at CES... In 3D!!! [Ces10]

Posted: January 9th, 2010, 5:30pm PST by Brian Crecente

Tags: ces10

Nonplussed by the PS3's Gran Turismo in 3D and sort of blown away by Super Stardust HD 3D, I was split on 3D gaming when it came time to check out Capcom's upcoming Dark Void.

Where Gran Turismo's 3D seemed to add very little to the experience, giving you a slight sense of depth but little more while driving, and Super Stardust HD blew me away with its attention to 3D detail, Dark Void was somewhere in the middle.

Flying through through the canyons of one level in 3D added a nice bit of perspective to the segment, but it was the firefights where the 3D best delivered. The images popped with the sort of crisp, in-your-face graphics that you'd want from a fast-paced title. Instead of using the tech to make the interface, like life and the weapon selected, float above the screen, the 3D helped give the world more depth.

One thing I would have liked to see were things shooting out at me as I played, the sort of effects that in a movie make you want to duck. Instead it was more about lending the structures, enemies and your character more visual substance.

The bigger issue is that the tech still feels like a gimmick applied last-minute to a game. As a big fan of first-person and third-person shooters, a game like Dark Void represents the sort of title I'd hope would use 3D to enhance the experience and not just the visuals.

Unfortunately, that wasn't the case. It was an impressive example of how adding Nvidia's 3D Vision to a game can give it a bit more sizzle. But it didn't do enhance the experience enough to outweigh the discomfort of having to wear glasses and deal with possible, for me inevitable, headaches from lengthy gameplay sessions.

Mega Man 10 Brings the Easy [Hands-On]

Posted: January 9th, 2010, 12:30pm PST by Brian Crecente

Tags: Hands-On

Megaman 10 has an interesting little addition to the franchise not seen since 1988's Megaman 2: An Easy mode.

Technically, Mega Man 2's easy mode was called normal mode, while the white-knuckled difficulty typically found in a Mega Man game was called difficult, but it was an easy mode.

The difference this time around is that Mega Man 10's easy mode doesn't just make the bad guys easier to blast, it also changes the level.

I worked my way through the short Mega Man 10 demo at Capcom's CES suite earlier this week in Las Vegas. The first time around I played on normal difficulty, dying repeatedly as I misjudged jumps, firing sequences and bad guy movements. It was every bit a typical Mega Man experience, including a run in with Robot Master Strike Man.

Strike Man is a big-chinned head floating at the top of the screen. You have to dodge the soccer ball he throws at you, and his giant metal fists, long enough to blast him and clear the room to proceed.

I managed to die enough on the normal mode to not make it to the end of the demo.

Then I gave the game a try on easy mode.

This time around the bad guys were easier to take out, and Strike Man was a cinch. But the biggest difference was that in several areas fields of damage-inducing spikes were covered over with metal plating so I didn't have to worry about jumping them.

Perhaps it made things a bit too easy, but it's nice to be able to zip through a Mega Man game occasional to blow off, not build up steam.

Mega Man 10 hits the PS3, Wii and Xbox 360 as a downloadable game this March.

Dark Void Zero: Blow Me [Ces10]

Posted: January 9th, 2010, 10:30am PST by Brian Crecente

Tags: ces10

It may only be two hours long, but Capcom's 8-bit DSi Dark Void prequel doesn't feel like a bit of fancy marketing.

Dark Void Zero, expected to hit Nintendo's download store in the next couple of weeks, features three levels, three bosses and an original 8-bit soundtrack composed by Battlestar Galactica's Bear McCreary.

I fiddled around with the game a bit earlier this week in Capcom's CES suite in Las Vegas. Sticking to it's retro stylings, players will use the direction pad and just two buttons to play Zero: One to jump and the other to fire.

Players make their way through the game, picking up temporary power-ups like new weapons and a jet pack, as they blast enemies and read through the game's relatively light plot in pop-up text windows.

The game also has a lot of neat little touches, like the wonderful McCreary music and even an intro faux NES graphic that asks you to blow into the DSi's microphone to start the game.

While it may have been conceived as something meant to market the upcoming release of Dark Void, Dark Void Zero is quite a bit of fun to play. It sort of reminded me of classic Gameboy titles like Duck Tales.

While it sounds like the only current plans for the game include the single release and a later release for the iPhone and PC, it would be great to see developers making more of these sort of titles for Nintendo's vastly under-served DSi download store.

Kotaku Originals: On Topic [Original]

Posted: January 9th, 2010, 7:00am PST by Owen Good

Tags: Original

This week saw the debut of Kotaku's overnight off-topic discussion, aka Our Excuse to Talk About S—t Like the A-Team. Crecente and McWhertor in Vegas still helped keep the rest of the site on-topic for original coverage this past week.

Kotaku Talk Radio

Reviews, Previews, Hands On and Impressions
Super Street Fighter IV FightStick Tournament Edition S Hands-on
Trajectile Micro-Review: Testing Your Talent For Precision Demolition
More Hands-on Details From Xbox 360's Game Room
Mad Moxxi's Underdome Riot Micro-Review: A Very Long Engagement
Cold Stone Creamery: Scoop It Up So You Don't Have To
Darksiders Review: Harbinger Of The Apocopylypse

Columns
Well Played: Oh What A Year
Stick Jockey: A Picture Worth More Than Words

News
Death by Cube Ready To Kill Xbox LIVE
Separated At Birth: Borderlands And CodeHunters
Mass Effect 2 Debuts In Mass Effect: Redemption
Target To Offer $99 "Video Game Setup" Service
Ninety-Nine Nights II Dated for Japan
The Harvard Lampoon Skewers Twilight, Sega
The Bravest Game, Mistakenly Neglected
What We Want From The Next Nintendo Handheld
Capcom (Try To) Back Away From Anti-Wii Comments
Yes, Alan Wake Is Getting DLC
Ar tonelico III Rolls Out The Manly Lady, Voiced By Pikachu!
Xbox 360: 39 Million Consoles Sold, Only Half Are On Xbox Live
Will The Michael Jackson PS3 Bundle Get Western Release?
Xbox Game Room To Feature "Over 1000" Classic Arcade Games
Project Natal Launching This Holiday Season
Microsoft CES Liveblog
Left 4 Dead 2 Vs. The Motion Control Apocalypse
Toobin' Controller? Super Hang-On Motorcyle? What isn't Mad Catz Working On
So, Who's Behind Microsoft's New Game Room Service?
Sony: Nearly Four Million PlayStation 3's Sold Over Christmas
Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles: The Crystal Bearers Review: The Big Book Of FF Activities
Sony CES Liveblog
Bach Explains To Be Announced Xbox Game Room
Microsoft To Announce "Xbox Game Room" At CES [Update]
Reader Makes His Own Bayonetta Collector's Edition
What Parents Think Their Kids Learn From Video Games
Pink PSP Blossoms In Japan
Fist of the North Star Dated Dated, Already Dead (And Dated)
Five Ways Japan Can Stop Game Industry Shrinkage
GOD EATER Eats Up Over 1 Million Demo Downloads
This Is It, The Michael Jackson PS3 Bundle
Is Google's Nexus One A Gaming Contender?
Bayonetta Review: To Infinite Climax Action And Beyond
Modern Warfare On Wii Hooks Players, If Not Big Sales... Yet
The History Of Video Game Art In Reverse
Japanese Hardware Sales Tally
2009's Top Five Selling Games in Japan
In 2009, Japanese Game Market Shrinkage Continued
What Will Be Gaming's Next Hot Destination?
There Are Responsible Parents Out There
Japan Celebrates Christmas By Buying Many, Many Wiis, DSis
Think Of It As James Cameron's Beyond Good & Evil
The 10 Most Avidly-Played Wii Games In America (As Of Jan 1)
iPhone Chart Toppers: Zombies Won't Die
EA Shutters Online For Selected Games, Including Madden 09
Master Chief's Dancing Spartan Parade
Twilight Freakout, Guido Names and Fist Bumps

Strap On Your Jet Pack For The Dark Void Demo [Demo]

Posted: January 5th, 2010, 10:30am PST by Mike Fahey

Tags: Demo

Capcom is releasing a demo for Dark Void on the PlayStation Network and Xbox Live this week, giving players an early taste of what awaits them on the other side come January 19th.

The demo, available tomorrow on Xbox Live and Thursday on PSN, features a teaser level that will see players participating in aerial dogfights, running and gunning, and taking advantage of the game's unique vertical cover system. It sounds a lot like what we've played at various industry functions in the past, so it should give gamers a good idea of what to expect when the game ships later this month.

I've not been too thrilled by what I've seen previously, but releasing a game demo in advance of the game's release is a good sign of Capcom's faith in the title. I'll likely give it another go tomorrow, to at least see how things have been shaping up.

Tatsunoko Vs. Capcom Stick Now Available For Preorder [Mad Catz]

Posted: January 5th, 2010, 8:20am PST by Mike Fahey

Tags: Mad Catz

The Mad Catz Tatsunoko Vs. Capcom FightStick mock-up from the San Diego Comic Con just got real, with the Wii arcade controller now available for purchase at the GameShark Store.

Mad Catz first displayed the Tatsunoko Vs. Capcom fight stick in San Diego, gauging fan reaction to the design. Apparently fans reacted well, as it's now up for sale on the GameShark store for $79.99. I'd say it was a preorder listing, but I don't see the words preorder anywhere in the item description, even when I went through the majority of the checkout process.

It's a lovely stick, and as it connects to the Wii remote, it's also wireless, which is nice. Considering the alternatives available for the Wii, I'd say it might be your best bet for a Wii arcade fighting controller for quite some time.

Tatsunoko VS. Capcom Arcade FightStick For Wii [GameShark Store - Thanks Raphael!]

In Europe, Monster Hunter Is Now Nintendo's Baby [Capcom]

Posted: January 5th, 2010, 3:30am PST by Luke Plunkett

Tags: capcom

In Japan and North America, Monster Hunter Tri is a Capcom game, developed, published and distributed by the company. But in Europe and Australia? It's now Nintendo's problem.

The announcement was made earlier today by Capcom, who say that while they'll still technically be acting as publisher, Nintendo will be "responsible for the sales, marketing and distribution" of the game in Europe and Australasia.

It'll be out in April. Expect to see a lot more marketing for the game than you otherwise would have. Oh, and maybe one or two of those black Wii/Monster Hunter Tri bundles (up top), too.

Dare You Object To Some Phoenix Wright: Wii Videos? [Clips]

Posted: January 5th, 2010, 12:30am PST by Luke Plunkett

Tags: Clips

Just like the handheld versions, lawyer adventure series Phoenix Wright on WiiWare is shipping in Japan with English language support included. Which means we can watch some gameplay clips and know what the hell's going on!

Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney WiiWare First Look! [Capcom]

What Will Be Gaming's Next Hot Destination? [Opinion]

Posted: January 4th, 2010, 10:30pm PST by Luke Plunkett

Tags: Opinion

The movie business tends to run with trends. It's why in one year you can get two movies about vampires, or Houdini, or Sherlock Holmes. The video game business is no different.

Take Africa, for example. For years, the continent - and, let's not forget, the continent's inhabitants - had been largely ignored by an industry focused on aliens (space), fast cars (race tracks) and Nazis (rural France).

Yet in a six month period over 2008-09, two major, high profile games (sorry, Afrika) weren't just set in Africa, they were really set in Africa. With real Africans and everything.

Those games were Resident Evil 5 and Far Cry 2. Sure, one did a better job of depicting the continent's complex political and racial situation than the other (hint: it was the game not made by Capcom), but at the end of the day, both titles had put Africa on the radar.

Crytek's games - the first Far Cry and Crysis - have done something similar, the German developers carving their own niche on sunny tropical beaches while other FPS teams continue to set games in mud under grey skies. The same goes for New York City, both Grand Theft Auto IV and Prototype replicating the Big Apple in their own special way.

It's like Yoda said. Always two, there are.

So what will gaming's next hot destination be? It can't be any of the above locations, they're old hat. It has to be somewhere not only new, and fresh, but interesting. Somewhere that, like Far Cry 2 and GTAIV, is as big a part of game's appeal as the mechanics and characters themselves.

Here are some of my ideas; feel free to chime in with your own in the comments section.

AUSTRALIA - Bias, perhaps, but hear me out; the world's smallest continent is also one of the most varied, with deserts, rainforests and everything in between. It's sparsely populated (so there's less work for developers), has great weather (blue skies are always fun) and a history of open roads and lawlessness (in case anyone is thinking of a Borderlands sequel/clone).

Best part? It's criminally under-represented in games, making any game set in Australia - regardless of the tone or time period - truly unique.

MONGOLIA - Know what was most interesting about Uncharted 2? The way it took you to Nepal, an area you'd probably never been in a game before. Well, Mongolia is kind of like Nepal, only instead of snow, you could have plains, and yurts, and horses, and throat singing.

ICELAND - Know what's weird about Iceland? There's no trees. Well, there are some trees, but not like there is anywhere else that's not a desert. And there's your appeal; it's like a desert, only instead of sand, there's grass, and fishing villages, and - timeline dependant - vikings.

KOREA - Korea stands poised this decade to be like Japan was in the 80's; a fascinating, vibrant Asian powerhouse. But just like the war that shares the nation's name, developers seem to have forgotten Korea even exists, with any and all Asian settings focused on China and Japan. Something set in present-day Seoul would be a nice touch.

Note I'm talking locations only, not themes. And by themes I mean "World War Two", or "Zombies". We'll get to those later in the week!

Shigeru Miyamoto Wishes You A Happy New Year, Nintendo Style [Nintendo]

Posted: December 30th, 2009, 2:00pm PST by Michael McWhertor

Tags: Nintendo

The newest issue of Japanese Nintendo magazine Nintendo Dream—the one with Link and Zelda on the cover, Spirit Tracks style—features a big batch of New Years wishes from Nintendo's developers, including the Shigeru Miyamoto well-wisher seen above.

And there's a lot more where that came from, courtesy of the scanning prowess of Zelda Power, which looks to have each and every Nintendo designed card, from Animal Crossing to Pokemon to Professor Layton and beyond. A few other Japanese developers from Capcom, Konami, Square Enix and elsewhere also took part, which can be seen in the gallery at Zelda Power.

Nintendo Dream: Developer New Years Cards 2010 [Zelda Power]

Get Your Fists On Super Street Fighter IV At Vegas Preview Event [Street Fighter]

Posted: December 30th, 2009, 1:30am PST by Luke Plunkett

Tags: street fighter

Those with a need/desire to get their hands on Super Street Fighter IV should pack their bags and head for Vegas, as Capcom will soon be hosting a public event/fight club for the game.

The event will take place on January 7, at Planet Hollywood. All the game's new characters will be playable, the catch being you need to apply for a ticket and that you need to be 18+ to get in.

Full details for those interested below.

Super Street Fighter IV Las Vegas Fight Club! [Capcom]

What Are Japan's Top Xbox LIVE Arcade Games of 2009? [Japan]

Posted: December 28th, 2009, 5:00am PST by Brian Ashcraft

Tags: Japan

Another top whatever list — this time the top XBLA games in Japan. They are...

...drumroll please...

10. Mega Man 9
9. The King of Fighters '98: Ultimate Match
8. Ikaruga
7. Shadow Complex
6. R-Type Dimensions
5. Trials HD
4. Marvel vs. Capcom 2
3. Castle Crashers
2. Battlefield 1943
1. Virtual On: Oratorio Tangram

These Are Japan's Top Xbox Live Arcade Games Of 2009 // Siliconera

The Twenty Best-Rated Games Of The Decade [Reviews]

Posted: December 23rd, 2009, 7:20pm PST by Luke Plunkett

Tags: Reviews

Lost slightly amidst all this "end of year" review business is the fact this is also the end of the decade. Which means it's time to take a look back and what the best games of 2000-2009 were.

According to review aggregation site Metacritic, the top twenty games of the past ten years are...well, pretty damn surprising. Games like GTAIV, Halo and Super Mario Galaxy are up there, as you'd expect. But some of the others, including the top-rated game of the decade, are coming straight out of left field.

Here they are, courtesy of MCV, with only the highest-ranking score of a multiplatform game included.

1. Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 2 – 98 (Activision)
2. Grand Theft Auto IV – 98 (Rockstar)
3. Perfect Dark – 97 (Nintendo)
4. NFL 2K1 – 97 (Sega)
5. Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 3 – 97 (Activision)
6. Halo – 97 (Microsoft)
7. Metroid Prime – 97 (Nintendo)
8. Grand Theft Auto III – 97 (Rockstar)
9. Super Mario Galaxy – 97 (Nintendo)
10. Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty – 96 (Konami)
11. Half-Life 2 – 96 (Valve)
12. The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker – 96 (Nintendo)
13. Resident Evil 4 – 96 (Capcom)
14. The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess – 96 (Nintendo)
15. BioShock – 96 (2K Games)
16. The Orange Box – 96 (Valve)
17. Out of the Park Baseball 2007 – 96 (Sports Interactive)
18. Uncharted 2: Among Thieves – 96 (Sony)
19. Baldur's Gate II: Shadows of Amn – 95 (Interplay)
20. The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past [GBA] – 95 (Nintendo)

Wow. I mean, I liked the second Tony Hawk game. It was a blast. But better than Half-Life 2? Better than Halo? That's questionable.

Same for NFL2K1. Yeah, it was a pioneering sports title, but an aggregate score of 97? I think some review outlets were being a little generous around the turn of the millennium.

Top 20 Games of the Decade [MCV]

What The Video Game Industry Wants For Christmas [Feature]

Posted: December 23rd, 2009, 7:30am PST by Luke Plunkett

Tags: FEATURE

Christmas is a time for giving, yes, but it's also a time for receiving. Which is more important. And while we know what we want for Christmas, we wondered: what do the big names of the video game industry want?

Wondering got us to asking, so we asked around. And people like Ken Levine, Sid Meier, Gabe Newell, David Jaffe and Aaron Greenberg were kind enough to provide us with answers. Some wanted world peace. Others money. One wants to hear less Wham. Not sure Santa's the right person to be asking that of.

Anyway, without further ado, here's what some of the video game industries biggest names (and, uh...us) hope to find under the Christmas tree come December 25.

Pete Hines, Bethesda
"I'd like to see the USA make it to the semifinals of the World Cup, or Wake Forest make it to the Final Four. Or both. And I'd like enough time to get through the pile of new games I need to play and haven't gotten to yet. And money. And world peace. But mostly money."

Gabe Newell, Valve
"I decided I needed a hobby, so I started teaching myself how to be a machinist. I've got a CNC mill, surface grinder, heat treat furnace, and lots of other devices designed to launch various body parts across my garage at high velocity while on fire. Once you start going down this path, it makes putting together a Christmas list pretty easy as there's a near infinite amount of stuff that you can convince yourself you need. For example a year ago I'd never heard of Harvey Tool's 270 degree undercutting end mill (#23204-C3), and now I can't imagine how I'll be able to make it through Christmas day if I don't get it in my stocking. Band-Aids would also be nice..."

Sid Meier, Firaxis
"A Rickenbacker guitar! Playing and composing music is my second most favorite thing to do – next to making games of course! I've wanted one of these guitars for a while – hope Santa is reading this article."

Aaron Greenberg, Microsoft
"The Wire box set. Because you can never have too much knowledge about the how the game is played."

Hideki Kamiya, Platinum Games
"I would like lots of cute girlfriends for Christmas because I don't really have any cute girlfriends right now."

Todd Howard, Bethesda
"I'd like more time to sit in my basement and play video games. I don't know that I've been nice enough to my family to deserve that though, because I'm usually in my basement playing video games."

David Jaffe, EatSleepPlay
"As an agnostic who celebrates BOTH Christmas and Chanukah, my wish list includes: tickets to the Jay-Z concert at Staples center in March (I THINK my ex is getting them for me, but don't tell her I know, cool?!?), a fantastic time with friends and family over the holiday, for the spirit of God/the Universe/whatever you choose to call it to continue to flow thru me and the amazing team at Eat Sleep Play so we can provide fans a great deal of joy and happiness in the new year; great jobs for all my gaming colleagues who are out of work right now; and finally and most importantly: health, understanding, love, and much peace to us all, especially to those who are suffering. Much love, ya'll! Have a great holiday!"

Ken Levine, 2K Boston
"I'd like to get a working internet connection, Comcast! My guildmates need me! And damnit, I've been good enough to deserve a trip to the Scarlet Monastery."

Randy Pitchford, Gearbox
"All I want for the holidays is for single vendor DRM to die and be replaced by a global/universal identity and credential system that is loved and adopted by all. If that can happen, I guess it would also be cool to get one of those Taun Taun sleeping bags :)"

Frank O'Connor, 343 Studios
"Is it too much to ask Santa for a 50 inch Samsung LED TV? It's not because of the picture so much as it's the absolute, wafer-thin flatness of it. I have already been cheated, by life, out of a flying car. I just want a TV that looks like it would melt in your mouth. And then I could watch a documentary about world peace on it."

Ben Judd, Capcom
"If I could get anything for Christmas it would be a reduction in the amount of times I had to hear "Last Christmas" by Wham! in the various convenience stores, department stores, even the local pork cutlet shop. All of those not living in Japan, thank your lucky stars you this song doesn't have nearly the exposure in your country as it does in Japan. I have a very high threshold for pain... I even didn't mind Hanson. But hearing this song more than 100 times in a single 30 day span can break any man. Any man."

Larry "Major Nelson" Hryb, Microsoft
"I need Bioshock 2 to be worthy of the first game. I need it to be great! Can't start next year with a broken heart."

Atsushi Inaba, Platinum Games
"I'd like a deserted island, surrounded by emerald green seas. I think even if I really shouldn't, having an island would make me feel like taking a vacation."

Luke Plunkett, Kotaku
"What do I want, readers? I want the complete Battlestar Galactica collection on Blu-Ray. I'll probably end up with something else, since that's so damn expensive, but we're talking about what I want here, not what I think I'll get."

Brian Ashcraft, Kotaku
"A weaker Japanese yen — way weaker. FOR THE LOVE OF ALL THAT IS GOOD PLEASE!"

Stephen Totilo, Kotaku
"I want all my comics to magically turn into trade paperbacks, my old cassette tapes to suddenly be on my iPod and all my video games accessible from harddrives instead of discs. And I want all of that to be indestructible and always accessible, please? Oh, and more time to read would be nice."

Michael Fahey, Kotaku
"I want to know how to read and speak Japanese for Christmas. It would be lovely if this was something you could receive in a box with a neatly-wrapped bow around it. See, I've imported Final Fantasy XIII, and while I am to the point where I can make out a word in katakana if you give me a few minutes, I am relatively sure that won't do in this situation. Other than suddenly having knowledge of a language that takes years to learn, my list mainly consists of harder-to-find games. Bust-A-Groove for the PlayStation (I own a Japanese copy I can't play in anything,) and Thousand Arms. I would kill for a nice copy of Thousand Arms, probably my favorite RPG on the PlayStation. I suppose killing isn't in keeping with the season. I'd...hug an orphan for a nice copy of Thousand Arms."

Amanda Glasser, Kotaku
"Well, since I didn't get The Hangover on DVD for Hanukkah, I'd like that for Christmas, as well as Family Guy's Something Something Dark Side. The holidays are usually a real drag at my house and I'm forbidden to play video games because it's not 'spending time with the family,' so I'll need funny stuff like this to watch while the family is in the same room with me.

"Also, I'm still holding out for that pony."

Owen Good, Kotaku
More than anything I want a conference championship in either football or men's basketball for North Carolina State University. That's all. Not a Final Four. I don't even care about the Orange Bowl. Just a fucking Atlantic Coast Conference championship, which I've won a thousand times on my Xbox 360 in NCAA Football and Basketball, but which my school hasn't seen in real life since Jim Valvano and Bo Rein. Both coaches died young, and tragically. My wish doesn't really have much to do with games, unfortunately. But you asked, and when I honestly think of something that would make me happier than I have ever been in years, if only for a day, that is it.

PIC via Matti Matilla's Flickr photostream

2010: The Year of Better PC Games? [2010 Preview]

Posted: December 18th, 2009, 11:30am PST by Michael McWhertor

Tags: 2010 PREVIEW

PC gaming - will it finally die in 2010? No. C'mon, stop already with that. Sure, 2009 had its ups and downs, PC gaming is very much alive and maybe looking healthier than ever in 2010.

Blizzard will, we hope, stick to its early 2010 release date for StarCraft II: Wings of Liberty, the first entry in the planned real-time strategy trilogy. And the publisher developer is threatening to release two titles next year, including the third World of Warcraft expansion, Cataclysm.

But 2010 cannot survive on Blizzard alone. Blizzard and Valve? Maybe, but beyond more Left 4 Dead 2 and Team Fortress 2 content, we're not sure what to expect. Episode III? Let's not set ourselves up for disappointment.

Thankfully, there are many strong contenders due in the following year, including highly anticipated MMOs like Star Wars: The Old Republic, DC Universe Online, Star Trek Online and APB, to name but a few. So let's take a look at what's will be pushing PCs to their limits in 2010, starting right now.

Note: We'll be looking at every platform's currently announced and estimated 2010 slate over the course of the rest of the week-and much much more.

StarCraft II: Wings of Liberty
This little known Korean game pits humans, aliens and other aliens against each other in a battle for the biggest collection of minerals and gas. Said to feature more clicking than other real-time strategy games. (Serious portion: OH GOD STARCRAFT II)
World of Warcraft: Cataclysm
Higher level caps, more real estate, flying mounts, Goblins, Worgen, frothing anticipation, oh my! Everything you really need to know about Cataclysm is summed up here.
APB: All Points Bulletin
Realtime Worlds does cops and robbers in an massively multiplayer online environment, with more style and flair than a proper Grand Theft Auto MMO could afford.
Command & Conquer 4: Tiberian Twilight
Tiberian Twilight may be the last traditional C&C game for the foreseeable future, the final chapter in the Tiberium saga. Thankfully, the Global Defense Initiative and the Brotherhood of Nod look to hash it out in a real-time strategy sense that taps the best of the Command & Conquer series.
Star Wars: The Old Republic
BioWare gives Star Wars fans another MMO to live and breath, this one set in the ye olde Old Republic era. Players side with either the Galactic Republic or Sith Empire, settling their differences with lightsabers and blasters.
DC Universe Online
Live your second life in the DC universe, hanging out with some of comics' greatest heroes and villains.
Natural Selection II
We're hoping that this real-time strategy meets first-person shooter sequel can make it to PCs in 2010 and we're keeping our fingers crossed all year just in case.
DeathSpank
Ron Gilbert's original DeathSpank should be on the radar of any Secret of Monkey Island fan, an action RPG spawned from Gilbert's own Grumpy Gamer comics.
Global Agenda
Kingdom Under Fire II
Metro 2033
Silent Hunter V
Naval sims? Not my cup of tea, but if you're looking for deep submarine control and find the prospect of first-person sub simulation exciting, look no further than Silent Hunter V.
S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Call of Pripyat
The sequel to S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Shadow of Chernobyl promises more first-person shooter horror and more irradiated beasts to shoot up.
Star Trek Online
Space battles! Away missions! Bridge socializing! Klingons on the starboard bow! Atari's Star Trek themed MMO is looking more inviting than an empty Jefferies Tube. And I'm out of references.
Tiger Woods PGA Tour Online
This browser based golf game starring old whatsisname will be an interesting experiment to watch, given Woods' new tarnished reputation. Could it be the final EA Sports golf game to bear his name?
Splinter Cell Conviction
Sam Fisher is back and looking less haggard than originally planned. Expect Splinter Cell-style stealth gameplay, with a few new innovations, including more cooperative and competitive multiplayer.
Mass Effect 2
BioWare's epic space saga continues, now with better shooting mechanics on top of the already intriguing intergalactic soap opera.
Battlefield: Bad Company 2
EA adds more multiplayer shooting to the mix with the release of Bad Company 2, which looks to take the Battlefield formula to the next level.
BioShock 2
Be the Big Daddy in 2K Games' sequel to the mega hit BioShock. The prequel adds multiplayer, if you consider that a positive or negative.
Dark Void
Capcom's oft-delayed jetpack hero adventure may have a hard time standing out in a crowded early 2010, but the third person shooting, climbing, flying and UFO hijacking sounds like a good combination.
Dead Rising 2
Zombies require killing in Fortune City and you're just the right guy to do it. Kill 'em again with motorcycles, roulette wheels or moose antlers. Your choice.
Dead Space 2
Visceral Games follows up on the excellent Dead Space (and very good Dead Space Extraction) with a new Necromorph dismembering adventure for old Isaac Clarke. Rocket boots? Yes, please.
Lost Planet 2
Get up in them giant bug guts with the sequel to interplanetary adventure shooter Lost Planet. Everything's bigger!
Medal of Honor
EA reboots Medal of Honor, taking the series from World War II theaters and into the modern age. Could have more beards than any other first-person shooter released next year.
Mafia II
Shoot things '40s style with Mafia II, another game that should've been released in 2009, but will settle for a 2010 release nonetheless.
Max Payne 3
Max is back and far less attractive to women. The paunchier, less follicled Payne is drawn back into the dive and shoot at things world he tried to leave behind him. Expect this one late in 2010.
Aliens Vs. Predator
Aliens and Predators settle their differences in this, the first Sega game that will actually take advantage of the Aliens license. Rebellion is at the helm again, which can only mean good things.
Fallout: New Vegas
Crap, they got Vegas too? We don't know too much about Bethesda's follow up to Fallout 3, only that gambling and mutant showgirls are likely to be involved.
Alpha Protocol
The espionage RPG!
Brink
Splash Damage's squad based and class based tactical shooter is brighter and more promising than most, featuring a unique movement method dubbed SMART.
Singularity
Raven's time-traveling first-person shooter was moved out of Modern Warfare 2's way, but now lands directly in the middle of 2010's busy first half. Perhaps that time glove will find it a better spot to find an audience...
R.U.S.E.
Assassin's Creed II
Like a fine wine, the extra aging of the PC version of Ubisoft's Assassin's Creed II will only make for a more flavorful experience. PC gamers will enjoy stabbing people in the neck as Ezio in the first quarter of 2010.

The New Stages of Super Street Fighter IV [Screens]

Posted: December 17th, 2009, 3:00pm PST by Owen Good

Tags: Screens

Capcom has dropped a buttload of new screens showcasing five new stages in Super Street Fighter IV. Korea, Africa and India join Metro City and Seth's S.I.N. Lab as venues in which you may get your chop-socky hadouken on.

Capcom's Seth Killian provides a commentary of the new sites over on Capcom-Unity, pointing out that you can fight during an eclipse and knock over wildlife in Africa, or rumble in the lab during a total meltdown. Be sure to see the full-size versions and check out all the background characters and features.

Super Street Fighter IV is due out in the spring.

Once again, the full gallery is here, so be sure to check out all the new shots.

2010: The Year of Better Xbox 360 Games? [2010 Preview]

Posted: December 17th, 2009, 12:40pm PST by Michael McWhertor

Tags: 2010 PREVIEW

2009 was a pretty good year for the Xbox 360, but based on Microsoft's showing at E3, it felt more like a warm up for 2010, the year the company will launch Project Natal.

Now this year was no slouch, with Xbox 360 console exclusives Halo 3: ODST, Forza Motorsport 3, Left 4 Dead 2 and a pair of Grand Theft Auto IV downloadable episodes—not to mention Live Arcade hits Shadow Complex, 'Splosion Man and Trials HD—making Microsoft's console a solid platform of choice. But the console's third party efforts, particularly Modern Warfare 2, sometimes outshine the first-party content.

Fortunately for Xbox 360 owners, 2010 starts off strong with new games that won't be available on its chief competitor, titles like Mass Effect 2, Alan Wake and Splinter Cell Conviction. But will Microsoft's focus on motion control with Project Natal leave "core gamers" wanting?

Let's take a look at 2010's offerings on the MS side, minus a few games we hope, but can't confirm will hit next year.

Note: We'll be looking at every platform's currently announced and estimated 2010 slate over the course of the rest of the week-and much much more.

Halo: Reach
Bungie takes us back in time, back to the future, delivering a prequel to the original Halo: Combat Evolved. Players will assume the role of the Lieutenant fighting off Covenant forces sometime this fall.
Alan Wake
Max Payne developers Remedy give Xbox 360 (and PC) gamers a flashlight-focsed dose of literary horror, sending the titular Alan Wake to the Pacific Northwest to confront his writers block, only to find himself in a nightmare of his own creation. It's gonna be scary!
Splinter Cell Conviction
Sam Fisher is back and looking less haggard than originally planned. Expect Splinter Cell-style stealth gameplay, with a few new innovations, including more cooperative and competitive multiplayer.
Crackdown 2
Start up Ruffian Games picks up where Realtime Worlds left off, filling Pacific City with gangs of street mutants and, eventually, lots of explosions.
Fable III
The fabled franchise from Lionhead Studios takes a different path in the third Fable, giving the player the royal responsibility of overthrowing and later running the kingdom of Albion. Series lead Peter Molyneux wants to add a sense of "touch" to Fable III and Project Natal support.
Joy Ride
This Avatar racing game for the Xbox 360 shouldn't put a pinch on your wallet. The core game is free.
Mass Effect 2
BioWare's epic space saga continues, now with better shooting mechanics on top of the already intriguing intergalactic soap opera.
Project Natal
Perhaps you've heard of it. Microsoft's big E3 push should garner plenty of attention for the company in 2010. The console maker has already tasked some of its owned studios with making Natal games and developer support from Lionhead and Epic seems already strong.
Final Fantasy XIII
Square Enix's long-promised, gorgeous role-playing game is finally here. Already out in Japan, the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 game is the first multi-console release in the series, the first for Sony's current gen console.
Army of Two: The 40th Day
EA Montreal's co-op shooter leads a very long list of shooters coming in 2010. The 40th Day improves upon the first in many ways, including the toning down of some of the "bromance."
Battlefield: Bad Company 2
Another shooter bound for the PS3 is Battlefield: Bad Company 2, which will fight MAG for big, bombastic multiplayer FPS for the year.
Bayonetta
PlatinumGames witchy woman Bayonetta brings more Devil May Cry-like action to the platform, but with a much more attractive package. The PS3 version may get knocked for lagging behind that other version, but Bayonetta is worth playing on whatever platform you prefer.
BioShock 2
Be the Big Daddy in 2K Games' sequel to the mega hit BioShock. The prequel adds multiplayer, if you consider that a positive or negative.
Dark Void
Capcom's oft-delayed jetpack hero adventure may have a hard time standing out in a crowded early 2010, but the third person shooting, climbing, flying and UFO hijacking sounds like a good combination.
Dead Rising 2
Zombies require killing in Fortune City and you're just the right guy to do it. Kill 'em again with motorcycles, roulette wheels or moose antlers. Your choice.
Dead Space 2
Visceral Games follows up on the excellent Dead Space (and very good Dead Space Extraction) with a new Necromorph dismembering adventure for old Isaac Clarke. Rocket boots? Yes, please.
Dante's Inferno
If God of War III leaves you wanting more God of War, why not try Visceral Games very God of War-like descent into Hell, Dante's Inferno. It has decaying purple boobs...
Prince of Persia: The Forgotten Sands
Another Prince of Persia? Yes! And this one looks a lot like the Prince of Persia movie that will hit theaters around the same time. And it looks not too dissimilar from the Prince of Persia game the movie is based upon.
Star Wars: The Force Unleashed II
Just recently revealed, we're mostly excited to see just how LucasArts fits this new Star Wars adventure into the timeline.
Lost Planet 2
Get up in them giant bug guts with the sequel to interplanetary adventure shooter Lost Planet. Everything's bigger!
Red Dead Redemption
Rockstar returns to the Red Dead realm, now with a more open-world environment, filled with random encounters, train robberies and all manner of varmint to shoot.
Super Street Fighter IV
New characters, new old characters and new online modes—plus a more budget minded price—make the quick addition of Super to Street Fighter IV that much easier to swallow. But when's Cody going to get some new clothes?
Castlevania Lords of Shadow
Hideo Kojima's game that will likely make a 2010 release could result in the best 3D Castlevania yet. Just try not to think too much about developer MercurySteam's other games.
Medal of Honor
EA reboots Medal of Honor, taking the series from World War II theaters and into the modern age. Could have more beards than any other first-person shooter released next year.
Mafia II
Shoot things '40s style with Mafia II, another game that should've been released in 2009, but will settle for a 2010 release nonetheless.
Max Payne 3
Max is back and far less attractive to women. The paunchier, less follicled Payne is drawn back into the dive and shoot at things world he tried to leave behind him. Expect this one late in 2010.
Blur
Bizarre Creations gets colorful with Blur, a frantic arcade racer with kart racing-style power ups, but none of them banana peels.
Resonance of Fate
Sega's futuristic RPG collaboration with developer tri-Ace follows a group of sharp dressed teens who have access to guns, but not clean air, in this forthcoming adventure.
Aliens Vs. Predator
Aliens and Predators settle their differences in this, the first Sega game that will actually take advantage of the Aliens license. Rebellion is at the helm again, which can only mean good things.
Fallout: New Vegas
Crap, they got Vegas too? We don't know too much about Bethesda's follow up to Fallout 3, only that gambling and mutant showgirls are likely to be involved.
EA Sports MMA
EA Sports challenges the UFC's dominance in the mixed martial arts space. Can EA compete? Or will Dana White put them into a headlock?
UFC Undisputed 2010
THQ sees more success for next year's UFC Undisputed, now with additional Kimbo Slice.
Alpha Protocol
The espionage RPG!
No More Heroes: Heroes Paradise
Travis Touchdown and crew get the high-resolution, waggle-free treatment in this remake of the Wii original from Grasshopper Manufacture
Brink
Splash Damage's squad based and class based tactical shooter is brighter and more promising than most, featuring a unique movement method dubbed SMART.
Singularity
Raven's time-traveling first-person shooter was moved out of Modern Warfare 2's way, but now lands directly in the middle of 2010's busy first half. Perhaps that time glove will find it a better spot to find an audience...
R.U.S.E.
Real-time strategy? On my video game console? From Ubisoft? Yes, at least based on our hands-on time with the game, which seems to work quite well.
Darksiders
Be the Apocalypse as one of four horsemen in this gritty action adventure game from THQ.
Joe Danger
Hello Games handsome stunt 'em up is already on our short list of Xbox Live Arcade games to watch in 2010.
After Burner Climax
Still unofficially announced by Sega, but that won't stop us from rabidly anticipating the long awaited port of this intense arcade game.

Josh And Jill Will Flee Tricell In RE5's Desperate Escape [Dlc]

Posted: December 17th, 2009, 9:20am PST by Mike Fahey

Tags: Dlc

Capcom has revealed new details on the second downloadable Resident Evil 5 episode, Desperate Escape, featuring Jill Valentine and BSAA Agent Josh Stone in a daring nighttime escape from the Tricell facility.

Desperate Escape, due out on March 3rd for the Xbox 360 and March 4th for the PlayStation 3, sees Jill Valentine, recently recovered from mind control and looking fine, escaping the Tricell facility with the help of Agent Josh Stone, who is also looking fine if you're into that sort of thing. The pair must fight through hordes of biological weapons in order to make it to the final confrontation between Chris, Sheva, and Wesker.

The release coincides with the release of Costume Pack 2, which we showed you earlier. Josh Stone, along with Heavy Metal Chris and Business Suit Sheva will be playable in Mercenaries mode, leaving just three of the eight new characters still to be revealed.

And don't forget, all of this DLC will be part of the Resident Evil 5 Gold Edition, due to be released on March 9th.

RE5's Chris Is Heavy Metal, But Sheva Is All Business [Clips]

Posted: December 17th, 2009, 8:20am PST by Mike Fahey

Tags: Clips

Chris Redfield continues to channel Mad Max, while Sheva prepares to use a machete to cut through red tape in this pair of new costume reveal vids for the Resident Evil 5 Alternative Edition DLC.

These two new costumes are a bit more reserved than the little red riding hood and warrior costumes Capcom previously revealed, though I'm still not buying Chris as some sort of post-apocalyptic bad ass. Sheva, on the other hand, pulls off the businesswoman look with charm and grace. All she needs is a long jacket and her fingernails will shine like justice.

Handmade Fable Fortune's Tower Card Set: a Limited Edition of One [Awesome]

Posted: December 5th, 2009, 4:30pm PST by Owen Good

Tags: Awesome

Shawn Baxter, aka the Capcom-Unity all-star contributor Snow_Infernus, thought for certain someone would have made a Fortune's Tower card set based on the Fable II Pub Game. When no one did, he got tired of waiting, and made his own.

The attention to detail put into this thing is simply mindblowing. For the cards, Baxter took photos of the cards from Pub Games, imported the images into Adobe Illustrator, recreated them there, added distress marks and imperfections to artificially age them, and had a print shop specially order a parchment card stock to print up three decks.

But wait, there's more. The chips. Made of wood in the video game, Shawn got his father, a Chicago artist, to create ceramic chips by hand. Shawn redrew the Fable guild seal and had a special stamp created for his father to emboss the chips. Then they were deliberately underglazed to make them also appear old and worn. Then comes the box. Shawn's cousin is a furniture maker, so, boom, he built that to specification, included an old oiling technique to finish the wood and give it comparatively aged appearance, too.

In all, the materials cost $400. That's not what raises my eyebrows; it's the fact this was only a two-month project.

Anyway, Lionhead, Microsoft Game Studios, Molyneux, whomever, now you have your prototype. Make it happen. I don't think Shawn's dad and cousin are taking orders for the rest of us anytime soon.

My Hand Made Fable Fortune's Tower Set [Capcom-Unity, thanks Noah L.!]

A Week In Comments [Hyper Multi-tap]

Posted: December 4th, 2009, 9:00pm PST by Brian Ashcraft

Tags: hyper multi-tap

Final Fight: Double Impact Screens
Comment by: BryanH
Nominated by: Showmeyomoves!

Everyone secretly wishes they were Mike Haggar. I know what you're thinking, 'Of course I would want to be Mike Haggar, that is obvious. But everyone?' Yes, truely. Lets look at the facts.

1. He was once a professional wrestler, and not that queer olympic stuff, the manly one with oiled guys and speedos. His in-ring persona was named 'Macho', which is appropriate, as it is the first thing one would think of when seeing him for the first time (the next is either intense jealousy, deep attraction, or a strange mixture of both).

2. Born on Sept. 3rd, 1943. That makes him 66 years old. Think about that the next time you decide to backtalk your grandpa. On that date, Italy officially surrendered to the Allied Powers in WWII. So he helped to win a war just by being born. All children born on this date henceforth were known as 'Haggar Babies' and are considered especially blessed.

3. Elected Mayor of Metro City, which is apparently the most lawless city on the face of the Earth. The streets are literally swarmed by an endless stream of gang members, with color-coded outfits seemingly denoting their rank and fighting prowess. The activity that constitutes fun is beating up a car with your bare fists. How did the few still-sane citizens come to the consensus that a former wrestler was the man to clean up their streets? And this isn't like Jesse Ventura; it's very obvious early on that a pair of pants and a leather strap around his monstrous torso are the only articles of clothing he owns. Running on a platform of piledrivers and suplexes usually isn't enough to ensure victory. But I think its because...

4. All problems are solved with a personal punch to the face region. As the Mayor, Haggar must have access to the police and any other government employees he would need. When the call came that his daughter was kidnapped by the Mad Gear gang, he had options. But only one involved him busting out of his office and taking to the streets, punching out the first person who happened to be coming his direction. I bet no other thought even came to his mind.

(As an aside, how awesome would that conversation between Haggar and Cody have been? "Cody, my daughter, your girlfriend, has been kidnapped. I'm going to murder my way to her captors, you in?" "Yeah, and I know just the Guy to join us." "Who?" "Guy." "Which guy?")

5. I know it doesn't need to be said, but look at that mustache.

6. Haggar has appeared in Namco x Capcom as a playable character, and in the Card Fighter series as a card. I've never played either of these games, but you can't tell me him being in the games made them worse.

7. In Final Fight: Streetwise, he was retired from politics and had a boat or something. This is bull and anyone who tells you this story is canon is doing a disgrace to a great man and you should beat them to within an inch of their life. So that means, as far as we know, he's still Mayor. And really, would you vote for anyone else? You might call threatening to swing a metal pipe across the skull of anyone who disagrees with his administration as 'needlessly violent' and 'unbecoming of the office of Mayor', but I call it results.

8. When the robots take over our planet and the human resistance movement fights our new cybertronic overlords, no doubt they will develop the technology to create synthetic human skin to try and infiltrate us from withing. Asking potential recruits if they know the glory of Mike Haggar will become vital. Only someone with a soul can truly feel him in their heart.

9. Stupid robots.

Mario? There's An App For That
Comment by: MrFujisawa
Nominated by: Athena's Paladin

Mario? There's a cap for that

Why Nintendo Doesn't Remake Zelda Games And How New Zelda Will Be Different
Comment by: nowayman
Nominated by: nworobes

Ocarina was the last game my mother ever got me for Christmas. She opened the door around 10 at night Christmas Eve and left the game on my desk. I remember opening it, and staying up way too late playing it through the Deku Tree dungeon. I hit the Water Temple by New Year's Eve, when snow was covering the ground and the world was blue and white. That was my mom's last year of good health, and the last time I really stayed in-doors during holiday break.

Later, I met a girl who decided to sing American Pie but with lyrics about Ocarina of Time, and so began the greatest tragicomedy of my young life, and it began over a four year old video game that we both held dear. That ended, which makes the game a bit more bittersweet than before. Ocarina conjures philosophy and smells and sights, like an old song or a particular meal.

I would probably buy a remake, but in the colder months I'll go back to the the jagged pixels and synthesized strings.

Scandal or No, EA Sports Stands by Its Man
Comment by: bigman88zz
Nominated by: D-K, Anarchist

i guess tiger entered "POWER DRIVE"

New Prince Of Persia Poster Is So Meh
Comment by: AncientUnknown1
Nominated by: Sutekh_Slain

That beard says he's a man, and those eyes say he's an animal. A man-beast animal.

But the game-license movie says bad career choice.

Is This Game Ripping Off Mario Galaxy?
Comment by: Jnas
Nominated by: Showmeyomoves!

China does what Ninten-did.

Here's a handy guide to commenting. Read it, learn it, live it, love it.

Resident Evil In Motorcycle Form [Capcom]

Posted: December 4th, 2009, 1:20pm PST by Mike Fahey

Tags: capcom

If you could condense all of the brutal zombie-killing action of the Resident Evil franchise into one sleek, sexy package and ride it about town, odds are it would look something like this - Capcom's official Resident Evil custom chopper.

The Resident Evil custom chopper is the result of a partnership between Capcom, production company Hollywood Inc, and Frostburg Maryland's own Savage Cycles. Savage will be crafting an extremely limited run of these bikes, which folks like you and me will be able to purchase, possibly after robbing a small bank. The design, which you can see below, includes a number of interesting Resident Evil touches, such as zombie-killing spikes, airsoft weaponry, and cans of healing spray for when things get a bit out of hand with the airsoft guns.

Being a rider himself, Capcom's Chris Kramer is beside himself with glee over the project.

We work on a lot of different, crazy licensed products here at Capcom, but as a rider, this is the one that I am most excited about. Savage will be creating an extremely limited number of these bikes that you'll be able to purchase! This isn't some crazy corporate bike being built for display instead of riding. Instead, this is an awesome piece of Resident Evil merchandise that you can fire up and take out on the open road.

Savage is expecting to finish work on the first bike by early January, though if it continues to feast on the blood of its makers, it could be ready much sooner. Check out the link below for more details on this lovely machine's creation.

Two wheels of awesome: custom Resident Evil Chopper under production! [Capcom Unity]

PAL PlayStation Store Update: Take The Lady For A Spin [Europe]

Posted: December 4th, 2009, 4:00am PST by Luke Plunkett

Tags: Europe

Don't sweat it, Europe, you're not getting left off the Bayonetta Express, with a demo for Platinum Games' high-kicking beat-em-up available right now on the PAL PlayStation Store.

It's a big download (for a demo), but if you're a fan of bright things that kick a lot, it'll be worth it.

PS3 STORE

Special Offers
* Killzone 2 – Flash and Thunder Pack (was – £4.79/€5.99 now – £2.39/€2.99)
* Killzone 2 – Map Pack Bundle (was – £9.99/€12.99 now – £7.99/€9.99)
* SOCOM Confrontation (was – £19.99/€29.99 now – £14.99/€19.99)
* The Last Guy (was – £6.29/€7.99 now – £3.99/€4.99)
* Dark Mist (was – £6.29/€7.99 now – £3.99/€4.99)
* Killzone Liberation (PSP) (was – £14.99/€19.99 now – £7.99/€9.99)
* MediEvil Resurrection (PSP) (was – £14.99/€19.99 now – £7.99/€9.99)
* Gangs of London (PSP) (was – £14.99/€19.99 now – £7.99/€9.99)
* Need for Speed: Most Wanted 5-1-0 (PSP) (was – £15.99/€19.99 now – £11.99/€14.99)
* Need for Speed: ProStreet (PSP) (was – £15.99/€19.99 now – £11.99/€14.99)

Demos
* Bayonetta Demo
* Topatoi Demo

PSone Classics
* Peter Pan: Adventures in Neverland (£3.99/€4.99)

Add-On Content
* Fight Night Round 4
o Champions Pack II – Bernard Hopkins (£1.59/€1.99)
o Champions Pack II – Evander Holyfield (£1.59/€1.99)
o Champions Pack II – Sonny Liston (£1.59/€1.99)
o Champions Pack II – Old School Rules (£3.19/€3.99)
o Champions Pack II – Ring Rivalries (£1.59/€1.99)
o Champions Pack II Bundle (contains all packs above) (£7.99/€9.99)

* Operation Flashpoint – Dragon Rising Skirmish Pack (£3.19/€3.99)
* Need for Speed: Shift – Team Racing (free)
* LittleBigPlanet
o Assassin's Creed® II Ezio Auditore Costume (£1.59/€1.99)
o Santa Hat and Beard Costume (free)
o Santa Coat and Boots Costume (free)
o Festive Goodies Level Kit (£2.39/€2.99)

* Marvel Ultimate Alliance 2 – Juggernaut Playable Character Teaser (compatibility pack) (free)
* Buzz! – Rock Idols Pack (£6.29/€7.99)
* EyePet
o Christmas Styling Pack (free)
o Emergency Styling Pack (£2.39/€2.99)
o Lucky Dip Styling Pack 6 (free)

Rock Band
o Come As You Are (Live From MTV Unplugged) by Nirvana (£0.99/€1.49)
o Lithium (Live At Reading) by Nirvana (£0.99/€1.49)
o Smells Like Teen Spirit by Nirvana (£0.99/€1.49)
o Nirvana Pack 02 (includes the three tracks above) (£2.49/€3.99)
o (You Can Still) Rock In America ‘09 by Night Ranger (£0.99/€1.49)
o Don't Tell Me You Love Me ‘09 by Night Ranger (£0.99/€1.49)
o You're Gonna Hear From Me by Night Ranger (£0.99/€1.49
o Night Ranger Pack 01 (includes the three tracks above) (£2.49/€3.99)
o A Thing About You (Live) by Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers (£0.99/€1.49)
o American Girl (Live) by (£0.99/€1.49) Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers (£0.99/€1.49)
o Even The Losers (Live) by (£0.99/€1.49) Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers (£0.99/€1.49)
o Here Comes My Girl (Live) by (£0.99/€1.49) Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers (£0.99/€1.49)
o Mary Janes Last Dance (Live) by (£0.99/€1.49) Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers (£0.99/€1.49)
o Refugee (Live) by (£0.99/€1.49) Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers (£0.99/€1.49)
o Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers Live Anthology Pack 01 (includes the six tracks above) (£4.99/€7.99)
o New Fang by Them Crooked Vultures (£0.99/€1.49)
o Miss Independent by Kelly Clarkson (£0.99/€1.49)
o Our Lips Are Sealed by The Go-Go's (£0.99/€1.49)
o Who Knew by P!nk (£0.99/€1.49)

* Guitar Hero 5
o A Classic Case of Transference by Fall of Troy (£1.59/€1.99)
o Panic Attack By Fall of Troy (£1.59/€1.99)
o Single By Fall of Troy (£1.59/€1.99)
o Fall of Troy Track Pack (includes the three tracks above) (£4.39/€5.49)

Motion Comics

* Uncharted 2 – The Eye of Indra Episode 3 (£0.79/€0.99)
* Uncharted 2 - The Eye of Indra Episode 4 (£0.79/€0.99)

Videos
* GT Academy 2010 Trailer
* Blue Toad Murder Files Teaser Trailer
* Ratchet & Clank: A Crack in Time Construction Weapons Trailer
* Fairytale Fights Gameplay Trailers
* Fairytale Fights Gamescom Trailer
* Fairytale Fights Launch Trailer
* Fairytale Fights Retail Trailers
* Fairytale Fights Teaser Trailers
* Bruno Blu-Ray Trailer

Wallpapers
* Assassin's Creed II Wallpaper 2
* VidZone Groove Armada Wallpaper

PSP STORE

Special Offers
* Killzone Liberation (PSP) (was – £14.99/€19.99 now – £7.99/€9.99)
* MediEvil Resurrection (PSP) (was – £14.99/€19.99 now – £7.99/€9.99)
* Gangs of London (PSP) (was – £14.99/€19.99 now – £7.99/€9.99)
* Need for Speed Most Wanted 5-1-0: (PSP) (was – £15.99/€19.99 now – £11.99/€14.99)
* Need for Speed: ProStreet (PSP) (was – £15.99/€19.99 now – £11.99/€14.99)

Downloadable Games
* Elemental Monster TD Portable (£6.29/€7.99)
* Capcom Classics Collection (£15.99/€19.99)

Demo
o LittleBigPlanet Demo (free)

minis
o Stand O'Food (£3.99/€4.99)

Videos
o Beaterator Full Intro Trailer
o Beaterator Timbaland Sessions
o Elemental Monster TD Portable Trailer

Phoenix Wright Does Not Object To iPhone Ports [IPhone]

Posted: December 3rd, 2009, 11:00pm PST by Luke Plunkett

Tags: iPhone

First the Wii, now Apple's iPhone and iPod Touch are in line for ports of Capcom's best-dressed, best-educated and most eligible of franchises: Phoenix Wright.

It's definitely on its way to Japanese users, with Capcom Mobile "looking into" porting it for a Western release. Good, good, good. I stopped playing Phoenix Wright about the time I stopped playing my DS, which just happens to be around the time I got my iPhone. No need to carry two devices around anymore, you see.

Bring the series to the iPhone and it'll be like the return of the prodigal son. Only, he'll have magnificent hair.

Surprise! Ace Attorney Makes Its Way To iPhone [Capcom]

Final Fight: Double Impact Screens [Capcom]

Posted: November 30th, 2009, 10:30pm PST by Luke Plunkett

Tags: capcom

When Capcom release "Final Fight: Double Impact" next April, you'll not only be getting two retro side-scrollers for your money, but some different graphics modes as well. Here are your options.

You get four: the original sprites, the hideous "HD Smooting", and either of those can viewed in a standard 4:3 letterbox view or a border done to look like a filthy old arcade cabinet. Which is quite fitting, and as such, quite excellent.

Capcom Side-Scrollers Coming To Xbox Live, PSN [Capcom]

Posted: November 25th, 2009, 8:00pm PST by Luke Plunkett

Tags: capcom

Capcom announced today that two of their classic side-scrollers will be making a comeback, with re-releases of Final Fight and Magic Sword set to appear on Xbox Live and the PlayStation Network next year.

Unlike recent Capcom re-releases like Marvel v Capcom 2 and SSFIIHD, these won't be completely overhauled for the current generation of consoles. Rather, they'll be the original titles presented with two graphics modes available, one upscaled to "HD", the other as nature intended.

Both games will be bundled in the one package, called "Final Fight: Double Impact", and will also feature online leaderboards and co-op play.

Final Fight: Double Impact Unveiled [IGN]

Religious Criticism of Resident Evil Dignified With Response [Saaaaaaytan]

Posted: November 25th, 2009, 6:00pm PST by Owen Good

Tags: Saaaaaaytan

Generally, when dealing with religious kooks who allege your product promotes sin, exalts evil and is generally ungodly, PR 101 calls for a no-comment. Instead, Capcom's responded to two UK ministers after they called out Resident Evil: The Darkside Chronicles.

Not sure who Bishop Bryant, Archdeacon Brian Smith or the Right Rev. (that's right, Rev.) John Goddard are, but they say the game promotes violence and an interest in the occult. Blah blah blah, encourages violent behavior, blah blah, slippery slope, blah blah, we know better than you. Really, it's like they ripped a page from World's Zaniest Scolding Clergy Mad Libs, filled in the blanks and mailed it as a press release.

Capcom's Leo Tan says to MCVUK:

This is scaremongering and typical religious hysteria. You cannot blame society's ills on video games. It's just absurd. Most games (and movies) like Resident Evil show characters fighting evil not supporting it. Unfortunately the clergy is showing a lack of understanding of the video games industry and is too quick to splash the holy water and lump video games players into stereotypical boxes.  

And the three ministers were thus chastened, apologized for their knee-jerk scapegoating and said they would get back to making their communities better, rather than making games worse.

Or, they just nodded smugly that they got a defensive reaction from Capcom. Yeah, I'm betting on the latter.

Capcom Responds to Clergy Criticism [MCVUK]

Kotaku's Top 5 List of Top 10 Lists [Lists]

Posted: November 15th, 2009, 2:00pm PST by Owen Good

Tags: Lists

Each week throws off several new video game lists ranging from the humorous to the trivial. What's better? A list of those. Here's a roundup of the rundowns out there.

•Top 7 Tasteful Game Heroines [GamesRadar] Faith (Mirror's Edge) and Zoey (Left 4 Dead) are the newcomers; Alyx Vance (Half Life 2) and Cate Archer (No One Lives Forever) are the classics. Samus Aran is the legend, and she's No. 1.

•Top 5 Most Incredible War Scenes in Gaming [MSNBC] Do they mean "incredible" as in "not believable"? Or do they mean "impressive," or "amazing"? If so, they should say that. Death From Above in Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare takes top honors, over Halo and Gears of War 2.

•Six Major Wars Overlooked by the Shooter Genre [GamePro] This of course is a very U.S.-centric list, covering everything except the Spanish-American War and the Mexican-American War. I guess they have something against the Rough Riders and Santa Anna. Oh, and the French and the Indians, as that one isn't here either. What is? Well, every armed conflict except for World War II.

•Controversial Games Dealing With Fan Backlash [Industry Gamers] Modern Warfare 2 released under a cloud of stink raised by PO'd PC gamers over the end of dedicated servers. Industry Gamers notes that it's not the first time fans of a series have gotten their panties in a bunch. The reaction to The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker is a particularly intense example.

•7 Achievements That Will Make You Cry [ScrewAttack] This list digs up the seven most inhumane achievements - including Mega Man 9's Gamer's Day (beat the game five times in a single day) - that even the most masochistic gamer would regret pursuing. Capcom also gave us the Seven Day Survivor cheev in Dead Rising, which would require 14 hours (plus, like, surviving.) Ghost Recon: Advanced Warfighter's world champion - getting the top of the universal leaderboard - is No. 1.

Something To Make Up For The DOA Gears' Snuggie [Street Fighter Iv]

Posted: November 10th, 2009, 2:20pm PST by Brian Crecente

Tags: street fighter iv

Hearts were broken, gift lists shattered when Epic confirmed to Kotaku that while there was a Gears of War Snuggie in the works, it wasn't going to be sold.

Good news then, to gamers with cold arms and a need to snuggle: Street Fighter IV Snuggie is real and for sale.

After seeing a pic of the arm-holed blanket on Twitter, we checked in with Capcom which was able to confirm it was the real deal, but declined to comment on whether they would be the official Holiday gift for Capcom programmers in 2009.

Twitter

Kotaku Originals: T&A [Original]

Posted: October 31st, 2009, 7:00am PDT by Owen Good

Tags: Original

That would be Terrorism and Alexis. Modern Warfare 2 stirred up plenty of controversy, and then came Crecente's interview of gamer pornstar Raven Alexis. Afterwards, we still found room for more than 60 original headlines over the past week.

Kotaku Talk Radio

News
Bayonetta Xbox 360 Selling Out?
But PlayStation Home Is A Priority Now, Says SCEA Exec
Iwata: DSi XL Not Just For Seniors, It's For Watching Others Play Too
Our Tour Of Halo Waypoint, Including Surprise Avatar Awards
No Other Platforms Planned For Disney Epic Mickey... Anymore
Kotaku's Denver Fundraiser: Silent Auction Items
Here Are Your Uncharted 2: Among Thieves Fortune Hunter Edition Finalists
So, Shigeru Miyamoto Got A Cat
PS3 Sales Up, PSP Sales, PS2 Sales Down
Wii And DS Games From Non-Nintendo Companies
Xbox LIVE Features Kratos Head, It Seems
Nintendo Announces Its Upcoming Wii Games
Nintendo Announces Its Upcoming Nintendo DS Games
DSi XL Coming To America in Early 2010
Disney Considering Movie, Comics for Epic Mickey
Nintendo DS Sales Reach 113 Million, Wii Sales 56 Million
Nintendo Profits Plunge
How Does The DSi LL Compare To The DSi And DS Lite
First Look At New DSi Colors
Today's Pumpkin Post Brought To You By Cuteness
Resident Evil, Defaced With Lego
Spector Tells Us How Disney Epic Mickey Will Challenge Gamers
Left 4 Dead 2 Getting Avatar Awards? [Update]
Left 4 Dead 2 Demo Out Now On Xbox 360
New Super Mario Bros. Wii Dated For North America
Netflix On PS3 Getting Embedded Solution "Late Next Year"
The Mark Of A DJ Hero Player: One Gamer Point
Microsoft: Football Toss Is Not A Prototype For Xbox Live Adver-Gaming
BioWare Reveals Dragon Age's "Massively Single-Player" Details
Hands On With Garters & Ghouls
New Xbox/PS3 Madden Was Born On The Wii
Mecho Wars Team Working on SteamPirates For iPhone, PSP
Extra Life Raises $150,000 And Counting
Modern Warfare 2's Third Person Mode Is No Rumor
Kotaku's Denver Fundraiser: Why You Should Come
Surprise Football Game Pops Up On Xbox Live
Win One of Five Copies of Uncharted 2: Among Thieves Fortune Hunter Edition
iPhone Chart Toppers: Rock Band
The World Ends With Batman, Brando And The Spy
DJ Hero Launch Party Turntable Swag
Capcom's New York Fight Club In Motion
iPhone Game Sells Extra Lives Through In-App Store
Video Game Speakeasy Slips Into Soho for a Night of Raucous Fun

Reviews, Previews, Impressions and Hands-On
LostWinds: Winter of the Melodias Micro Review: A Pleasant Gust of Fun
Dawn of War II: Chaos Rising Preview: The Darker Side Of Dawn
Frankenreview: Tekken 6
MAG Preview: Come Back Here With My Tank!
Saw Review: Do You Want to Play This Game?
Tekken 6 Review: The Lag of Iron Fist
A Peek At Bioshock 2: Where Good Ideas Turn Monstrous
Prince of Persia Trailer Impressions - Please, Ben Kingsley, Don't Mess This Up
Dementium II Preview: A Mature DS Game With "Hell Moments"
Hands-On With Ace Combat Xi
GTA: The Ballad Of Gay Tony Review: Out With A Bang
DJ Hero Review: You Spin Me Right Round
Forza Motorsport 3 Review: Definitively Maybe
Rock Band Micro Review: iPhone Joins the Band.
Frankenreview: Ratchet & Clank: A Crack In Time
Avatar Wii Preview: Environmentalism Commando
Dungeon Hunter Review: Pocketful of Diablo

Columns
Notebook Dump: My First DSi-Only Cartridge, Gears And More
Well Played: Can Bigger Screens Save a Shrinking Market?
Old News '01: "Star Fox Adventures... Should Keep Adventure Enthusiasts More Than Happy"

Features
In Praise Of Hard Games
I Can Kick Your Butt, Wanna Bet?

Tatsunoko Vs Capcom: Ultimate All-Stars Gets A Cover [Cover Art]

Posted: October 27th, 2009, 1:20pm PDT by Mike Fahey

Tags: Cover Art

Today Capcom reveals the cover art for the Tatsunoko Vs Capcom: Ultimate All-Stars, featuring All-Stars exclusives Frank West, Zero, Tekkaman Blade, and Joe the Condor.

That's definitely some poster-worthy artwork right there. January 26th seems so far away right now, doesn't it?

Hello There Sengoku Basara Figures [Gallery]

Posted: October 26th, 2009, 10:00pm PDT by Brian Ashcraft

Tags: Gallery

Next month, two figures from Capcom's very popular Sengoku BASARA series will be released: Sanada Yukimura and Date Masamune. They're also from Japanese history!

They are priced at ¥2,400 (US$26) and waiting for you to pose their joints!

リボルテック「戦国BASARA」シリーズ第1弾「伊達政宗」＆「真田幸村」展示 [AkibaOS]

New Monster Hunter Coming to PSP [Clips]

Posted: October 25th, 2009, 11:00pm PDT by Brian Ashcraft

Tags: Clips

At a Capcom event in Tokyo over the weekend, the company announced a Monster Hunter spin-off starring the game's cats (or airu as they're called).

Details are scant, but the game's called "Mon Han Nikki Poka Poka Airu Mura". It's for the PSP, and it's not a shooting game.

Capcom's New York Fight Club In Motion [Clips]

Posted: October 25th, 2009, 10:00am PDT by Brian Crecente

Tags: Clips

newVideoPlayer("/streetfighterkotaku.flv", 500, 375,""); I wrote a bit about New York's Capcom Fight Club yesterday. Here's something Gawker video intern Bill Zilla shot for us at the event and Gawker video intern John Trowbridge edited.

Video Game Speakeasy Slips Into Soho for a Night of Raucous Fun [Well Played]

Posted: October 24th, 2009, 12:00pm PDT by Brian Crecente

Tags: Well Played

Nights in New York City's upscale Soho neighborhood always offers something at which to Gawk.

Models and hipsters wander the streets mingling with star-truck tourists and Hollywood starlets. Restaurants and boutiques vie for curb-space among million-dollar apartments and two-by-two patches of grass and trees.

But last Thursday night the biggest crowds weren't those forming to catch a glimpse of Lindsay Lohan's private shopping spree, but the nearly thousand-person line that wrapped around three sides of a trendy block of nondescript buildings.

The line of people stopped in the middle of a sidewalk a good 200 feet from the object of everyone's attention; A small shoe store.

The excited crowds, dressed in t-shirts and some toting laptops, cameras and joysticks, weren't here to mingle, snap pictures or shop, they were here to play.

Inside the packed shoe-store, temporarily decorated with posters and art of winged super heroes and martial artists, people gathered in tight clusters around flat screen panels to get a chance to play game developer Capcom's latest fighting video game.

"The idea of fight club came straight from the down-and-dirty arcade roots of Capcom's fighting games," Capcom community manager and legendary Street Fighter pro Seth "S-Kill" Killian tells Kotaku. "Chris Kramer and I were really excited to get our community hands-on and playing the games, and to recreate that gritty, fun atmosphere of getting together for in-your-face competition."

Last week's impromptu Capcom Fight Club took over a two-floor shoe store. The top floor was packed with video game consoles, televisions, pizza and players. But a second line greeted those trying to make it down the stairs to the darkened basement.

Crowded between the plain plaster walls of the basement, packed from concrete floor to pipe-lined drop-ceiling, gamers gently pushed their way to the end of the single narrow room where a 20-something DJ spun records on two turn tables, her face blank as she stared at a laptop screen.

The crowds undulated toward her, staring over and past her head at a darkened big screen television, two white, over-sized joysticks pushed sitting on either side of it on translucent pillars.

This is why more than 500, perhaps a thousand people traveled to the shoe store last week, ignoring the famous, the rich and the beautiful, standing in line, then snaking through a sweat-drenched crowd of gamers in a packed basement: The chance to catch a glimpse of Super Street Fighter IV.

Due out early next year, the latest iteration in the wildly popular fighting franchise draws crowds where ever it goes.

"We've done Fight Clubs in LA, New York City, Vegas, San Francisco, now New York City again," Killian said. "Basically fight clubs are there for us to help (gamers) get hands on the game before it's released..."

Thursday night Killian made his way to the end of the basement every hour from 8 p.m. to midnight, turning on the big screen to hoots and hollars and then booting up a copy of Super Street Fighter IV.

"We have many happy press here tonight who wish they could play, but they cannot, Killian says into a microphone, the game playing behind him on the screen. "This is for you the community, so enjoy."

Less than eight people from the thousand or so who showed were able to get their hands on the unreleased game playing on the big screen, but no one complained. Instead they rooted for the randomly selected gamers, cheering and jeering during the impromptu match-ups each hour.

Between presentations games returned to the two dozen or so smaller flat screens mounted on the walls in the basement and upstairs, playing the already released Street Fighter IV and the soon to be released Tatsunoko Vs. Capcom, both fighting games.

But Fight Club isn't just about the virtual fights. Capcom makes sure that the irregular, underground events tap into the deeper elements of pop-culture and art that inspire many of their games and in turn inspire art.

"We hire local and notable artists for every event, and have worked with groups like IAM8BIT, Meatbun, Triumvir, and Jim Mahfood, just to name a few," Killian says. "Street Fighter in particular runs so deep in our culture that there's a great supply of amazing artists inspired by the games and characters.

"We cook up a 'you can only get it here' limited edition, unique t-shirt that we give away at every event, and in my opinion they're pretty rad."

The first Capcom Fight Club happened with almost no notice and no marketing.

"At the very first club we basically told nobody that wasn't in my phone, and we still had 300 Street Fighters showing up to a skid-row warehouse in downtown LA," Killian said. "The attendance has increased at pretty much every one since then, as word continues to spread."

Despite the almost exponential growth of the marketing parties, the Capcom Fight Clubs somehow manage to maintain their gritty, grassroots feel.

Graffiti of in-game characters decorated the walls of the shoe store in Soho, people quietly slipped in and out of the video game speakeasy with quiet affable patience and everyone waiting in that monstrous line got their chance on a game.

Arcades may have died in America, but the people who played in them still thrive, it's just that now they have to travel to find their community.

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