Archive for January 7th, 2007
Review: The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess
We’re not going to bore you with a long-winded review of The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princes that explains every nook and cranny, as it’s essentially the same as the Wii version; check out the full review online if you missed our review of Twilight Princess on the Wii.
Otronicon At The Orlando Science Center
Otronicon is sure to satisfy every geek bone in your entire body. Not only is it 10 days of gaming and game related events, but it takes place in a science center!
Are you ready for the ultimate gaming experience? Explore the science, art and culture of videogames during 10 days of non-stop events. For all ages and skill levels, including: More than 100 gaming stations, including the Wii, PS3 and XBox360 • Pro and amateur HALO 2 competition on the 8-story Cinedome • Classic arcade games like Donkey Kong and Pac Man. Cyber-Triathlon, with DDR, Guitar Hero II and Gran Turismo 4 • Real simulators rarely available to the public. Hands-on instruction from digital media pros.
Damn, that sounds like a pretty amazing event. If I can scrape the cash together, I’ll definitely haul my can down to Orlando and check it out. The Halo 2 competition on the 8-story Cinedome alone would be worth the price. The 100+ gaming stations will include last and new generation consoles, plus there will be an area for handheld owners to challenge each other and play.
Otronicon well be held at the Orlando Science Center from Jan. 12 - 21st. Hours vary, but are mostly in the evenings except for the weekends. For a full listing of all the events, times and ticket information, check out the Otronicon Website. [Thanks, Khalil]
Frankenreview - Karaoke Revolution Presents: American Idol
Cue British Accent:
“That is the absolute worst singing I have ever heard. Not only should you never perform again, but I’ve arranged to have your vocal chords removed and replaced with one of those electronic cancer boxes generally reserved for the heavy smoker - because you have nowhere to go but up.”
Think you have what it takes to become the next American Idol…wannabe? Hit the jump to find out if the game is worth the sacrifice of $40, alongside most of your pride (like you had any to begin with).
IGN
“This game lives and dies by just how well these judges have been recreated within the game …Instead of recording a few phrases and calling it a day, the verdicts given by the judges are truly helpful in improving your skills…Rarely does a franchise truly add value to a videogame beyond its name value, but here that is most definitely the case.”
MW: The judges speak quite a few phrases, but their specificity isn’t THAT helpful. There is no vocal coaching going on here, be the comments generally accurate. Also, the critiques don’t ever acknowledge when you are in the final show. They just keep talking about next week, like you won’t be busy recording your fifth Christmas album.
Official Playstation Magazine (print)
“This is the same Karaoke Revolution look and feel that’s been around since the first game - the only difference is the addition of virtual Randy, Simon and ‘Laura,’ the as-close-they-could-get-without-crossing-over-a-legal-line clone…”
MW: Ironically, while we lack Paula’s judging, the game does feature some of her original music. Which still rocks, btw.
Rocky Mountain News
“While the game will certainly be a big hit for American Idol and Karaoke Revolution fans alike, it’s really just the same game with a new, hip set of songs and a fresh coat of paint… the franchise is starting to show its age. The crowd graphics are appalling and the decision not to tweak gameplay even slightly seems odd.”
MW: I don’t mind the gameplay staying the same because, just like with DDR, I’m mostly looking for a new songlist. But I do understand the craving for something more. The game is streamlined to the max, so maybe some vocal minigames or a few hummers in the backseats of Mercedes could add to the single player experience.
GameZone
“Simon and Randy’s character models look great until they open their mouths. Facial expressions - a key part of Simon’s criticism - are barely noticeable…[but] no matter how you look at it, Karaoke Revolution is a good time. The Idol edition doesn’t offer any mind-blowing additions… [but]the game rocks, whether you love Idol or not.”
MW: And that is the key. You don’t need to be an Idol fan to love the game, because let’s face it, we are all fans of the Concept. Everyone wants to be famous, sell out, shake their ass for 14-year-old girls and have Simon give them a pat on the head at the end of the day. The classic Karaoke Revolution gameplay makes the game good; the cliché American Idol formula makes it gratifying.
We’re at CES
And by we I mean Michael McWhertor and I. And by Michael McWhertor and I, I mean I’ll be here for exactly 11.5 hours today, the day before the show starts. So really Mike’s at CES.
But don’t worry, you’re in capable hands and of course team Gizmodo is covering all that non-gaming stuff that will happen here, which I like to call crap I don’t care about.
I can’t tell you why I’m here for less than 12 hours, but it was interesting enough to roust me out of my frozen lair and fly here pretty much last minute. Check back later today for more details and through the week for plenty o Mike at CES goodness.
Sim City DS Screens
As we’ve seen, the new SimCity coming for Nintendo DS will feature Wil Wright himself as your host and tutor and over on the NeoGAF forums, poster PantherLotus, has uploaded some new screens from the highly addictive city building game.
I know a lot of people really love SimCity, but I could never get into it. I am a rabid multi-tasker and ADD to boot, but all that micromanaging was just too much for my poor fragmented attention span. I’m afraid I would make a terrible city official, but I’m sure all of you with desires to govern over a town of tiny pixels will be thrilled by this release. Make the jump for more pics.
Sim City DS; it’s About Damn Time [4 Color Rebellion]
Giant Link Statue Spotted In Vancouver
Kotakuite Landon L. had read yesterday’s story about Nintendo of Canada’s life size Link statue sweepstakes and, I’m sure, desperately desired to have the stationary hero all to himself. As he was walking through the streets of Vancouver, he happened upon an EB Games that was displaying a giant Link statue right in their front window. Despite being hassled by employees for snapping this photo with his phone, he was able to escape down the street with his prize and send it off to us here.
Could this be the statue they are giving away? Well, not this particular one, obviously, but one like it? It would be pretty damn sweet if it was. But, I still say the shipping fee is going to be a bitch.
Clips: Wii Sex Movie Redux
Alrighty! Several desperate emails, disgruntled commenters and much overloaded bandwidth later, we’ve resolved the issue of the now infamous Wii Sex video that was posted yesterday.
Apparently, the link that was sent to me was not meant to go public (which the person who sent it should have known!) and we’ve been asked to take the link down so it doesn’t continue crashing their server. Thankfully, Craig over at ScrewAttack was kind enough to get me a YouTubed version of it so we could post it here and all can share in the wonder and glory that is “Wii Sex.”
NSFW!!
Lost Planet Contest Finalists. Now Pick Winners!
We got tons of entries for out Lost Planet contest and have narrowed down the finalists to twenty. But, holy mackerel! We’ve seriously got the most talented and creative readership on the internet. Many thanks and much love to everyone who sent something in.
Ok. Time to give away free stuff.
Here’s how we’re gonna do it: All the finalists are after the jump, and Kotaku-land is going to help pic the winners. To do so, Kotakuites must list ten entries they think should win. Not one or two, but ten. These can be in no particular order, but you *should* write ten entries in order for your votes to count. Big ugly editors like me will provide the checks and balances.
We really encourage all Kotakuites to vote. Lots of effort went into these entries. Pics after the jump. Get to it!
Finalist #1
Writes Aaron:
“I have only seen one snow in Ohio this year and that was two months ago. With this in mind , I felt the best way to represent the theme of this contest would be to utilize my knowledge with a landscape scenery program called terragen… I created the attached Contest “Sculpture” using all of the things mentioned. Snow, Ice, Sand, Dirt, and Game related.”
Finalist #2
Writes Andrew:
“Pyramid Head of Silent Hill fame made out of good ol’ tar infested Marina Del Rey, CA. sand.”
Finalist #3
Writes David:
“Here’s a Mario Kart we made w/ snow.”
Finalist #4
Writes Neal:
“No one told me food coloring actually purges itself from ice as it freezes, but hey, it was worth it.”
Finalist #5
Writes Samuel:
“I’m sorry to say I didn’t have any snow, sand, ice, or clay. But I had some
other materials… If Bonk ever had a system other than a TG-16, I think this is it.”
Finalist #6
Writes Bob:
“This is my sand sculpture of the famed Master Sword (obviously). I created it this morning on the sunny, white sand beach of Waikiki, Hawaii across the street from my hotel… I used wet sand and a knife I used to eat my room service Belgium waffles with this morning. It took me just over 2 hours and I had accumulated a bit of a crowd watching my creation.”
Finalist #7
Writes James:
“Here’s my entry for the contest, a very small “classic” Donkey Kong made of ice. He’s 1.75″ tall… He got a little too warm at one point (I think from my breath) and lost some surface details. Also the light from the camera wore him down a bit! Ice is not very easy to shoot or sculpt.
Finalist #8
Writes Ryan:
“My entry is an ice lobster being cooked. I was inspired by cooking mama for the
DS. I know you don’t cook a lobster in cooking mama, but it was a jello mold I
have from forever ago. Also ice and snow are rare in Texas, so it was made in
the freezer. It is made of ice with red food coloring.”
Finalist #9
Writes Jason:
“As you guys may already know, there is NO snow, nor sand or any other kind of ‘constructive’ material in Hong Kong… I was looking around my desk and found some Blue-Tack.Yea, you heard it right, BLUE-TACK! Blue-Tack is an unbelievable hard to work material, specially for sculptures.”
Finalist #10
Writes Jesus:
“My sculpture is an Ice Pirate from the Lost Planet demo…he’s saying something along the lines of, ‘enemy spotted….over here!’ The lump on the back are those tanks, perhaps to house the T-eng, that they wear. Since I’m with the in-laws, i had to bend a black hose to substitue for a ‘gun,’ (they ain’t cool with guns).
Finalist #11
Writes Joshua:
“At first, I was trying to stensil the logo into the snow, but found out quick that it wouldn’t work. I thought it would be easy like clay but boy was I wrong. Well anyway, I just decided to scuplt and it came out pretty good.”
Finalist #12
Writes William:
“Sadly, I have no snow (no sand) available, and I’d be hard pressed to leave my cozy couch in this weather anyway, so I thought I’d whip up something in keeping with the theme.”
Finalist #13
Writes Mark:
“As I walked out of work today I tried to think of ideas to enter this contest. As I proceded to remove the snow off my car, my co-worker who was carpooling with me thought of this idea (Because my car is yellow). It was simple, but clever of my co-worker.”
Finalist #14
Writes Canadian Scott:
“Just built a few snow goombas before it started snowing like crazy in Canada.”
Finalist #15
Writes Wesley:
“we have no snow here in arkansas but i managed to make the triforce using sticks and twigs, in which my cat managed to appear…
Finalist #16
Writes Anatol:
“i’m from Siberia, Tomsk-city. Of course, there has snow, plenty of. For you contest i has made some crazy rabbids from Rayman Raving Rabbids.”
Finalist #17
Writes Nic:
I hope you guys enjoy my snowy rendition of the Gears of War emblem…
Finalist #18
Rupert writes:
“Thawing out Prehistoric Pac-Man! Includes authentic fracture lines.”
Finalist #19
Writes Deacon:
“Here’s a Katamari rolling prince of all Cosmos my girlfriend and I decided to make out of snow for your contest! The whole thing was built in the dark since we’re busy all day and it gets dark at 5pm.
Finalist #20
Writes Scott from Oregon:
“Do you remember Volvagia the dragon from The Legend of Zelda : Ocarina of Time? It took me and my lady about 4 hours to make him, and we scavenged the beach for all sorts of stuff to add to him, sanddollars (eyes), dead crab legs (for a toungue and claws), seagull feathers (which we tried building a mane out of, but just couldn’t get the damn feathers to stick cause of the wind .. you can see a couple that stayed in the shoulder areas), rocks (horn), and some shells from nearby barnacles (teeth) .. at least I think that’s what they are.”
Vote away! We’ll announce the winners on Monday.
Gamer Generation on Discovery HD
Filed under: Culture, Online, Video, Competitive Gaming
There’s a couple showings left of Discovery HD’s Gamer Generation special coming up, so set your TiVo Series 3 and your generic DVRs to record, and see what insight this latest documentary has to offer about gamers that hasn’t already been said.
Depending on where you live, and if your satellite/cable provider carries the Discovery HD Theater channel, there are two more showings today, and again on Saturday, January 13th. TV listings are showing it as “Part One,” so hopefully this will be an ongoing series or special, but right now information about this, and a frustrating amount of HD programming, is hard to come by.
Let us know if you happened to catch it, and what you thought about it. That is, if you are able to find it … just like The A-Team.
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