Author Archive
Rock Band Almost Done: Harmonix “Dying” to Release it
Everyone is excited about Harmonix’s Rock Band. Hell, even Harmonix! And with good reason: The developer snagged three Game Critics Awards: Best of Show, Best Hardware/Peripheral and Best Social/Casual/Puzzle. The game has definite buzz. But when the heck will it be out? Alex Rigopulos, CEO and co-founder of Harmonix, says:
All of the major systems are complete. As is normally the case in beta, there’s plenty of bug-fixing to be done, finishing off of various details, and lots of play-testing, polishing and tuning. We’re dying to cross the finish line and get this thing out into the world!
Hurry, hurry, hurry
Alex Interview [Level Up!]
Sponsors: Sponsors Thanks
Home. Our time away made us nothing but homesick. It’s good to be back in Kotaku Tower. Even better to have Sponsors waiting for us with our opens and cookies. For that, we thank them. This week, Kotaku was welcomed by Flash Gordon, Porsche, TiVo, Verizon, WAR from Lionsgate and Zune. The cookies are delicious.
Interested in advertising with Kotaku? Click here to find out how.
Click And Type: Unreal Tournament III to Have Mouse/Keyboard Support
Some gamers shudder at the idea of playing shooters with a controller. Some don’t care. But for those who do, good news! Epic knows this, and Epic cares. Unreal Tournament III for the PS3 will support keyboard/mouse gaming action. Over at Epic Game Forums, company honcho Mark Rein dishes:
Folks,
I checked with Steve Polge and he said that YES we are supporting keyboard and mouse in Unreal Tournament 3 on PS3. He is confident we are doing it in a way that will be balanced without feeling “gimped” for either side. We’ll also allow people to choose whether or not they want to allow mixed controller vs. keyboard/mouse games or not.
I think you guys are going to love UT3!More details to come later.
Debate time! Controller vs. keyboard/mouse: Which will you be using to play UT3 on the PS3 and why?
Unreal Tournament III to use mouse/keyboard [UT Forums]
Night Note: Bashcraft on Japanese TV, Hates It
To: Crecente
From: Ashcraft
No pukings today! I visit the TV set and interview the Japanese celebrity. The interview turned out really well — I’m gonna write a bang up mag article. Thing is, right before the interview, one of the crew said to me: “Oh, we’d really like to film you for the show.”
“Film me?”
“Yes.”
“For the show?”
“Yes. Just the first ten minutes or so.”
“But, I’m already really nervous just about the interview let alone being filmed doing it.”
“You’ll be fine,” she told me.
Know: I hate being filmed. It’s not so much speaking in public that bothers me, it’s being filmed that irks me. About three or four years ago, I was on San Francisco TV, and I froze up. Literally. Like I couldn’t talk — and I was supposed to be speaking English! Earlier this year, when Kotaku was interviewed for TV, likewise, I freaked out. Everyone else did a fantastic job, but if you watch my clip, it’s just bizarre.
So, here I am, going to be on TV in a foreign language, when I can’t even handle it in my native one. They filmed it for ten minutes. When I went back and listened to my IC recorder, I sounded soooooo nervous. After those ten minutes, the interview was fine. But man, I really, really, really hate being filmed for TV stuff.
The day was actually a lot of fun. I got some really great quotes during the interview, and the crew was super nice. The TV producer is from Osaka, so that made me feel way comfortable. But the end of the shoot, we were conversing casually in the Osaka dialect, and he even gave me a lift to the bullet train station. Surprisingly pleasant day, and like I said, no puking.
What you and I missed last night
Is your 360 a winner?
Smash Bros. side scroller
New Avary movie
Night Note: Get Ready for the Throw Up
To: Crecente
From: Ashcraft
RE: Mixed Emotions
Hope you and your family find some sort of closure with the sentencing. Honestly, for someone who gets paid to write, I find myself at a loss for words.
Tomorrow, I will be out of pocket. I’m traveling to Tokyo for a magazine article. I’ll be interviewing a major television star. The interview will be entirely in Japanese, and there won’t be a translator. I’ve done a couple straight on Japanese interviews in the past, but nothing this big. I get nervous enough meeting famous people. Compound that with worrying about fucking up their language and being impolite, and the stress doubles or triples. I expect to throw up at least five times tomorrow — once the guy’s shoes if I’m lucky. 
What you missed last night:
EA Blames PS3
Man charged with murder
Nintendo helping fight pirates
Oblivion’s dead people nookie
Forever Blue Buggy
Hell No: Want Uncharted for PS3 Launch?
Rule of thumb: Launch titles suck. It’s not for a lack of good ideas, but rather, that they are rushed and the hardware is still a big friggin’ mystery. Jak & Daxter developer Naughty Dog decided to sit the launch out. Company co-president Evan Wells says:
We specifically didn’t want[Uncharted: Drake's Fortune] to be a launch title… We wanted time to really understand the hardware.
According to Wells, that understanding has been aided by fellow Sony developer and “close friend” Insomniac, who created launch title Resistance. That launch game actually turned out okay, but it could’ve probably benefited from a little more time in the oven. Lesson here: Learn from other’s mistakes!
Aside: I played Uncharted at E3. I really liked the title, but Naughty Dog, PLEASE change how enemies are killed. In the demo I played, if you shoot someone a couple of times, they died. If you punched them a couple of times, they died. That makes no sense! Add a finishing moved like a neck snapping or something.
Not for Launch [Games Radar]
Bonkers: Crazy Expensive Gundam Shirts
The most I’ve paid for a t-shirt? Probably a hundred bucks or so for a Paul Smith shirt. That’s nothing! Bandai and fashion maker Mastermind have joined forces to create pricey shirts. Swarovski crystal will be hand-switched into Gundam or Zaku design, costing an estimated ¥200,000 (US $1,690). Nutty! The “cheaper” versions will use glass instead of actual crystal and retail for ¥38,000 (US $320). Nutty, too!
Pricey Gundam Shirts [Plastic Bamboo]
Clip: Forever Blue Buggy, Freezing Up Japanese Wiis
Forever Freeze [2 Channel]
You Are Not Alone: Midway Boss “Concerned” About PS3
The PS3 is having problems, and Midway CEO David Zucker is a tad worried. Look at that pained expresion on his face! Sure, the publisher’s got that Stranglehold/Hard Boiled Blu-ray disc and Unreal Tournament III both headed for the PS3. That’s a good show of faith. Still! Things haven’t been exactly smooth for the console. But that US $100 price cut should help, right? Right?! Says Zucker:
We would not be the only publisher to tell you that we’re a little concerned about the take-up of the PS3… Anytime you get a hundred dollar price on hardware it will improve sales. The question is, is it enough? Will there be more?
To answer your questions, David: No. Hope so.
Midway Concerned [Games Industry]
Clip: Chocolate Rain Rhythm Game Mash Up
Chocolate Rhythm [Dtoid]
Red Light: The Cooking Mama Hookers
Forget dirty movies. You know you’ve made it, when you get a prostitution business named after your game. And with Cooking Mama, developer Office Create has made it. Head over to Osaka’s tricks-for-cash “Cooking Mama.” Adult mini-games run ¥10,000 an hour (US $84), but probably are short. Much shorter. It specializes in not just in older motherly-types, but older motherly-types wearing nothing but aprons. Apparently, there is an audience for this! Oddly, there is a “Cooking Mama Corporation” behind this hooker outfit. It was established in 2006, which is the same year Cooking Mama hit the DS. Coincidence? Ha!
Cooking Mama [NFSW!!!, Thanks Taku!]
Wear A Rubber: Mario Infecting Computers
Computer worm capitalizing on retro gaming and Nintendo’s resurrection? Believe. Computers are getting infected via a Super Mario Bros. game attachment. Folks that click on it will infect their computers with the Romario-A worm, which spreads by sending itself to email address on the infected computer, forges the infected computer’s email and reduces system security. Other examples of malware packages masking as games include the Gonori-A Trojan with tantalizes with Minesweeper. Okay, I can see accidently downloading Super Mario Bros., but Minesweeper? Talk about deserving it.
Mario Worm [The Register via Game|Life]
Clip: Oblivion’s Dead People Nookie
Teh Future: New Computer Chip Based on PS3 Cell
A prototype chip based on the PS3 Cell processor has been developed and will be shown next week in San Diego. The prototype is for computer boards (not the PS3), and it shouldn’t come as a surprise as applications for the Cell have been mentioned for some time now. The original chip was developed by Sony, Sony Computer Entertainment, IBM and Toshiba. Called the “Cell Computing Board,” this new prototype is the Cell Broadband Engine microprocessor married with the RSX graphics processor, which, according to Sony, goes beyond the Cell chip’s power. That’s right, a super computer. Fingers crossed for 4D output!
New Cell Prototype [PC Advisor]
Gonna Get Chu: Nintendo Helping Gov’t Piracy Raids
Don’t let the brain games and red overalls foot you. Nintendo is not pussy-footing around when it comes to copyright circumvention. Today, American federal agents carried out 32 search warrants in 16 states for the sale and distribution of mod chips. For example, mod chips can allow users to play counterfeit Wii software. This is the largest government action against video game piracy, and Nintendo has worked closely with the Department of Homeland Security and completely supports its actions. Jodi Daugherty, Nintendo of America’s senior director of anti-piracy, says:
Nintendo and its developers and publishers lost an estimated $762 million in sales in 2006 due to piracy of its products. Nintendo’s anti-piracy team works closely with law enforcement officials worldwide to seize mod chips and counterfeit software. Since April, Nintendo has seized more than 91,000 counterfeit Wii discs globally.
But shouldn’t Nintendo be responsible for making consoles that can’t be modded?
I’m Sad: How Hard Boiled on Stranglehold Doesn’t Screw Hollywood
Newsweek’s gaming news ranger N’Gai Croal pinged Midway about its upcoming Stranglehold. The non-region free (bastards!) PS3 Special Edition version contains a copy of John Woo’s classic Hard Boiled packed on the same Blu-ray disc. That’s actually a somewhat revolutionary idea: packing games and movies on the same disc for only ten dollars more than the Blu-ray movie. Midway’s Steve Allison, who pitched the original game-movie pairing pack, explains how Midway structured the deal:
The Weinsteins and Genius Products, their home video partner, are very forward thinking on this issue, I have to say. We approached them not knowing their plans for their own re-release of “Hard Boiled” at the end of July. To protect them against worries of cannibalizing their release we did two things:
1. We contractually limited the total number of units we would produce to a set number. I can’t tell you the number beyond the fact that it’s a six-figure quantity, and this works to make the Special Edition a real collector’s item–hopefully a part of videogame history in that it’s the first ever SKU to have a game and film on the same disc.
2. The film can only play/launch on a Sony Playstation 3 game system, not from a dedicated Blu-Ray player. This means a videophile can’t buy this for their Blu-Ray player; it’s going to be a gamer who is passionate about this SKU.We used the master digital tape from the film print and then ourselves converted it to support all HD resolutions, including 1080p. It’s really the storage capacity of Blu-Ray that makes this pairing possible, and it’s still a compelling product.
As mentioned above, they also made this bundle region protected. Bad news for folks who live outside the States! Yes, I understand that they did this due to the movie’s territorial rights, but that still does nothing to muffle the giant sucking sound.
Adding Hard Boiled to Stranglehold [Level Up]
Night Note: Cameron Diaz Is Manish
To: Crecente
From: Bash
RE: ConCON
It’s well known that many Hollywood celebs come to Japan and appear in ads. Brad Pitt sells jeans here, Meg Ryan does coffee ads (Tommy Lee Jones!) and Bruce Willis pops up in Subaru ads. (Thing is, really famous Japanese celebs do the same. It’s not unusual to see major popstars selling gyoza or big time actresses talking about indigestion.) There’s a Cameron Diaz Softbank ad in which she’s wearing all black and talking on a cell phone.
We’re watching that ad today, and Mini-Bash asks me if Cameron Diaz is a man. “No,” I tell him. She is a woman. Kid doesn’t believe me. We ask him point blank: Do you think Cameron Diaz is a man or a woman? His reply? A man. Guess that’s why he’s four years old!
What you missed last night
Minna no pantsu
Blake identified
Blu-ray so worth it
The evolution of Heavenly Sword
Elsewhere, the new Ultraman has been revealed. HOORAY!
It’s Gonna Be Okay: Chibi Robo Not Cancelled, Just Gently Pushed
Cancel a DS game? You must be crazy. Still, with retailers not listing Chibi Robo: Park Patrol and cancelling pre-orders, some fear that the game got the axe. Like hell! The game has simply been moved from September 24 to October 2. That’s only days, hours if you are really really patient. So sit tight and no freaking out. ‘Kay?
Chibi Robo Date [Nintendo via Siliconera]
Speculation: New New Xbox 360 Chip Incoming!! Not Yet!!!
Smaller. Cheaper. And hopefully cooler. Singapore’s Chartered Semiconductor Manufacturing will 45-nanometer processors for video game consoles, but won’t go into production until late 2008 or 2009 as designs are being finalized. According to Charted’s president and CEO Chia Song Hwee:
We have customers’ activity for products in the CPU space that goes into a video-game device.
This was said during a conference call with analysts. No, the exact gaming device was not named, but the smart money is on Microsoft. Charted has produced 90nm and the upcoming 65nm processors for the Xbox 360. Those on the fence about picking up an Xbox 360 might want to wait until 2009. Maybe they’ll even stop crapping out all the time by then.
Xbox 360 New Processor [PC Advisor via Games Industry]
Swish: PSP, Catwalk Accessory
A troupe of models popped up at Amsterdam Fashion Week with Sony PSPs and camera add-ons. Nothing says Amsterdam Fashion Week more than PlayStation Portables. Or something. I’ve never understood this need to mix the PSP with high fashion. People play games, not clothes. But whatever! That upcoming PSP Slim looks pretty nice, doesn’t it?
PSP Models [Ownage via PSP Fanboy]
