Home / kotaku.com rss archive / September-26-2007


DualShock 2 Pwned: Dual Shock 3 Is Better, Yo
It's nice to have the rumble back. Really, really nice. The SIXAXIS feels very, I dunno, empty?But now that we know the DS3 is coming and some of us have even gotten hands on, how does it compare with the DualShock 2? Is the DS3 rumble better? According to Metal Gear Solid 4 producer Ryan Payton:Absolutely, yeah. It feels better...And Payton knows his controls — he's one of the guys responsible for making MGS4's more intuitive. All the games I played at TGS with the DualShock 3 added what the French call I-don't-know-what to games. Not a fan of the SIXAXIS, not a fan at all. DS3 Is Good [1Up]

Courtroom Fracas: The Epic vs Silicon Knights Soap Opera Continues
While chatting with Mark Rein at Sony's TGS party, the dude asked us how long we'd be writing about Epic's legal stoush with Silicon Knights. We promptly answered: forever, Mark. Why? Because like any good courtroom drama, it's good reading. Take this latest development, with Epic seeking to have the entire case dismissed on the grounds that SK's argument is a load of old codswallop: SK's brief does not overcome the multiple legal defects in the Complaint. SK's arguments are factually misplaced and at odds with the law. The Court should grant Epic's motion to dismiss. Love it. Let's hope they can keep this up for the whole eight years.Latest Salvo Fired in Epic UE3 Case [Next-Gen]

Horrible: Seeds Gets Craptastic New Name
Clover Studios was Capcom's boutique team behind game innovative games like Okami and God Hand. What's more, Clover is a pretty nice name! When things soured with Capcom, the studio was shuttered and producer Atsushi Inaba, Resident Evil creator Shinji Mikami and Devil May Cry creator Hideki Kamiya formed SEEDS. It was Clover reborn, and likewise it also had a cool name. The emphasis here is had. Over on the SEEDS official website, there is a notice that Seeds is apparently merging with IT company ODD Solutions to form, brace yourself, Platinum Games. Yes, PLATINUM GAMES. The website says something like:On October 1, 2007, SEEDS Corporation will merge with ODD Corporation to create "Platinum Games," which will be a fresh step forward. More like a step backwards, amirite? Clover went from SEEDS to what sounds like a shitty PC game maker. And merging with a company called "ODD"? Straonge! Any name would be better than Platinum Games — hell, they should've called this...

Listen Carefully: Sam & Max Season Two Dates, Details
Best part of Sam & Max: the fact it proved episodic gaming can work. Get a game finished, get it out in a timely manner, make it cheap, people appreciate it. The fact it was an adventure game, starring Sam & Max, was the icing on the cake. All of that means there were a ot of you big on the series, so Telltale would like you to know the details for Season Two. It will commence on November 8 for GameTap subscribers, and will be available on November 9 on Telltale's site. Following that, each episode will launch on the second Thursday of each month, first on GameTap then on Telltale's site a day later. Except episode 2. It launches on January 10/11, and it's after that the monthly schedule kicks in. The series will run until April, and include five games in all. Got all that? Oh, wonderful. It's too nice a day here to go repeating press releases.

Jumping The Ship: Microsoft Responds To Bizarre Acquisition
Bizarre signing with Activision is good news for Bizarre: I'm sure they'll enjoy developing games for multiple platforms, and I know they'll enjoy the fat pay cheque the purchase would have netted them. But what do Microsoft think of the whole thing? They own the Project Gotham Racing franchise, so Bizarre jumping ship leaves big question marks over the future of the series. Microsoft have issued a short statement, which reads: Project Gotham Racing is a signature racing franchise for Xbox 360 and Xbox LIVE and we plan to continue the series but we have nothing further to announce. Nice and simple. They plan to continue the series. Only thing left unclear for now is what happens to the "improvements" Bizarre were making for PGR5, who Microsoft drag in to take over the series and whether they leave things be or try and move PGR in a different direction. Which...well, now you look at it that's a whole lot of things left unclear.What's Next for Project Gotham Racing? [1UP]

Clip: Pokemon Revamped into Anime Girls
Love it or hate it, Pokémon is cute. And what's cuter than Pocket Monsters? Fan drawn Pokémon re-imagined as little anime girls. Don't believe me? Watch the above clip. Hey watch it now, even!Pocket Monster Girls [Japan Sugoi]

Clip: Silent Hill 5 Gameplay Footage
Not much more to add, really. Gameplay footage of the upcoming Silent Hill 5 for PS3 and 360. Well, guess we could run through the Silent Hill checklist, just to pass the time while it's buffering. Rust? Check. Busted-up old bathrooms? Check. Copious use of flashlights? Check. Guess everything's in order, then!

Stay Up: Xbox Australia Launches Impressive Charity/Advertising Push For Halo 3
Yes, we know. You're as sick of Halo 3 marketing as we are. Enough is enough, and enough was enough a loooong time ago. Still, you can say mean things about a marketing juggernaut all you want when it's just marketing, but you can't when it's going towards a charity. Like this! Xbox Australia have kicked off a series of charity events "in honour" of Halo 3, which includes a Red v Blue MP battles featuring Australian celebrities and sportsmen, fan competitions that stretch across the internet and radio as well as auctions selling off 15 autographed, one-of-a-kind painted consoles featuring the likenesses, and signatures, of artists including Justin Timberlake, Talib Kweli, Ice Cube (pictured), Rhianna, the Pussycat Dolls, Snoop Dogg and Kanye West. More details can be found at the link below, with press release after the jump.Red v Blue [Xbox Australia]SYDNEY 27 September 2007 - To celebrate the launch of the record breaking game "Halo 3" on Xbox 360, Microsoft today announced...

Release Dates: Kane & Lynch Come Home For Thanksgiving
IO Interactive's anti-buddy flick turned video game will be hitting your consoles and computers just in time for you to lose yourself in it after your family gathers for Thanksgiving and then realizes after dinner that they really don't like each other all that much -just like Kane & Lynch! According to GameSpot, the game should be shipping on the 20th of November, incidentally the same day as Drake's Fortune, Mass Effect, and possibly Rock Band, making for one very pricey week. Gotta love those holiday releases, don't you? I figure between the three titles (going full out on Rock Band) that's what, $320? I'm getting too broke for this shit. Kane & Lynch breaking and entering Nov. 20 [GameSpot]

Clip: Aonuma Would Like To Work On "Something Original"
Nintendo's Eiji Aonuma is a gifted guy. Taking over the Zelda franchise isn't exactly the easiest job in gaming, so to have not just done it but oversee some of the best games ever made? Yeah, see, he's not too shabby. Thing is, he's been working on Zelda games for the best part of a decade. Doesn't matter which series you're working on, you work on it for that long, you start to itch for something new, and Aonuma's no different, telling MTV: As I get older, the feeling that I would like to create something original gets stronger. Understandable! He also talks about how Phantom Hourglass is an unintentional remake of the first Zelda, so you could do worse things than give this video a few minutes of your time.Aonuma: "Phantom Hourglass" Is An "Updated Version" Of NES "Zelda" [MTV]

Impressions: Eternal Sonata - Charmingly Average
I will go ahead and say it right now: Eternal Sonata is the best video game about Chopin ever created. A lofty claim I know, but one I feel confident in standing behind. As a roleplaying game, however, Namco Bandai and Tri-Crescendo's foray into the next-generation RPG could use less focus on next-generation visuals and exposition and a bit more emphasis on compelling, original gameplay. The Neverending StoryYou've probably heard the plot synopsis before. Frdric Chopin lies on his death bed after a long struggle with pulminary tuberculosis, and in his last moments he visits a fantastical world where everyone has a music-themed named and the terminally ill can cast magic. He meets a girl named Polka who is dying and wants to do something good for the world before she goes and gets caught up in an epic struggle against Count Waltz of Forte, who is using medicine to turn his citizens into mindless, magic-using monsters. Along the way you meet a host of colorful characters including...

Moonspeak-Free: Kojima Productions Working On English Metal Gear Solid 4 Demo
For me, and for a whole lot of other people, Metal Gear Solid 4 was the gaming highlight of TGS. It's slick. Sad thing is, very few of you got to play it, what with very few of you living in Japan. Which is a shame! Lucky for you, Kojima Productions have today started work on an English-language demo of the game, Ryan Payton saying yesterday: As of tomorrow, we're going to start working on the English demo...Anything I say beyond what I'm going to say is going to incriminate me and people are going to know what I'm hinting at. Good to hear. While the hardcore would buy MGS4 if they had to wade through a sea of rusted razor wire dipped in pig shit, I think some of the additions to the game in terms of the way you can approach a mission will make a demo worth a look-in for people traditionally put off by Metal Gear. The KP Report Session 059 [The KP Report, via Shacknews]

Clips: The BBC's Exclusive Halo 3 Footage
The BBC couldn't ignore one of the biggest entertainment launches of the year, and in demonstrating the gameplay of Halo 3 for the viewing public, they managed to slip in some top-secret footage of the game that is simply amazing to look at. I really think they should have gone with the graphics in the second part of the clip rather than what they ended up with. Take that, Killzone 2! Oh wait...

Halo 3: The Biggest Entertainment Launch In History
Why does Halo 3 get so much coverage? For every one of you who complains about it there are a thousand more people buying it, that's why. According to a rather celebratory press release from Microsoft, Halo 3 is now officially the biggest entertainment launch in history, bringing in over $170 million in the U.S. alone during the first day of availability, beating out even the biggest movie opening day totals. Over a million players logged into Xbox live during the first 20 hours of release, and nearly all of them have killed me at least once at this point. Retailers are understandably overjoyed.Bob McKenzie, Senior Vice President of Merchandising for GameStop Corp commented that, "With consumer demand for Halo 3 and related products, we expect it to be the biggest video game title generator in GameStop's history."So that's why you see so many Halo 3 posts. Now we just have to wonder where we go from here. What can top the insanity surrounding Halo 3's launch? We should ponder...

Breaking: Nintendo's Llewelyn Hangs Up Her Hat
The rumors have been fluttering about for quite a time now: Word had it that Nintendo was going to lose a trio of experienced management types when they moved part of their offices from Washington State to the Bay Area. Looks like the rumors continue to be true. Beth Llewelyn, senior director of corporate communications, emailed today to bid adieu saying that her decision was prompted by the need to relocate to the Bay Area, something that she and her family decided wasn't the right thing to do.This news comes just months after Llewelyn told me at E3 that she was still trying to work things out. It's too bad that Nintendo appears to be taking such a hard nosed approach to this move. They've already lost marketing chief George Harrison for the same reason and I can't imagine that Veep Perrin Kaplan won't be far behind, unless she's down with the move.Llewelyn, a mother of two, will be going from the world of Nintendo to the world of full-time Mom (talk about hard, but rewarding...

: 10 Years Of Ultima Online
Ten years ago yesterday the age of the MMO was ushered in with the release of Ultima Online. While not technically the first MMORPG, it was the first one that gained a widespread audience, paving the way for games like Everquest and World of Warcraft. In celebration of this 10 year anniversary, Electronic Arts is inviting players from the entirety of the games 10 years to return to the game for free from now until October 9th using their old username and password to experience the recent changes that came with the Kingdom Reborn makeover. The in-game celebration includes special events like a monster hunt where players can win prizes like maps of Britannia, an ahnk pendant, commemorative sculpture, or a virtue armor set. All players will also receive a wand of fireworks and 10 decor tokens, whatever those might be. Happy 10th Ultima Online! May you last another 10 years with the tiny player base you have left over! EA Celebrates 10 Years Of Ultima OnlineA Decade of Groundbreaking...

: The Biggest Entertainment Launch In History
Why does Halo 3 get so much coverage? For every one of you who complains about it there are a thousand more people buying it, that's why. According to a rather celebratory press release from Microsoft, Halo 3 is now officially the biggest entertainment launch in history, bringing in over $170 million in the U.S. alone during the first day of availability, beating out even the biggest movie opening day totals. Over a million players logged into Xbox live during the first 20 hours of release, and nearly all of them have killed me at least once at this point. Retailers are understandably overjoyed.Bob McKenzie, Senior Vice President of Merchandising for GameStop Corp commented that, "With consumer demand for Halo 3 and related products, we expect it to be the biggest video game title generator in GameStop's history."So that's why you see so many Halo 3 posts. Now we just have to wonder where we go from here. What can top the insanity surrounding Halo 3's launch? We should ponder...

Happy Birthday: 10 Years Of Ultima Online
Ten years ago yesterday the age of the MMO was ushered in with the release of Ultima Online. While not technically the first MMORPG, it was the first one that gained a widespread audience, paving the way for games like Everquest and World of Warcraft. In celebration of this 10 year anniversary, Electronic Arts is inviting players from the entirety of the games 10 years to return to the game for free from now until October 9th using their old username and password to experience the recent changes that came with the Kingdom Reborn makeover. The in-game celebration includes special events like a monster hunt where players can win prizes like maps of Britannia, an ahnk pendant, commemorative sculpture, or a virtue armor set. All players will also receive a wand of fireworks and 10 decor tokens, whatever those might be. Happy 10th Ultima Online! May you last another 10 years with the tiny player base you have left over! EA Celebrates 10 Years Of Ultima OnlineA Decade of Groundbreaking...

Stats Feed: Today's most popular headlines are How Haruhi ...
Today's most popular headlines are How Haruhi Was Wrapped In Porn Plastic (15,351 views today), Microsoft Remind Japan What 360 Games Look Like (9,538) and Unreal Tournament 3 Impressions (6,503).

Clips: Everybody Loves Guitar Hero
newVideoPlayer("Guitar_Hero_3.flv", 475, 376);RedOctane held a press event today, with company president Kai Huang on hand to make sure everyone knew that Guitar Hero III was coming out in a month. Nick McGlynn was on hand to get the crowd's opinion on the Guitar Hero series. He covers a nice cross section of the public here, from the very old to the relatively hot, to Maxim employees that don't qualify for either category. The appeal of Guitar Hero is near universal, even if you don't play. It's that karaoke crowd that Activision has to watch out for. Thanks to Nick McGlynn for the video!

Toys: A Master Chief To Hide Your Porn
Yes yes, I know. Another Halo post, but at least this time it's a relatively cute one. Mimoco has taken the USB flash drive and made it somewhat buyable by combining the utility of portable storage with the quirkiness of custom vinyl toys. Capitalizing on the current Halo craziness, series 1 of their Halo collection is coming October 18th and come in 1GB, 2GB, and 4GB for $49.95-$109.95. They come preloaded with Halo goodies including sound bytes, art, excerpts from the new Halo novel and a special episode of This Spartan Life. If Halo isn't your style they also carry Star Wars and Happy Tree Friends versions, so if you need your USB storage to look like something, there you go! mimobots Art Toy USB Drives [Mimoco]

Tgs07: Unreal Tournament 3 Impressions
After doing our Justify Your Engine with Epic's Mark Rein, we got some hands-on time with Unreal Tournament 3. While we didn't have time to test the new features like vehicles, we did get to play a few rounds of traditional deathmatch. And yes, it was still great. The FPS genre has slowed down in the past few years, literally. Games like Halo may be fun, but they don't have that crack on speed sense of split second intensity that the UT series has offered since its first incarnation. The major blame should probably fall on analog sticks. They just don't work as well as a mouse for extremely quick 180s to rocket jumps to sniper rifle headshots. But in UT3. the controls are extremely tight—they've clearly been given a lot of love. The razor responsive mechanics are in no way hindered by analog sticks. I don't know how that's possible—maybe we've just gotten more used to the controllers, maybe it's Epic ingenuity (and new adjustments like a rotary gun selection&...

Rts: THQ Unleashes Warhammer 40K Soulstorm
Warhammer 40K fans rejoice! The fight is far from over, as THQ announces a brand-new standalone expansion for the popular RTS, Warhammer 40.000: Dawn of War - Soulstorm. The expansion takes the battle into the stars as the war spans an entire star system. New planets of course means new races, with two new alien civilizations joining the fray for a grand total of nine. "Relic Entertainment has set the standard for technical excellence and innovation in the RTS genre," said Bob Aniello, senior vice president of worldwide marketing, THQ. "Dawn of War - Soulstorm continues that tradition as a standalone title featuring all-new, brutally addictive single and multiplayer game-play that will hook newcomers and skilled Dawn of War veterans alike."The game also introduces air units as well as multiplayer medals for you to lord over your enemies. The Soulstorm is coming Spring 2008. The Carnage Continues In THQ's Warhammer 40,000TM: Dawn Of War - SoulstormTMStandalone Expansion in Million-Un...

Pwned: Activision Makes Bizarre Acquisition
Activision has entered the racing game...game in a big way, by purchasing the developers of one of the greatest racing series around, Project Gotham Racing. That's right, Activision has purchased Bizarre Creations, creators of PGR as well as Geometry Wars. The Bizarre team will continue working on current projects while beginning development on two new 'AAA' titles, with the first expected sometime after fiscal year 2009. Martyn Chudley, Managing Director of Bizarre Creations, said, "Our goal at Bizarre Creations has always been to do all we can to nurture our creative and passionate teams, who excel at and enjoy what they do. Activision's independent studio model will continue giving us creative freedom to build exciting new brands."What this basically means is Microsoft can stop hogging all the racing goodness and let some of the other consoles take a spin. It won't be PGR of course, but whatever it ends up being should be awesome. Bring back Metropolis Street Racer!Activision...

Movies: Press Start The Movie
In a world much like our own. . .except with magic and aliens and way more ninjas. . .war is beginning.Thus begins Press Start, a movie celebration of old school video games created by Ed Glaser of Dark Maze Studios. The natural evolution of countless YouTube gaming parodies, it's the story of a young man with spiky blond hair recruited by a ninja and a secretly female space warrior named Sam to help save the world from Count Nefarious Vile - so evil he killed Tetris. It sounds hokey, and in a way it is. Made on a budget that could buy half a shoestring, the production values are terrible, but taken as a fan-made film the whole thing is just an amazing accomplishment. It even features cameos from Carlos and Daniel Pesina of Mortal Kombat fame.Dark Maze sent me a copy of the DVD, which I just finished watching after beating Halo 3 and having nothing else to do. If I had to do it again, I would have watched the movie first. At several points the writing had me literally laughing...

Tgs07: The Hidden Gems of TGS
We wrote tons of stories at this year's Tokyo Game Show, many of which ran at like 3 a.m. So I thought it might help to do a little link dump of our personal favorites. Feel free to comment on them here or on the original story.TGS Kids Corner Totally Suitable for KidsTGS Attendance Drops Like a RockZak--Wiki Producer Talks Puzzles, Name Changes and Family FunMy Booth Bot, My CheerleaderThe Justify FilesCallous Booth Babe Moment: What They Really Think of YouHudson Going After the Casual GamersBroomstick Controller Gets TestedHave TGS Attendees Purchased the New PSP?Inafune Really Wants Dead Rising 2Eye of Judgment Online ImpressionsItagaki UnmaskedPatapon ImpressionsSoul Caliber Director Katsutoshi Sasaki on Weapons, Characters and StorylineSony's Booth Babe Human WaveTGS Boozecast Episode 1: Don't Call it a PodcastTender Booth Babe Moment: Exhaustion Tender Booth Babe Moment: AmbassadorsHalo 3 Sitdown and New Peter Jackson DetailsMore PS3 Titles Coming from Everyday Shooter...

Night Note: The Vomit Bullet Train Ride Home
To: CrecenteFrom: BashRE: Finally back in Osaka. Monday and Tuesday were spent "recovering." By Monday, my body seriously shut down. I'm really happy with our TGS coverage this year and felt that I pushed myself to my physical limits, operating and a few hours sleep every night. Good times. When I caught the bullet train in Shinagawa, found an empty seat next to a reasonably plain women in her late teens or early twenties. She had three open boxes of Tokyo Banana cakes resting on the table tray in front of her. Like I said, she was reasonably plain and bit her fingernails incessantly, but seemed to put a great deal of effort into her outfit — not uncommon in Japan. She would open the box of cakes, look inside and then put them back on the tray. This was repeated for the first twenty minutes of the trip. I, however, put my boxed meal I bought at the station on my tray table and proceeded to eat. She watched me through the pitch black reflection in the passenger train...

Kotaku SIgnu: Learn To Forge J Allard's Signature By Winning BIg Halo 3 Prize Pack
Microsoft are running a charity auction on eBay. They're running it right now. It's billed as THE ULTIMATE HALO 3 PACKAGE, and over-excitement aside, they're probably right. It contains more Halo stuff than you could point a Halo 3-themed stick at, including a Halo 3 360 (signed by Bill Gates), a 360 HD-DVD drive, the entire Halo 3 trilogy (the special editions, of course), some controllers, some figures, blah blah blah. Whatever. None of that crap matters. What matters is that included in the pack is a Halo 3 Zune. A Halo 3 Zune signed by former Xbox pin-up boy, current Zune visionary and future world mountain bike champion James "J" Allard.That's right. His signature. Which should make forging it in order to avoid any hypothetical restraining orders he may have issued that much easier. Not that J would need to issue a restraining order. He calls us all the time. We tight. And not that any restraining orders would be against us. That's a hypothetical scenario.Bid on the Ultimate...

Beep Beep: The Greatest Taxi In Japan
Over in Ishikawa Prefecture, a taxi company is offering a maid taxi service, appropriately called "Maid Taxi" (so clever). 5,700 yen (US $50) an hour gets you a chauffeur, a maid and a PS3 equipped cab that comes with Virtual Fighter 5, Ridge Racer 7 and Hot Shots Golf 5. Passengers can also watch DVDs and listen to MDs. Mini Discs? That's so 1998! The catch? The service is for handicapped customers only, which is very cool. Beats taking the bus or the train!Maid Taxi [Official Site via Canned Dogs]

Sales Charts: British Sales Charts
And still Britain buys Toger Woods at the expense of real, proper Wii games. Wii games with meat, with substance, with production values. Amazing! Almost as amazing as the fact Bioshock is still hanging on, and that even though World in Conflict is the best new PC game since forever, it released and subsequently charted at 11. Which is outside the top 10. And lower than Transformers and Medal of Honour: Airborne.1) Tiger Woods 082) MySims3) Super Paper Mario4) Stranglehold5) Medal of Honor: Airborne6) Colin McRae: DiRT7) Transformers8) Heavenly Sword9) Sims 2: Bon Voyage10) Bioshock[charts courtesy of ChartTrack]

Contest: Win Our TGS Schwag by Writing Power
And the contests just don't stop! We've got a bag full of TGS stuff to give away. To you, perhaps! (Or you or you or you.) What are we giving away? A fistful of TGS fans — including a Flynn used Metal Gear Solid 4 fan. What's more, we're throwing in a Japanese Halo 3 t-shirt, an Adventure Island shirt signed by Takahashi Meijin and a program on which he scribbled a pyramid describing the current market. There's a bunch of VERY RANDOM things as well. How do you win this? Send us an email at kotakucontestATgmail.com, pick a TGS post you like (include the URL) and write a paragraph on why it stood out. Now, we aren't looking for flattery, but rather, sharp writing. Insight, even. Deadlines for entries is this Friday. Get to it!

Full Disclosure: An Elite Loaner
Shortly before I left for the Tokyo Game Show, my "fixed" Xbox 360 crapped out (right after I got it back from repairs). And when I returned from TGS, there was an Xbox 360 Elite waiting for me. Microsoft sent me a "loaner," while my console is getting a fix it. I put my 20GB HDD on it and am not using the HDMI cable. The machine does seem to run quieter than my first gen Xbox 360. But man, the Elite sure can get hot. Here's the pickle, though: It's an American Elite, and I live in Japan. Not sure if that makes life easier or not. Wouldn't it be nice if Microsoft sent everyone whose console broke an Elite to hold them over during the repair wait? Expensive, too!

Goochy Goo: Blue Dragon Mistwalking onto the Nintendo DS
If Viva Piñata is good enough for the Nintendo DS, then heck, Microsoft published Blue Dragon should be too! A recent issue of manga Shonen Jump says that Blue Dragon will be getting a DS release. This is exactly why Microsoft shouldn't make a handheld — put the games on the DS and get the players hooked so they'll have no choice but to pony up for the 360 console versions. Isn't this how drug dealers work? Yes, yes it is. Blue Dragon DS [Jeux France]

Avoiding The Use Of An Anarchy Pun: Sex Pistols Need To Eat, Record Master Tracks For GHIII
In 2006, the Sex Pistols "politely declined" to be present when they were inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame. Frontman Johnny Rotten issued a statement, which read: Next to the SEX PISTOLS rock and roll and that hall of fame is a piss stain. Your museum. Urine in wine. Were not your monkey and so what? Fame at $25,000 if we paid for a table or $15,000 to squeak up in the gallery, goes to a non-profit organization selling us a load of old famous. Congradulations. If you voted for us, I hope you noted your reasons. Your anonymous as judges, but your still music industry people. Were not coming. Your not paying attention. Outside the shit-stem is a real SEX PISTOL. Strong, if poorly-written, stuff. Barely a year later, though, this pops into my mailbox:Activision announced today that Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductees The Sex Pistols, who famously turned down the award, recently returned to the studio to re-record "Anarchy in the U.K.," which will be included in Guitar...

Tgs07: Microsoft Remind Japan What 360 Games Look Like
Poor Microsoft Japan. They can't catch a break! All these big games and nobody in Japan cares. Not even for Halo 3. Not even for Blue Dragon. In a desperate, last-ditch attempt at shifting their units, their TGS booth was dominated by this: a wall featuring the disc and cover art of every 360 game on the market. Didn't look like it got the job done, since I was the only person I saw actually paying attention to it, but hey, at least it looked nice. Click through for a closer shot.

Sales Charts: Aussie Sales Charts
Never saw this coming. After depriving Australia of Super Paper Mario for five months, Nintendo finally released it last week. How'd it do? As you'd expect a tasty burger to do when dropped in the hands of a desperate, starving man: it was gobbled up. We didn't even pausing for breath. Also nice seeing Heavenly Sword at #2, proving that Australian PS3 owners do play games on the system, and didn't just buy it to show off their new HDTVs with.1) Super Paper Mario2) Heavenly Sword3) SingStar Pop Hits (Bundle)4) SingStar 90s (Bundle)5) SingStar 90s6) World in Conflict7) Ratatouille (PS2)8) Sims 2: Bon Voyage9) Pokemon DIamond10) Medal of Honour: Airborne (360)[charts courtesy of GfK]

NSFW Clip: How Haruhi Was Wrapped In Porn Plastic
It's After Dark, and the kids are asleep, let's hope. Earlier this month, we posted a freaky Lucky Star porn that featured a cosplaying actress in a vacuum bed. Apparently, also anime and upcoming PSP/PS2/Wii game adaptation Haruhi Suzumiya gets the same treatment with The Compression of Haruhi. There is a clip after the jump of the vacuum compression. It's freaky NSFW and might make some squeamish. Very, very squeamish. So click over at your own risk and no crying!

Dollar Signs: Square Enix Wants More American Money
Let's face it: Square Enix makes Japanese RPGs, and that's about it. Sure, not the most diverse portfolio, but hey, it pays the bills and some people like those games. But with Japan in its back pocket, Square Enix wants the American market, and it wants it bad. Says Square Enix senior vice-president Michiro Sasaki:We need to seek co-operation with a US publisher — we need local content. Our strength is in role-playing games and fantasy titles, so it is a bit difficult to appeal to the US market.Currently, only ten to twenty percent of Square Enix's revenues come from the US market. Sasaki wants to make it "half" within two to three years. What do you think, can Square Enix do that? Appeal to the average American gamer? Square Wants America [FT via Game|Life]

Clip: New Assassin's Creed Trailer
You know, about the only thing this game needed on top of what we've already seen was a bunch of evil hooded men with hammy European accents. Now that they've done that? Well, now the game appears to be absolutely perfect.

Dollar Signs: Square Enix Wants More America Money
Let's face it: Square Enix makes Japanese RPGs, and that's about it. Sure, not the most diverse portfolio, but hey, it pays the bills and some people like those games. But with Japan in its back pocket, Square Enix wants the American market, and it wants it bad. Says Square Enix senior vice-president Michiro Sasaki:We need to seek co-operation with a US publisher — we need local content. Our strength is in role-playing games and fantasy titles, so it is a bit difficult to appeal to the US market.Currently, only ten to twenty percent of Square Enix's revenues come from the US market. Sasaki wants to make it "half" within two to three years. What do you think, can Square Enix do that? Appeal to the average American gamer? Square Wants America [FT via Game|Life]

Clips: Japanese PSP Slim Ads Cut the Advertising Fat
Last week, the PSP Slim and Lite went on sale in Japan. A new series of ads did a fine job of promoting the portable, which is raking up some impressive sales figures. I really like these ads, which show off different aspects of the PSP. They're simple, to the point and not all fucked up. I hate fucked up Sony ads so hard. More after the jump.

Multi-tap: A Half-Week In Halo 3 Hype
What Did You Think of Halo 3?Comment by LososaurusI played through the campaign only and played one online match. Judging only on campaign, I'd give it a 8.7/10: Very good overall, however the storytelling elements become annoying towards the end and there's a few glaring issues on difficulty spikes and feeling like one is just running laps around an area rather than progressing. One thing that really bothered me about campaign were my squadmates driving. More than a handful of times, I wound up with my squadmate driving in circles and I had to get out, drive the warthog across a small area, get back into the gun seat in order to progress.I wasn't grabbed by the story either, felt like something was 'missing'.The graphics are beyond excellent, I think it's a type that people don't really realize how good they are, what effects are going on, how many are going on, no framerate dropping and several characters on screen with several effects on each. You really have to take a technical...

Hooray: Ban Monday is Coming
Whew! It's been a rough couple of weeks. And after every big event, a new flood of commenters appear. While we do welcome the new folks, we also want to warn them. We ban here at Kotaku. Ban like crazy. So please do not confuse our comment sections with your run-of-the-mill forum, boards, blah blah. Next Monday (October 1st) is our favorite Kotakaday, Ban Monday. We are always open to ban submissions, but next Monday the ban sensitivity on the Hammer will be turned up max. Here's how it works: Send us the commenter page for anyone that should get the axe. If we agree (even slightly), we'll swing. And swing hard. Though! No ban gloating. Gloating leads to Ban Hammer backfire, which could cause you to get the boot. Tuesday we'll be back better, lighter, strong and faster. Onward!

Only In Japan: Japan Buys Over 300,000 PSP Slims In Three Days
And finally, the PSP shows signs of life! At least in Japan. And in direct contrast to our own, highly scientific findings. Enterbrain have announced that the PSP-2000 has sold 250,702 units in its first three days on the market. Impressive, but more so when you consider that counts only the standalone units: another 75,943 Final Fantasy VII: Crisis Core bundles were also shifted, giving us a total of 326,645. If you don't think there's money to be made in new colours and the 176th Final Fantasy game of 2007, you're kidding yourself.PSP25() [Famitsu]

Fallout: Original Fallout Concept Art
In celebration of Fallout's upcoming 10th anniversary, the people at No Mutants Allowed have been putting up information every two days since 17 September. Today's nostalgic treat? Four pieces of concept art from the original. You can check out the other three here and can keep an eye on their other offerings at their 10th anniversary page. [Thanks 'Brother None']

You Don't Say: Game In College, Have Poor Time Management, Watch Grades Drop
While I'm all for the academic study of gaming, a lot of the 'scientific' studies just kill me - if you spend too much time [insert time waster of your choice here] in college, your grades could drop? Really? And people actually get funding for this kind of stuff? The paper is being published by the National Bureau of Economic Research and was conducted at Berea College, where certain conditions meant that typical college time wasters weren't present. Video games, however, were - and they found that people who brought along video games to college (or had roommates who did) spent less time studying (and had a lower GPA) than people who didn't:... The study needed an external factor that influenced study time. It found it in video games, specifically by dividing the students based on whether their roommates had brought gaming rigs to school. About half of the males and a quarter of the females fell into this group. But the impact of access to gaming didn't depend on the students'...

Tgs07: Onee Chanbara R (Like, For Wii) Hands-On Impressions
D3 Publisher's slash-hit series Onee Chanbara does cowgirls in bikinis right. The amount of zombie eviscerating is arguably perfect. The gameplay? Ehhhh... So why not add an extra layer of sloppy controls to the Onee Chanbara formula courtesy of the Wiimote and nunchuk controller? That was, I assume, the thrust of the white board concept meeting at Onee Chanbara R's developer Tamsoft. The TGS demo certainly gets the core elements right, there's loads of pink juicy blood squirting at the camera and plenty of opportunities for our hero Aya to perform fan service acrobatics. But the Devil May Cry Lite action doesn't impress. At all.It sounds great on paper, perform slashing and stabbing motions with both halves of the Wii controller, using each hand to control an arm. It quickly grows tiresome when battling not only hordes of creatures, but fighting the craptastic camera as well. Many sword moves were interpreted liberally resulting in plenty of pantie revealing cartwheels. Yes,...

Tgs07: Japanese Gamers Really Care About Halo 3
We don't expect the lines in Akihabara or Den Den Town to reach the impressive levels of home, but don't think that Tokyo Game Show attendees are turning up their noses at Halo 3, just because it's on the Xbox Somethingorother. They waited, for hours—okay an hour at least—to get their hands on the game just a few days early. That 60 minute wait sign was quickly updated to 90 minutes after everyone in Microsoft's booth grew tired of playing Zoids Alternative and Dynasty Warriors 6. Respect, Halo 3. Much respect.Sure, the waits for Biohazard: The Umbrella Chronicles (3.5 hours) and Devil May Cry 4 (just about all day) were a bit nuttier, but maybe the Japanese are warming up to Master Chief. We'll know at about 10 AM on September 27th if Halo 3 will be the 360's savior in Japan.

Tgs07: Touch Me? The Cheekiest Shirt of TGS
There was an entire hall chock full of merchandise at Tokyo Game Show: dolls, figures, toys and shirt. Mostly shirts though, tons and tons of T-shirts. While I love gaming shirts, they really have to be something special to get me to buy one. Mostly because I don't have the room in my house for anymore. When I was walking the halls last week checking out the merch this black Doki Doki Majo Shinpan shirt caught my eye. Not only was it down right bizarre, it was for a game no one in the U.S. will probably ever seen. So yes, I bought it. What I didn't buy, though, was that shirt next to it. I mean, that's a finger there sneaking up her skirt and check out those freaked out eyes.

Movies: Resident Evil: Extinction Eats Weekend Box Office
No matter what your personal feelings are about the Resident Evil franchise, it is nice to see a movie based on a video game come in tops at the box office over the weekend. Resident Evil: Extinction took in $24 million this weekend, beating it's nearest competitor, Good Luck, Chuck by a clean $10 million. This almost makes it the best weekend pull of all three RE movies, beating Apocalypse's $23 million despite selling less tickets, a testament to ticket prices pushing past ridiculous into 'no f***ing way' territory. You win this time, Milla Jonovich, but don't think this makes up for Ultraviolet.'Resident Evil' Infects Top Spot [Box Office Mojo]

Tgs07: Japan's Cell Phone Obsession
I always thought the phenomenon of cell phones had reached monumental proportions in the U.S., but it's nothing compared to what it's like here in Japan. A ride on the train will have you seeing at least ten to fifteen people on each car with phones out presumably texting or playing games on them. The there's the cell phone charms. They are HUGE over here. Practically everyone has one or two or thirty dangling off their phone. Some are so large they are bigger than the phones. For example, one gal I saw had no less than three small plush animals attached making it impossible to put in a pocket or the tiny purse she was carrying.Of course, all these phones means a huge market for cell phone games. Almost every booth I went into at TGS had some sort of cell phone game in it and in most cases five or six. Resident Evil, Metal Gear Solid, Silent Hill and Square Enix all had multiple mobile games attached to them. There were also booths dedicated solely to cell phone games and nothing...

Clips: Valkyrie Of The Battlefield Comes To Life
newVideoPlayer("valkyria_big_gawker.flv", 475, 376);Here's a trailer for Sega's Senjou no Valkyria, or Valkyrie of the Battlefield in English, which is a mix of strategy RPG and third-person shooter, apparently influenced at least in part by Gears of War. I don't know about anyone else, but they had my money as son as the hand-drawn tank started rolling. It looks freaking amazing. It's odd how my favorite games of this generation so far have got nothing to do with hyper-realistic graphics, despite that being the target of each successive leap in technology.

Tgs07: Ninja Gaiden: The Best Damn Swag on the Planet
The Tecmo press party enticed us with the promise of maid waitresses in a pirate-themed bar, but made us happy by slapping these amazing DS styluses in our hands as we walked out the door.And the Ninja Gaiden stylus doesn't just look cool, it's also serious deadly. Check, for instance, the "usage notice" on the back of the pack:This stylus tool is only to be used for touching screens.Do not pole or swing this stylus tool when near other people.Do not use this stylus tool if the tip is broken or becomes dirty.Do no over-stretch the strap.Please close tightly after using this stylus tool.I am so ignoring every one of those rules, well except for the dirty one. galleryPost('ngdss', 4);

Tgs07: Docomo Cellphone Exercise Game, Dominated
newVideoPlayer("DocomoExercise_gawker.flv", 475, 376);Our own Luke Plunkett got some hands-on with Docomo's cellphone exercise game (following his bowling excursion from earlier that day). And I'll tell you, when the respect and admiration of cute Japanese booth attendants is on the line, Luke brings it.

Justify Your Justify: The Justify Files
I am a huge fan of Mark Wilson's Justify videos, and I'm not just saying that because he makes them for Kotaku. They are genuinely funny and still manage to impart some information. This time around Wilson managed to churn out quite an eclectic mix of Justify Your whatevers including Mark Rein justifying the Epic engine... right after it crashes, Tetsuya Mizuguchi having a nervous break down as he tries to justify his Rez and a Kotaku reader justifying his cosplay outfit.Justify Your MGS4 CosplayJustify Your Engine Mark ReinJustify Your Game, MGS 4Justify Your Xbox Holiday Lineup Takashi SensuiJustify Your Game Everyday ShooterJustify Your Game LittleBigPlanetJustify Your Game, Rez

NYC Halo 3 Launch: First!
This fine young man is the first in line at the Best Buy on 5th Avenue in NYC, the site of the official Halo 3 launch in the northeast. He arrived last night around 6PM, spending the night in happy Manhattan for the chance to be the first to get his hands on Bungie's opus. He's also a regular Kotakuite, who goes by the comment handle Unndunn. With such outstanding Kotaku representation at the event, why am I even here? The answer is simple. Volume. Unndunn probably won't be seeing this for awhile, as he's busy being interviewed, reinterviewed, photographed, and videotaped by various media outlets. Then after midnight he will be dissected on live television to help us understand the Halo phenomenon. Go UnnDunn!

New Zealand: Halo Fever
If you couldn't tell, Halo Fever is in full force right now. The game may not be perfect (sorry Eurogamer) but it certainly has its selling points and I think Microsoft's boast that they want to dethrone Spider-Man 3's mammoth opening weekend with a mammoth Halo 3 launch day aren't that outlandish.We've sent our very own Fahey over to New York City to check in on the Halo-mania going on later on tonight. Remember at the stroke of midnight you can pick up a copy of the last in the Halo trilogy... unless you picked it up at one of the many places that seemed to have sold the game early. Once you play through the entire game I'd love to hear your thoughts on it.In the meantime sit back and check out these pictures from New Zealand, the first place in the world where Halo 3 launched. Nicole Sinclair and Ryan Marsden, both 19, were the first two in the world to pick the game up from a retailer.... who didn't break embargo.New Zealand Microsoft also celebrated the launch by freezing...

NYC Halo 3 Launch: A Best Buy Transformed
At first I wasn't sure I would be able to find the Best Buy that was holding the Halo 3 launch event in New York. After all, it is very big city, and I am a southern boy at heart. As you can see from this gallery, Microsoft and Bungie made it very, very hard to miss. Every window in store is emblazoned with Halo 3 pictures and logos, with one window sporting a selection of Halo action figures. The line itself, containing all of seven people when I got here, was set up outside the store, partially blocking a normally busy street. The other side of said street was also partially blocked by trailers and Halo 3 The Ride: The Car: Pontiac Special Edition. Inside the store is a mess of stages, lighting scaffolds, video cameras and monitors as Microsoft and G4 take over a corner of the Best Buy, hosting competitions for fabulous prizes. Larry 'Major Nelson' Hryb is on hand to help host the festivities and generally pretty up the place. If you squint your eyes and imagine the smell...

Not Halo 3 News: Valve Announces Pre-Purchase for Orange Box
The only thing better than a pre-order is a Valve pre-purchase, where you get to download, but not play, the game before it officially goes on sale.Starting today Valve and GameStop have teamed up to pre-sell the PC version of The Orange Box to gamers interested in that whole pre-purchase concept. Anyone who pre-orders the game before Oct. 10 gets 10 percent off the regular price plus they can download and play the beta version of Team Fortress 2.Hit the jump for all of the tantalizing details. VALVE AND GAMESTOP ANNOUNCE PRE-PURCHASE PROGRAM FOR THE ORANGE BOX Pre-Purchase The Orange Box for Special Price and Join the Team Fortress 2 Beta Now September 24, 2007 - Valve and GameStop today announced that those who pre-purchase the PC edition of The Orange Box at GameStop, the world's largest video game and entertainment software retailer, before October 10th will save 10% off the regular price and gain access to the beta version of Team Fortress 2 for the PC. The Orange Box,...

Wiikly Update: Kirby, Tonma and Streets of Rage
This week's Wiikly Update hit at noon Eastern today, bringing with it a bit of Kirby Avalanche, Streets of Rage 3 and the Legend of Hero Tonma. Kirby's Avalanche (Super NES, 1-2 players, rated E for Everyone, 800 Wii Points): Everyone's favorite round, pink hero takes a break from swallowing his enemies to put your brain to work in this fast-paced puzzle game. Players take control of Kirby and match wits with well-known enemies from the Kirby series (including his archrival, King Dedede) in an effort to win the First Annual Dream Land Avalanche Competition. The simple-but-addictive game play revolves around brightly colored blobs and boulders. When the right amount of matching blobs are stacked, they explode and rain down on your opponent's field of play. Repeat this until your screen is clear to move on to the next round. But be careful--the farther you advance, the faster the blobs fall and the smarter the opponents get. Are you good enough to help Kirby become the avalanche...

NYC Halo 3 Launch: Oh Hell No
Screw this. I didn't sign up to have my soul devoured by a marauding hell-beast masquerading as a creepy-ass fast food mascot character. You guys can just imagine the rest of the NYC Halo 3 launch. I'm getting the hell out of here before it eats me.

Tgs07: Metal Gear Solid 4 Hands-On Impressions Plus
When Metal Gear Solid 4 assistant producer Ryan Payton honorably justified his team's video game, many of you wondered "Who?" and "Where can I get that hat?" To simplify it for the masses, while Metal Gear figurehead Hideo Kojima is the great river from which all ideas flow, Payton may be the dam that controls the flow of insanity. Yes, there are moments of surreality in Metal Gear Solid 4, such as soda addicted monkeys, hilarious send ups of irritable bowel syndrome and a woman in a giant wolf mech exoskeleton. But there are also plenty of technical ideas that must be implemented, with Payton aiding to implement a simplified control scheme and further addressing Western tastes. Based on the hour with spent with the game in a private meeting, MGS4 retains not only the series' artistry, it's technical implementation is reaching mad-genius levels, too.But let's focus on one thing first: the controls. What has grown to become a complicated control scheme that requires great finger...

NYC Halo 3 Launch: Not Entirely True
Meet Alex. Alex is the second guy in line at the Halo 3 launch here in NYC. If you remember from earlier, I told you the first guy in line got there at 6PM yesterday. Those of you mathematically inclined might have already pieced this together. Alex was standing there, minding his own business, when someone handed him this orange sign and asked him to hold it up. It's been photographed, videotapes, and has appeared on the giant monitors outside of the Best Buy. The image will probably appear in local papers and on TV news stations later this evening. It's not entirely a lie, really. Alex has almost been in line for 24 hours, and 50% is totally considered almost in some countries. Silly PR peoples.

NYC Halo 3 Launch: Brought To You By Orange Sick
It's weird. Everyone at the Halo 3 launch here in NYC pretty much agrees that Mountain Dew Game Fuel is the most hideous thing to ever come out of the Mountain Dew scientists. At best, it's a mix of Code Red and Livewire. At worst, regurgitated original Mountain Dew mixed with Hostess cherry pies. Even so, they show up at the event and start handing out free shirts, doling out shot glasses full of the insidious liquid via marketing temps with ginormous backpacks, and suddenly everyone's going crazy. I had two cups myself. Two! I think you need to drink at least four to rank a free t-shirt, honoring your courage in the face of adversity. They even had 'Respawn' stations set up, where women were available to rub the kinks out of your hand, a statement that seems somehow jumbled, but really isn't. galleryPost('nychalo3dew', 4, 'Ew Ew Ew Ew Ew');

NYC Halo 3 Launch: Darkness Falls
It's gotten dark in New York City, and I sit in a Starbucks down the street from the Best Buy, having officially drunken more coffee today than in the past five years in ordefr to secure this as a Kotaku field office. The crowd is growing thick as the hour draws closer, with as many curious onlookers as there are people actually waiting for the game. So far the celebrities have been limited to NY Jets football players, whom I couldn't name if I tried though there was a large blonde man we have nicknamed Thor. Adam Sessler and Morgan Webb are on hand to cover things for G4, so I took a picture covering them covering the event, as well as a pair of interesresting shoes and Bungie's Frankie concentrating furiously while taking a turn at playing the game. galleryPost('nychalo3b', 4, 'In The Heat Of The NIght');

Tgs07: Arkanoid DS Hands-On Impressions
Taito's classic brick-breaking arcade game Arkanoid is some twenty years long in the tooth, with the latest iteration, Arkanoid DS, bringing little to the table in the way of evolution. Instead, Arkanoid DS simply brings itself to another platform, taking advantage of the Nintendo DS touch screens for stylus control and using the Game Boy Advance slot for an arcade accurate dial controller. The cross-pad and button controls work fine, but stylus controls and the custom controller are the ways to go.The dial controller, in particular, brings back that arcade feeling, as the add-on has real weight to it. You'll feel the ball bearings spinning as you move Vaus, the space ship at the bottom of the screen left and right. Stylus controls aren't twitchy and felt very accurate.The only complaint that DS fans may have is losing track of the ball as it crosses the top and bottom screens, obscured by plastic. It's not a game killing problem, but you may find yourself annoyed.Arkanoid DS...

Clips: Goodbye, TGS
newVideoPlayer("FarewellTGS_gawker.flv", 475, 376);We'll still be finishing up our impressions of Tokyo Game Show throughout the rest of the week, but with most of our staff back home nursing their hangovers, we thought it a fit opportunity to say goodbye with heavy amounts of TGS fandom and over modulated bass.

NYC Halo 3 Launch: Master Chief Arrives Early
It was between 2 and 3 PM when Master Chief showed up at the NYC Halo launch, but this was no corporate-sponsored guy in a suit. This Master Chief was painstakingly crafted by a fan (and Kotakuite!) over the course of a year, using fiberglass, paint, and a whole lot more motivation than I can muster to come up with something pretty damn awesome. By the time Microsoft's Master Chief showed up at 20 minutes to midnight, his arrival didn't pack the punch they were expecting. As far as the people in line were concerned, he had been there for hours. galleryPost('nychalomc', 4, 'Stealing Thunder');

Tgs07: TGS Attendance Numbers Padded Nicely By Press
With the hearts and minds of Japanese gamers won over by Nintendo and its casual-skewing software, this years Tokyo Game Show saw those in the nation issuing a collective "meh." The press? They had to show up, helping to pad this year's attendance figures by an extra 30,000 for a combined total of 193,040 over four days. By comparison, last year's three day show pulled in an impressive 192,411 over just three days.But who can blame attendees for a lack of interest in the 2007 flavor of TGS? The market leader didn't show up and many games were simply old news or Western focused. Despite the fact that a playable Metal Gear Solid 4 and Metal Gear Online had a big presence, as did Devil May Cry 4, most attendees seemed to be taken by Wii and Nintendo DS titles—Biohazard: The Umbrella Chronicles, Final Fantasy IV, and the sequel to Professor Layton and the Mysterious Village.Has Tokyo Game Show peaked? Unless CESA expands the thing to five days or somehow convinces Nintendo...

Tgs07: TGS' Biggest Fans
galleryPost('tgsfans', 4);OK, maybe not the Tokyo Game Show's biggest fans, but certainly the most useful.

Feature: The Future of Sony Online Entertainment?
By: Brian CrecenteThe next big thing in massively multiplayer online games might very well be the decidedly old school world of card games.Online trading card games to be specific.Since its August launch inside Everquest and Everquest II more than 111,000 matches of the Everquest-themed online trading card game Legends of Norrath have been played.SOE president John Smedley told me in a recent interview that more than 30 percent of the MMOs' players are currently playing the trading card game and that they've sold more than 5,000 virtual boxes of booster packs for about $100 a pop."There are loot cards in the packs that give them items they can use in Everquest, but we don't think that's why they are buying the boxes," he said. "We believe we are giving people other avenues of gameplay within a game."The game is so successful that the Everquest teams are now working on creating places within the MMOs that will be used exclusively for playing the game."We've always told the story...

Reader Reviews: What Did You Think of Halo 3?
You've read my review of the single player and multiplayer portions of Halo 3. You've seen our Frankenreview of a lot of other peoples reviews. But with the game now available in stores, now it's time to tell us what you think of the game. Here's the deal, we're using the honor system, but I'd like to leave just this one post open for people who want to write their own critiques of the game. No responding, no back and fourths, just a review. I'll be putting up another post for people to discuss what they read here. It's sort of a convoluted system, but I think this is the best way to allow people to give their detailed thoughts on the game without it turning into a flame war... until the next post.Get to it. Game review on.

Flame On: Halo 3 Discussion
OK, don't get too excited, but I've created this post specifically to allow people to vent. Rail against all of the Halo 3 hype. Rail against the people railing against the Halo 3 hype. Rail me for using the word hype twice in this introduction. Keep in mind that while this is most certainly a flamebait post, all of the rules still apply. If you get off topic, make personal attacks or do any of the other things we ban for you will be banned. But feel free to have a healthy discussion about the game and its merits or lack there of. Oh, and no spoilers, that's a bannable offense too.

Tgs07: Attack of the Clones (And Ash)
newVideoPlayer("StarWarsAsh_gawker.flv", 475, 376);It must be some tradition, but this group of Star Wars fans lines up and walks around the TGS grounds constantly. We think maybe that's all they do. Can you imagine that planning phone call?"Hey Fred, you coming with us to march around TGS tomorrow in our Stormtrooper suits?""The fact that you even had to ask me questions your commitment to this project. I'll be there, but I hope that you won't." "Today is the worst day of my life."

Playstation Eye: Eye of Judgment, PSEye in the House
Sure I've got a retail copy of Halo 3, but I've already finished that fight and the multiplayer co-op, that can wait for a bit. The thing that made me squeal a bit in excitement was opening up a box to find an early build of Eye of Judgment complete with the new camera, stand, playing field and two packs of cards.Not only can I not wait to play around some more with this game (remember, I do have "skills"), but I'm even more excited about totally blowing my son's mind when he sees it the first time. He's going to trip out.The stand comes packed away in a smallish plastic bag and was fairly easy to put together, though it's not the sort of thing you're really going to way to take apart and put together over and over again. I think I would have preferred if they had made it collapsible instead of takeapartable.The camera looks and feels pretty solid. It has a four microphone array. You can twist the lens, switching between a red and blue selection on the front of the lens. I'm...

NYC Halo 3 Launch: Finish The Launch
Midnight slowly approaches, and the festivities ramp up. Everywhere camera crews are coaxing large groups of players to shout, trying to punctuate their local news stories with the old cheering crown trick. The Mountain Dew people are there every time I turn around, passing around their cough syrup-flavored beverage. As hip-hop artists play Halo 3 inside, line sitters hold up signs making rude assumptions about the diet of a certain Florida lawyer. A group of guys are wandering around wearing GTA IV t-shirts, handing out posters and having people pose with them at the H3 launch. Good times are being had by all, but that clock is ticking...Outside the Best Buy, security guards begin clearing a path from the street to the door, and everyone assumes that Master Chief is going to arrive in some spectacular fashion, but we were wrong. Master Chief suddenly appears in the store with Larry Hryb, and after a few moments he signals that it is time. Time for what? Engines rev somewhere...

NYC Halo 3 Launch: The Ride Of The Mongeese
newVideoPlayer("MOV01126_gawker.flv", 475, 376);I apologize for the ever-so-slightly crappy nature of this video, as I had to keep dancing on and off the sidewalk because of 'the man'. What you are seeing is the trio of Marines, each riding a Mongoose ATV, escorting the shining Halo 3 Hummer to the front doors of the NYC Best Buy amidst loud cheers from the fans and even louder Halo music and Larry Hryb narration. This is how the launch ends.

Top Gun: Ubisoft Launches Tom Clancy's Air Combat
Could Ace Combat finally meet its match? For years now the Namco Bandai series has been synonymous with air combat video games, but now Ubisoft looks to one up them by creating a series that is not only synonymous - it is Air Combat. Tom Clancy's Air Combat to be precise, which will thrust players into technologically advanced jet fighters to do combat against a private military force that has attacked the USA. "We are confident that this new brand will become the new benchmark for flight combat games and will be, like other Tom Clancy based games, an instant online multiplayer hit," says Sebastien Delen, managing director of Ubisoft's Bucharest studio. "The player will experience all the action and excitement of modern air combat, from intense dog fighting to tactical strikes."There's plenty of room in the market for more air combat games, and you know Ubisoft doesn't toss about the Tom Clancy name unless they're ready to kick some ass. The skies are going to get a lot more...

Halo 3: Microsoft Replacing Scratched Halo 3 Discs
As mentioned earlier over at the Consumerist, reports coming in from all over the country that due to the way they were packaged in the limited edition tin, buyers of the LE and Legendary versions of the game are discovering the game disc inside to be horribly scratched. I picked up the LE this morning, and as you can see above, it's not in the best of shape. I played the game for about a half hour to see if it worked, and things ran fine, so you might want to give it a go before trying to return it. The good news is Microsoft will be offering free replacements of both the game and Essentials discs until December 31st. Of course you'll have to give up the game while you wait, but it's only Halo 3. Microsoft to replace scratched Halo 3 disks [GamesIndustry.biz]

Contest: Halo Goodies Pour Into Kotaku Tower
My footsteps echo up the stone spiral staircase as I take them two at a time. The rampart is lifted, one of the doors, sways slightly in the breeze."Hellooo?"No one answers. Inside the tower are piles of boxes and envelopes. The lights are off. I wander around until I find Fahey curled up in a ball in the corner of the west atrium, spiders crawling out of his nose, his eyes rolled back in his head. Hmmmm, maybe I need to leave more than one person around to run the place next time we take off for the four corners...The boxes, inside the boxes are scads of Halo thingies and doohookies. There's two McFarlane controllers, a wireless headset, reams of Microsoft points, rations, a first aid kit, dog tags, a Master Chief duffel bag, a limited edition copy of the game and a Halo 3 Xbox 360 labeled "generic" in big letters on one side. Why does it say generic? Oh right, they were going to laser etch my gamertag into the front of it, but I told them I'd be giving all of it away on the...

Samba De Amigo: Wii Getting Mad Maraca Monkey Loving
Talk about a perfect fit. First rumored, then seemingly confirmed by a scan of a Nintendo Power cover, and now officially confirmed by 1UP through Sega of America, the delicious taste of monkeys and maracas will once again grace our television video game playing device as Samba de Amigo is coming to the Wii. The game is being developed by Gearbox Software of Brothers in Arms fame, so you know they'll do an excellent job with the World War II firefights, should they choose to include any. Somehow I doubt it. More info should be coming down the pipe on the triumphant return of musical monkey mayhem soon. Confirmed: Samba de Amigo Coming to Wii [1UP - Thanks Jasu, ya Jerk]

Stats Feed: Today's most popular headlines are Halo 3 ...
Today's most popular headlines are Halo 3 Discussion (6,140 views today), What Did You Think of Halo 3? (5,966) and Master Chief Arrives Early (5,374).

Porn: Halo 3 (Soft) Porn
The Suicide Girls, who have long had a voice in video gaming, popped up a naught set of Halo 3 inspired pictures today. The set is images of the lovely Alaina doing a strip tease out of a set of Mjolnir armor. Ouch, I hope she didn't pinch herself getting that chest plating off.Hit the jump for a mostly not-safe-for-work pic. You'll have to join SC to get the full monty. Hey, you can tell your significant other you joined for "research."Finish the Fight [Suicide Girls]

Cheats: Metroid Prime 3 Cheat Codes and Tips
These fun little codes for Metroid Prime 3 Corruption just popped into my mailbox. They include a slew of tips and even a list of the bumper stickers available in the game. Hit the jump for the full set of tips, lists and cheats.Codes for the Cockpit radio (Use radio from left to right)Code1 2751 Iwata Code3 4617 Sakamoto TipsThe four lights on the top of Samus' helmet indicate the battery life in your Wii Remote Hypermode - by managing your Hypermode correctly, you can stay in Hypermode for 35 seconds. As your Hypermode bar level increases, shoot your weapon to deplete Phazon. This way, you can "float" in Hypermode and stay in it longer. Ghor Battle - Freeze the Fuel gel puddles on the ground to cause Ghor to Spin out and slam into a wall, making him stay stunned for a longer period of time.The following creatures can be killed with one shot by using the Nova beam and X-ray visor: 1.Metroids 2.Metroid Hatcher 3.Bezerker Pirates 4.Commando PiratesBumper Stickers...

Announcement: Welcome to Kotaku. AU
Sure Luke is still the master of Australia, and always will be, but today's the first (official) day of Kotaku Australia. Think of it as regular Kotaku with a wee bit more Australian flavor to it, run by its own team of writers and the like... but Luke-free. If you happen to be lucky enough to live in Australia and still want to surf the undiluted pages of Kotaku Original then just type in us.kotaku.com otherwise you're going to be automatically redirected to the Australian site. Of course there's this big link at the top to get here as well, but what fun is that.