Kotaku, the Gamer’s Guide

Id

id Know Where The Money's To Be Made

id see which way the wind's blowing. Once was a day you could count on them to be - thanks to both their games and their engines - one of the champions of PC gaming. Today? You just can't ignore these console things the kids are all spending their time and money on. Id's Steve Nix:

...you still have PC players, and some players are just console guys, but have players moved over? Absolutely. We love PC gaming, and we continue to support PC gaming - but you can't ignore the market realities and the size of the console market these days.

PC guys, don't let your hate dogs off the leash, id have got a business to run.
Core PC gamers moving to console experiences - id [GI.biz]

7:20 AM on Fri Mar 21 2008
By Luke Plunkett
187 views, 15 comments

Latest by McBonk: Unfortunately, id began ignoring market realities long, long ago - just after Quakeworld lost their support. You see, John, gamers like games that are _fun_. more »

Tell Us Dammit

What Was The First Game You Beat?

It's that time again! Yes, that's right. Time for another round of "Tell Us Dammit." For those who missed the last commenting love-in, Tell us Dammit is our opportunity to learn more about you reader person. That way we can feel closer! And perhaps, even for a fleeting second, feel kinda bad when we ban your ass. Here's how it works: We ask a question. You answer it. So! The TUD Giraffe asks:

What was the first game you ever beat/finished/completed?

For me, that'd hafta be Kung Fu on the NES. And for arcade games? That'd be Final Fight. Thanks you parents' money for those precious memories!
[Pic]

7:00 AM on Fri Mar 21 2008
By Brian Ashcraft
839 views, 145 comments

Latest by Bluecell: I was a PC gamer long before I was a console gamer. My first games were games like Conan, Load Runner, and the first game I beat, Karateka. more »

Sponsors Thanks

Holy cow is it early! And we are sleepy. So sleepy. So very sleepy. If only we had pillows. We don't, but our Sponsors do! Yay!! This week, Kotaku got a good night's rest thanks to Ace Combat, American Apparel, CDC Games, SciFi Channel's Battlestar Galactica, Netgear, Rockstar Games, Toshiba Gaming and Unscrew America. For that, we thank them!

Interested in advertising with Kotaku? Click here to find out more.

6:40 AM on Fri Mar 21 2008
By Brian Ashcraft
72 views

Acer

Acer's "Games Machine" Explained

Here's the deal with regards to Acer's supposed "games machine": they weren't talking about a "games machine" at all. Company VP James T Wong was just misinterpreted! A compay red has since said:

That was a major misunderstanding as JT was wrongly interpreted. Acer is not going to release any game console but the idea is to develop a high-end PC targeted at the serious gamer.

Nothing further to see here, move along, move along.
Acer not making console: "James Wong was wrongly interpreted" [VG247]

5:00 AM on Fri Mar 21 2008
By Luke Plunkett
920 views, 12 comments

Latest by WildWon: Am i the only one who is disappointed that the original article wasn't: "James Wong was 'wongly' interpreted" ? more »

Nintendo

Nintendo's Stock Downgraded, Blame America

Nintendo might have been hot shit when it came to the sharemarket in 2006 and 2007, but these days, things are cooling down a little. Analysts KBC Securities Japan have downgraded Nintendo's stock from "buy" to "hold", while also predicting a 30% decrease in expected annual shareholder profits. This is all down to - whaddya know - "a tougher trading environment", meaning that Nintendo's reliance on American sales is hurting them thanks to the weakening American ~~peso~~ dollar.
Nintendo's Rating Cut at KBC on Slower-Growth Concern [Bloomberg]

4:00 AM on Fri Mar 21 2008
By Luke Plunkett
805 views, 27 comments

Latest by RonJeremy4Pres: I don't see how our lowering dollar isn't increasing our (US) game etc. prices, but it hasn't yet, and I'm not complaining. I certainly don't think Ninendo is any financial trouble. As far as other (mainly the EU) more »

Half-Life 2

Canada Fully Prepared For Seven-Hour War

Canada: ALWAYS VIGILANT. While the rest of the world marches blindly towards oblivion, those dwelling in the frosty north are digging in. Preparing. Readying themselves for the inevitable arrival of the Combine, and all the horrors our eventual alien overlords will bring. We've seen Toronto's employment of Aperture Science tech already today, now see the town of Powell River in British Columbia. They've already begun work on creating lambda-badged safe zones (these are apparently all over town), should post-invasion Gordon Freeman ever be in the area and need to stop off for some ammo and health packs. How thoughtful!
[thanks Stefan!]

3:30 AM on Fri Mar 21 2008
By Luke Plunkett
1,143 views, 27 comments

Latest by Kohath: Someone please tell us if there actually is ammo and health packs at these locations. more »

playstation store

PAL PlayStation Store Update

PAL PlayStation Store's been updated, as per usual. The good news? There's an honest-to-goodness PSN game up for download. Which is Pain. The bad news? Aside from that, the update's its usual barren, no-Rock-Band-DLC self, with a bunch of Pain content padding out the list and helping obscure a woefully-expensive Stranglehold map pack, which clocks in at a whopping £10. As for the PSP store, there's a Flatout demo and not much else if you're at all interested. Full list of updates follows. More »

3:00 AM on Fri Mar 21 2008
By Luke Plunkett
922 views, 13 comments

Latest by jip100: 'no-Rock-Band-DLC' Err, Rock Band hasn't been released here yet, so why would there be DLC for it? [www.lafferty.ca] more »

Gallery

20 More GTAIV Screens

Hey, new GTAIV screens. If idyllic moments of calm and tranquility are your thing, this isn't your thing. But if your thing's angry faces, men holding guns and explosions, wll, today is your lucky day, my friend.

2:00 AM on Fri Mar 21 2008
By Luke Plunkett
3,099 views, 31 comments

Latest by BrandonGK: @Thimble: Ah who cares, GTA's always been about the gameplay. more »

Gran Turismo 5 Prologue

GT5 Prologue To Be Updated After Launch

When Gran Turismo 5 Prologue launches, it won't let you create private races for just you and your buddies. Nor will it let you indulge in a spot of in-game voice chat. But don't despair, because that stuff's coming later, with these two features (and, most likely, more) to be added to the game in future updates. Certainly sets a new benchmark for those who think games these days are shipping unfinished, but then adding features late is better than never adding them at all. I guess.
Ferrari F2007: GT5 Prologue's "God Mode" [PlayStation.Blog]

1:00 AM on Fri Mar 21 2008
By Luke Plunkett
995 views, 37 comments

Latest by pot3ntial2suck: still no damage modeling, what is the point of making a game realistic if you can just play bumper cars? more »

Contest

Spring Cleaning Contest

Spring cleaning! That's right, I'm cleaning out my office. That means one thing: Finding stuff to give away to one of you. Above, there's a couple Gearbox t-shirts, a PixelJunk one, a Bionic Commando one that producer Ben Judd actually refused to autograph. What else? There's pack of The King of Fighters: Maximum Impact II playing cards and a SNK 300 piece jigsaw puzzle. All of these can be yours! I plan on starting a contest next week. Not sure what kind I'm going to do yet. But yeah, this is the prize.

Oh, and one of those shirts, I'm pretty sure I've worn. Not sure which one. So whoever wins this loot, think of it as Russian roulette!

12:00 AM on Fri Mar 21 2008
By Brian Ashcraft
1,031 views, 47 comments

Latest by suburbancowboy: I would so love that Samba De Amigo T-Shirt. more »

wiiware

PAL WiiWare Launching In May As Well?

Maybe. Nintendo Europe & Australia are still keeping mum on the subject of an official launch date for WiiWare across the PAL regions, but take a look at this Wii Shop Channel update notification I just received on my Australian Wii. Says the WiiWare service is planned for May 2008. We know it's not the same message as was sent to US owners, since it only said "Spring", so PAL Land, do you dare to hope?

11:00 PM on Thu Mar 20 2008
By Luke Plunkett
1,116 views, 27 comments

Latest by MrLister: I don'y think Nintendo would send false information to so many Wiis. Shame I'm gonna be far too busy with GTA4 to take advantage of Pokemon Ranch... more »

resistance 2

Some Resistance 2 Art

Keen on poring over every scrap of Resistance 2 info you can find? Read on, Resistance fanboy, read on. Insomniac have released some new pieces of art for the game, including the game's two logos (one just don't cut it these days, kid) and two of the classes that will be available for players in co-op multiplayer.
Resistance 2 First Look: Multiplayer Classes [PlayStation.Blog]

10:00 PM on Thu Mar 20 2008
By Luke Plunkett
2,690 views, 56 comments

Latest by gnudna: I loved the first one that this is a day one buy for me. Insomniac has earned my trust. more »

Metal Gear Solid 4

A Better Look At MGS4's "Steel" PS3

We've seen scans, but they were small. And the colours looked a bit off, didn't look very "steely". Here, then, are some proper shots of the "Steel" edition of the PS3, which will be available as part of the Japanese Metal Gear Solid 4 bundle. Looks...well, like gun-metal, really. Highly appropriate. Console's above, with a pic of the "Steel" DualShock 3 after the jump. More »

9:00 PM on Thu Mar 20 2008
By Luke Plunkett
11,958 views, 121 comments

Latest by NoFunShogun: Do we know if this offer is a limited-time thing, or if its permanent? This is actually really tempting, but I'm not going to be able to afford another console for a good six to twelve months (due to more »

Playstation 3

Unreal Tournament 3 Joins The PS3 Patch Party

PlayStation 3 gamers who thought the joy of downloading updates for their first person shooter of choice was coming to an end can enjoy at least one more patch. Unreal Tournament 3 has been updated, announced Epic Games, bringing an exciting suite of fixes and feature updates to the console version. The full list of changes, thanks to Jim, is after the jump.

More »

8:40 PM on Thu Mar 20 2008
By Michael McWhertor
3,094 views, 28 comments

Latest by Echelon_VI: I just seems strange to me, that no other have mentioned the problem, when the problem is so obvious. Maybe i'm missing something? more »

iron man

Iron Man Movie Cast Is Iron Man Game Cast

Hey, Iron Man fans, quit worrying about the voice-acting for Sega's upcoming tie-in game, would you? Everything's going to be OK. Nice and authentic. Sega have announced that the film's three main stars - Robert Downey Junior, Terence Howard and Shaun Toub - will be reprising their roles for the game. If only I could go back to 1990 and place a bet that in 2008 I'd be playing as Robert Downey Junior in a superhero game made by Sega that's appearing on no less than seven platforms... More »

8:20 PM on Thu Mar 20 2008
By Luke Plunkett
1,788 views, 15 comments

Latest by Blah8: A good screen actor does not always equal a great voice actor. more »

Behind The Scenes

Age Of Conan's Fighting Is A Bloody Mess

I've gotten two things from this developer diary for Funcom's Age of Conan MMO. First off, it is open season on heads in AOC. If you have a head and plan on playing the game, I highly suggest you either reinforce it with a steel neckpiece of some sort, or perhaps pre-detach your head with some sort of velcro solution so it can easily be retrieved and reattached. Secondly, Funcom Senior System Designer Andrew Griffin has some amazing hair. You wouldn't think a guy with such great hair would have anything to do with all of this rampant decapitation, but there you go.

8:00 PM on Thu Mar 20 2008
By Mike Fahey
4,278 views, 29 comments

Latest by Morberis: @Volomon: Someone breaking an NDA, and you know Beta bugs always make it into the final game. more »

Guitar Hero

Gibson Sues Guitar Hero Retailers "Reluctantly"

The feud between Guitar Hero publisher Activision and guitar manufacturer Gibson raged on today, with Gibson responding to Activision's statement from earlier today. Activision implied that Gibson cried patent violation only after the marketing agreement between the two fully dissolved, and that it believes "Gibson's claims are disingenuous and lack any justification."

Gibson publicly fired back this afternoon, saying that it filed suit reluctantly and "is required to protect its intellectual property and will continue to do so against any other person in accordance with the law and its rights." The full statement about all this hubbub, from Gibson's perspective is after the jump.

More »

7:40 PM on Thu Mar 20 2008
By Michael McWhertor
2,499 views, 31 comments

Only in Japan

Simple 2000: The Japanese Hardware Chart

The battle for weekly first place hardware showings in Japan went back to Sony this week, with the PSP outselling the Wii one more time. With just a few thousand sales setting them apart, however, the contest is almost a dead heat. DS Fever seems to have cooled a bit over the past few weeks, with the handheld resting quietly in third, presumably waiting to strike back before the end of the year. Quiet times on the hardware front make us look forward to new marquee releases. Until then...

PSP - 57,651
Wii - 55,845
Nintendo DS - 53,266
PlayStation 3 - 14,934
PlayStation 2 - 9,930
Xbox 360 - 1,744

Media Create Weekly Sales

7:20 PM on Thu Mar 20 2008
By Michael McWhertor
1,695 views, 64 comments

Latest by alecpyron: I guess MS should make a XboxPortable. Probably it would be more successful that way. more »

Thompson Sanctioned by Florida Supreme Court