Kotaku
Nano quadrotors fly in formation in this great video from the GRASP Lab at the University of Pennsylvania. All we need is a spaceship that can shoot these things down and we're good to go.
A Swarm of Nano Quadrotors [YouTube]
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Nano quadrotors fly in formation in this great video from the GRASP Lab at the University of Pennsylvania. All we need is a spaceship that can shoot these things down and we're good to go.
A Swarm of Nano Quadrotors [YouTube]
Bungie's not making Halo games anymore. That's not news. But they've still been administering the servers which hold all that precious multiplayer data. Y'know, the place where all your Forge maps and deathmatch stats live. However, the studio just announced that their stewardship of Halo data will end on March 31st, as the final part of a transition that's been happening since last summer.
343 Industries—the internal Microsoft division that's overseeing the hit sci-fi FPS franchise and making Halo 4—will be managing all the live data for past and future games. A move like this was to be expected but is still rather jarring as it represents the cutting of the final ties between Master Chief's games and the studio created them. Hopefully, this is a sign that we'll be hearing about Bungie's top-secret Activision project soon.
Final Transition for Bungie.net Halo Services
[Bungie.net]
Have you ever wished you could play the first 20 levels of Trion World's massively multiplayer online role-playing game Rift with no time limit at no cost to yourself whatsoever? Damn, that's a very specific wish. Also, you're in luck, as Trion launches Rift Lite, which is exactly what you wanted.
Launching today with the first phase of game update 1.7: Carnival of the Ascended (AKA the Wedding Planar), Rift Lite. Any player with a free Trion account can download the client, log on, create a character, and experience all the game has to offer, at least for 20 levels.
Why a Lite version?| Why now? Trion CCO and Rift executive producer Scotts Hartsman answers that question in the official announcement. "In the past ten months, Rift has evolved at a breakneck pace, through seven massive updates that set new expectations for live MMOs, in features, in content, and in service. We think a Lite edition with no time limit is the best way for players to see what an amazing experience Rift continues to be."
Translation: So more people will play the game.
But why Lite though? It's so late 80s diet soda. We've moved on to Zero now. Rift Zero. Got a ring to it, doesn't it?
Miku | TOKYO, JAPAN: This desk belongs to the Dengeki PlayStation editor in chief. So much aqua! (Photo: @dengekips)
As has been expected for a while now, Sir Howard Stringer's replacement as President and CEO of Sony Corporation when he steps down in June will be Kaz Hirai, a long-time champion of the company's PlayStation brand.
Sony officially announced the move tonight, with Hirai's promotion to come in April... More »
There are 64 volumes of popular Japanese manga One Piece. Each copy is about half an inch thick and weighs 5.30 ounces. All 64 volumes stacked are over three feet high and weigh nearly 22 pounds. More »
If you are talking Korean cosplay (and that's exactly what we are doing), you can't finish a sentence without mentioning cosplay collective Spiral Cats. More »
Peter König is a concept art legend. Over the past quarter of a century his creature designs, sculptures and animation work have been featured in blockbuster hits like Jurassic Park, Starship Troopers and Cloverfield.
Which is all well and good, but he's also spent the last four years working as a... More »
Or is it a protest for Half-Life 3? Whatever.
The point being, This weekend over 30,000 members of a Steam group will sit down and play Half-Life 2. Calling themselves "A Call for Communication", the group says "we have decided to gain Valve's attention by delivering a basic message: More »
Boring. Bland. Linear. Those are three of the kinder things that can be said of Final Fantasy XIII, a game so poor it needed a direct sequel just to salvage some brand integrity. More »
Not the toys. And not the Michael Bay horror films. I mean the 1986 animated feature.
At the time, Transformers: The Movie was notable for two things. More »
Black Mesa is an independent remake of the original Half-Life that's been in development since the end of the First World War. It hasn't been seen for years. More »
Looks like things are going from bad to really bad to awful for publisher THQ, with an industry man reporting - not speculating, but straight-out reporting - that the company is about to sack over 170 employees.
The word comes from independent industry exec Kevin Dent, who took to Twitter to write... More »
Sony has confirmed games for its upcoming Vita handheld will be a bit cheaper to purchase as downloadable digital games than it would cost to buy a physical disc.
A Sony representative confirmed this to Shacknews, stating that "there will be a discount on the downloadable PS Vita titles from PSN"... More »
Gravity Rush is one of the PS Vita's most compelling titles. Keiichiro Toyama, creator of the Silent Hill series, served as the game's Creative Director. But he didn't make the game alone.
This lady helped—and now this young female developer is dressed up as Gravity Rush for a Twitter photo session.
In the second photo, the staffer poses with Sony exec Shuhei Yoshida, who unfortunately is not wearing a skimpy costume.
Gravity Rush goes on sale in Japan next month.
若手女子プランナーは「キトゥン」のコスプレを [Kotaku Japan]
Gravity Rush is one of the PS Vita's most compelling titles. Keiichiro Toyama, creator of the Silent Hill series, served as the game's Creative Director. But he didn't make the game alone.
This lady helped—and now this young female developer is dressed up as Gravity Rush for a Twitter photo session.
In the second photo, the staffer poses with Sony exec Shuhei Yoshida, who unfortunately is not wearing a skimpy costume.
Gravity Rush goes on sale in Japan next month.
若手女子プランナーは「キトゥン」のコスプレを [Kotaku Japan]
Everybody who is really, really into Hello Kitty knows her name is Kitty White. Ditto for this: according to her official Sanrio biography, she was born in London, making her British by default, no? So what's the big deal?
Yet, pretty much everyone in Japan thinks Kitty-chan is Japanese—with only diehard Hello Kitty nerds all the wiser.
According to an Atlantic Wire piece by Tokyo Vice writer Jake Adelstein, Tatsuya Nakajima, a leader of the right-wing group Junshinkai, was ticked off by the assumption that Hello Kitty was not Japanese, saying, "That's the kind of stuff the Chinese say when they pirate our national treasures and goods. It's outrageous. And unforgivable."
Of course, designer Yuko Shimizu created Hello Kitty in Japan in the early 1970s—though, there's been dispute that it rips off Miffy.
In 2008, the cat was even named Japan's "Official Tourism Ambassador". However, Hello Kitty's official profile contended that the character lived in London with her family. So...shouldn't she be a tourism ambassador for the U.K.?
In Adelstein's tongue-in-cheek piece, he and co-writer Nathalie-Kyoto Stucky note that a recent book Hello Kitty's Guide to Japan, complicates questions of the cartoon cat's nationality further as it underscores the feline as Japanese—not British. From the piece:
According to their story, Hello Kitty is introducing Japan to her American boyfriend Dear Daniel. When he arrives, he discovers Kitty living in a tatami-mat laden house. Her entire family lives in Japan and they all can read Japanese and speak the language fluently. Kitty is so knowledgeable about Japanese culture and traditions that the reader can only surmise she is either Japanese or an amazingly bilingual Japanese studies scholar.
Maybe the cat is a dual citizen? There, argument settled. Phew!
Kitten-Sized Controversy: Is Hello Kitty from London or Japan? [The Atlantic Wire]
The game will be out May 24 and feature a theme song by Japanese rockers B'z—a group I loathe. Both the PS3 and 360 versions include Resident Evil 6 demo codes with different access dates. [Game Watch Impress]
Fast-pace shooter Vanquish is being immortalized in resin with two upcoming figures. The game's developer, Platinum Games, is showing off the figures. Have a look.
They're unpainted prototypes, and according to Platinum, there are still minor tweaks being made.
Square Enix Play Arts Kai line is creating the figures, which were last shown off last year at Comic-Con. There's lead character Sam. According to Platinum Games designer Kenji Irie, "They have captured every little detail in the ARS Suit. They even brought to life many of the little details on the inner suit as well."
The second figure is Zaitsev in Bogey mode. "This one still needs that final level of fine detail, but the proportions are very close to what is actually represented in the game, and when you pick it up you get this awesome feeling of heft to the toy," said Irie. "It's great."
BEHIND THE SCENES: VANQUISH PLAY ARTS KAI [Platinum Games]
Role-playing game Dark Souls was, for many players, the best game of last year. Yet, like many titles, there were bugs and frame-rate issues. From Software, the game's developer sure sounds unhappy about that.
"Yes, there were technical difficulties," the game's creative director Hidetaka Miyazaki told Edge. "I don't believe that it's okay to have them, but realistically speaking, it was quite a large-scale game—even in terms of budget and expectations. So we're very sorry for the trouble we've caused by our processing errors and bugs from Japan."
There isn't just a bit of Japanese humility in what he's saying—there's a lot. Miyazaki went on to add that there were areas that the development team felt like its technical side could not keep up with the game's scope. While Miyazaki might not forgive the technical issues, players seemed to be far more giving and are eagerly anticipating the next Souls title—something that might not happen.
"We don't even know if we'll have another chance," Miyazaki said. "We have the confidence that we can improve from our mistakes this time and create an even better Dark world, but we don't know if the users will forgive us for the mistakes, so I cannot give an exact answer."
EVERYBODY FORGIVES YOU, DUDE. MAKE ANOTHER GAME.
Dark Matters [Edge via Eurogamer]