The Call of Duty franchise has covered almost every corner of the globe, from snow-capped mountains to the streets of suburban America. But it's never strayed too far outside of its military roots. What if there were a Call of Duty game that put you into the shoes of a different type of enforcer—namely, a law enforcer?
The video above proports to be "leaked internal footage" of an upcoming downloadable game called Call of Duty: Police Warfare. It's a fake. But it's a very convincing one, convincing enough that you wouldn't be a foolish fool if you were fooled by it.
The video goes into great detail about the cops 'n robbers gameplay and multiplayer modes, and burnishes its believability by saying that the game has been designed to be a downloadable title for PSN and Xbox Live. The announcer is appropriately macho and announcer-y, and there's even concept art. Concept art!
Hell, I dunno. Maybe Activision is listening. I for one would probably play the hell out of Call of Duty: Police Warfare.
I feel like they'd need to tweak the name, though…
Call of Duty: Police Warfare [Youtube - Thanks, Andrew!]
Zombies, man. Everyone loves killing zombies. 22 year-old Marine Sergeant Jacob Way is betting that video game players love killing zombies enough to make room in their libraries for one more zombie-slaying simulator.
Way has put all of his savings (around $40,000) into the development of I Shall Remain, a top-down zombie-murder simulator that looks somewhat in the mode of the PS3 game Dead Nation.
The main character of the game is modeled in part after one of Way's friends, Captain Tyson Ackermann. Another character, C.J. Hodges, is modeled one of Way's marine compatriots who died in 2010.
I Shall remain will be playable on PC and available online through its official site. It will cost less than $10. You can check out a clip of it in action above.
Speaking with Marine Corps Times, Way was philosophical about the game's financial prospects. "If I fail and lose all my money," he said, "I look at my $40,000 as a year in private college." I admire that attitude!
I Shall Remain [Official Site via Marine Corps Times]
We continue to hear from people who have taken issue with the strange Taco Bell contest that claims to be giving a PlayStation Vita to customers every 15 minutes.
More than 15 contestants have told Kotaku that after seeing on the Taco Bell website that they had won Vitas, they were later informed that their winning entries were invalid. Many contestants sent us screenshots of the Taco Bell splash screen that says "Congratulations! You Won!" Several contestants sent over mobile versions of the screen.
(On Friday, this "Congratulations!" splash screen was publicly accessible to anybody who knew the URL. It has since been removed.)
Contestant Allen Brutus, who also sent over a picture of the code on his winning Taco Bell box, says he wrote questions on the Taco Bell Facebook page, but they were promptly deleted.
Allen Brutus holds what he says is a winning box for the Taco Bell PlayStation Vita contest."This was happening to everyone who were asking questions about their prize," Brutus said in an e-mail. He says he received a notification that he won on January 30, when he entered the code. On February 10, Taco Bell said he was not a valid winner. He says he has tried multiple times over the past few days to contact Taco Bell, but that they would not respond to his questions.
Other contestants had harsh words for Taco Bell and its contest.
"This isn't right. I didn't scam to win and they just shut me out with no explanation or anything," contestant Natasha Jones said in an e-mail. "I am sick over this."
"I am a 100% legit winner," contestant Gabe Swick said in an e-mail. "I used a legit code, I did not cheat or hack anything on the site. I'm. no. liar."
"I'm more than willing to file complaints to the [Better Business Bureau] over this fiasco, as should everyone else who has been denied so far," contestant Patrick Moran said in an e-mail. "I have yet to be informed why at the very least their systems have screwed up for everyone on January 30th."
Although many people have contacted Kotaku about this issue, we have not been able to verify the validity of every alleged winner.
I reached out to Taco Bell for comment again this morning, but they have not yet responded. On Friday, a Taco Bell representative said that "nearly all" of the calls they had received so far had been from people who did not have winning entries and that they are "continuing to work with [their] customer service teams to insure that all real winners receive their PlayStation Vitas."
"Hello, Kotaku." | Sony cheekily included a customized greeting on the Vitas they sent us to review.
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The newest Halo Minimates aren't going to offer up any clues to Halo 4, but they're still worthy additions to the collections of fans who've been following the sci-fi series. First announced last September, the Series 4 set will mark the first time that Cortana's been a bite-sized plaything. The UNSC vs. Covenant battles will spread to your desk later this year.
In a Q&A over at the PlayStation Blog, Sony announced that the PS Vita's first-person shooter Resistance: Burning Skies will be released on May 29th.
It might not be the video game-branded cereal Lisa Foiles craves, but the Atari-classic branded General Mills cereal boxes popping up at Target stores across the country might have you bringing the box back to the breakfast table again.
Five different cereals, five different games. In celebration of the 40th anniversary of video game pioneer Atari, General Mills and Target have teamed up to deliver specially marked boxes of Cheerios, Cinnamon Toast Crunch, Honey Nut Cheerios, Cocoa Puffs, and Lucky Charms. On the front, delicious cereal. On the back, Asteroids, Centipede, and more come to life through the sort of fun activities you cared about back when the Atari 2600 was the bee's knees.
I'm not much for cereal these days, but I might consider making an exception in this case. Besides, as a new parent I am legally obligated to buy Cheerios and stuff them between the couch cushions and about the floorboards of my car.
The impressive array of Halo toys at the McFarlane Toys booth at the New York Toy Fair features Master Chief. And a bigger Master Chief. And a frozen Master Chief. And Master Chief with a gun.
Happily, however, the franchise's protagonist is not the only figure featured; the display contains a number of incredibly detailed Halo figurines, and one flame-haired XBox Live avatar.
In a bit of disappointing news, Mojang's Daniel Kaplan has told Eurogamer that the developer has no plans to bring Minecraft to Sony's new PlayStation Vita handheld.
Aww, that is one adorable Valentine's Day card, custom-made by 
