The Newest Kotaku Podcast Is Oscar Mike On iTunes, Zune & More [Kotaku Talk Radio]

Battlefield: Bad Company 2 producer Gordon Van Dyke joined our illustrious hosts, Brian Crecente and Stephen Totilo, in yesterday’s episode of Kotaku Talk Radio to talk about DICE’s latest video game… and, oh, so much more . The good news, should you have missed the rare opportunity to call in live and speak with Mr. Van Dyke over the telephone, is that you can download that episode of Kotaku Talk Radio right now from the server of your choice to the audio player of your choice. Topics of conversation include Tottilo’s hatred of trees, Viking ships (or not), the story of Bad Company 2, comparisons to Modern Warfare 2 and the recent hubbub surrounding competitor Infinity Ward. Hosts: Brian Crecente, Stephen Totilo Guest: Gordon Van Dyke Ranter: Owen Good Download the MP3 [Chat About It] Listen to it [Chat About It] Subscribe via RSS [Chat About It] Download to your iPod or iPhone [iTunes] Subscribe to podcast on iTunes [iTunes] Download to your Zune [Zune]

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The Newest Kotaku Podcast Is Oscar Mike On iTunes, Zune & More [Kotaku Talk Radio]

David Jaffe Took Your Calls, Needed 15 Bleeps [Podcast]

Eat Sleep Play’s David Jaffe joined our one-hour live podcast this week to take any and all questions and cursing when he damn well wanted to. Plus answers to God of War, Heartland and other questions from all of you. Jaffe talked about hoping he can return to the God of War series he created, maybe with a PlayStation Network game one day. He spoke his mind on motion control and made a convincing argument about the value of pursuing a job in game testing. Hey, he even fielded a job request and confirmed that his next game would have a red character in it. That’s what we call an exclusive. (No, he did not say if the game is a new Twisted Metal). Jaffe, ever a good sport, was a fine guest. Hosts: Brian Crecente, Stephen Totilo Guest: David Jaffe Ranter: Owen Good Download the MP3 [Chat About It] Listen to it [Chat About It] Subscribe via RSS [Chat About It] Download to your iPod or iPhone [iTunes] Subscribe to podcast on iTunes [iTunes] Download to your Zune [Zune]

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David Jaffe Took Your Calls, Needed 15 Bleeps [Podcast]

The iTunes App Store Declares War on Titillation [Apple]

Apple has moved quite comprehensively to ban sex from its iTunes Application store, and while it does clear out some spam applications, some high-selling and even tame ones find themselves caught in the blast. TechCrunch has been following these developments since Thursday, when the creator of “Wobble iBoobs” got at notice that his app – which grossed $30,000 last year – was being unilaterally removed due to user complaints about sexual content. The developer, Jon Atherton, went looking for answers from Apple on what it’s new policy was toward sexual content – as Apple hadn’t published one to developers. He says he was told the following. If accurate, it’s more than prudish. Per Atherton (to TechCrunch): 1. No images of women in bikinis (Ice skating tights are not OK either) 2. No images of men in bikinis! (I didn’t ask about Ice Skating tights for men) 3. No skin (he seriously said this) (I asked if a Burqa was OK, and the Apple guy got angry) 4. No silhouettes that indicate that Wobble can be used for wobbling boobs (yes – I am serious, we have to remove the silhouette in this pic) 5. No sexual connotations or innuendo: boobs, babes, booty, sex – all banned 6. Nothing that can be sexually arousing!! (I doubt many people could get aroused with the pic above but those puritanical guys at Apple must get off on pretty mundane things to find Wobble “overtly sexual!) 7. No apps will be approved that in any way imply sexual content (not sure how Playboy is still in the store, but …) TechCrunch notes that Apple removed an app “that featured a popular fitness model in her workout clothe.” It also asked if the ban would affect Sports Illustrated’s swimsuit application. “The Apple employee wouldn’t give a clear answer, but it was implied that the SI app would probably be removed as well,” TechCrunch notes. “Wobble iBoobs” might be a bit crude, but fundamentally, it’s a joke application that some might say is no more offensive than “iFart” or “iPeePee” (both of which are on my phone.) It’s also seems like an overreaction given that iPhones and iPods contain parental controls, and adult apps are listed with an “objectionable material” warning in the iTunes store. It’s Apple’s store and device, so, the free-speech argument here doesn’t apply. Apple can do as it pleases with the offerings sold under its name. If it wants to crack down on porn and paddle behinds and treat everyone like giggling kindergarteners, that’s its right. If it wants to clean out useless or spammy apps that lure buyers with the promise of titillation, it can do that without harming developers who are a little more thoughtful or clever about mature subjects. It just takes more work. And a transparent policy. If this is accurate, Apple isn’t serious about either. The New App Store Rules: No Swimsuits, No Skin, And No Innuendo [TechCrunch]

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The iTunes App Store Declares War on Titillation [Apple]

Our Weekly Podcast Is Now Ready To Download In Full 360 [Podcast]

Did you miss the live version of today’s Kotaku Talk Radio call-in podcast? Download it now to hear what Xbox 360 product manager Aaron Greenberg has to say, then subscribe so that you don’t ever miss it again. Me? I’m downloading it right now, as I missed today’s episode of Kotaku Talk Radio, in which I assume Mr. Greenberg made bold claims about the continued success of the Xbox 360, Xbox Live and the bazillion exclusive games that will generate trillions of dollars in income for Microsoft. Your host, Brian Crecente, flies solo while regular in-studio host Stephen Totilo covers all things DICE. Grab the newest episode from any of the links below. Download the MP3 [Chat About It] Listen to it [Chat About It] Subscribe via RSS [Chat About It] Download to your iPod or iPhone [iTunes] Subscribe to podcast on iTunes [iTunes] Download to your Zune [Zune]

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Our Weekly Podcast Is Now Ready To Download In Full 360 [Podcast]

Brothers In Arms 2: Global Front Preview: Back To FPS [Preview]

After a first Brothers in Arms on iPhone that turned the World War II series into a third-person shooter, series creators Gearbox Software and publisher Gameloft are issuing a bigger first-person sequel any day now. I tried a preview build of Brothers in Arms 2: Global Front on an iPod Touch yesterday at Kotaku’s New York City office, getting a handle on the a rare iPhone/iPod sequel to a popular PC/console-born shooter brand. As positively as we reviewed the first iPhone release in the series, 2008’s Brothers in Arms: Hour of Heroes, the virtual control stick, virtual buttons and on-screen player avatar crowded out the action. The new game is in first-person, which helped clear my line of sight some. My thumb still had to cover the lower-left corner where a virtual joystick was rendered. Tucked into the edge of that corner was a crouch/stand toggle. My right thumb could touch buttons that would fire my weapon, zoom in for sniping or toss a grenade. To aim, I had to put my right thumb closer to the center of the screen, swiping as if it was a second analog stick. This left maybe the middle third of the iPod’s screen as the only unobstructed part of my theater of war. Not ideal for handling any enemies who might come in from the sides. Thankfully, in the prologue mission I played, enemies came mostly from the front. The game has 13 levels in six environments, hopscotching from Africa and Sicily to the Pacific. A Gameloft representative told me that the levels are about double the length of those in the first iPhone release, averaging about 25 minutes to play through. What the spokesperson couldn’t tell me was if or how this new Brothers in Arms fits into the narrative of the series. That’s too bad given that one of Brothers in Arms’ standout features compared to other war shooters is its cross-game, continued narrative. The other hallmark of Brothers in Arms on consoles and PC has been its tactical gunplay. In a full-sized Brothers in Arms game, cover and squad commands are usually so important that smartly orchestrating a careful enemy-suppressed flanking maneuver is the only way to not die. The new iPhone game allows the player to snap to cover, switching to a third-person view, but in the prologue level I played there was little of the tactics in the Brothers in Arms I’ve played on consoles. Instead, I was running and gunning, Call of Duty style, shaking my iPhone when I got locked into melee combat against a Japanese soldier on a Pacific beach, manning a turret. then mowing down enemy forces before rushing through a trench. The new game offers three vehicles: a plane, a jeep and a tank. It also has multiplayer, supporting six-player online and local matches. I wasn’t able to try any of those features. The game looks very good and its controls feel like they’ll work if, as mentioned above, the level design doesn’t undermine them with any needs for quick turns. The game is set for release on Apple’s app store later this week or early next, depending on when the folks at Apple flip the relevant switch.

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Brothers In Arms 2: Global Front Preview: Back To FPS [Preview]

What Does Epic Games’ Mark Rein Think Of The iPad? [Ipad]

We ran into Epic Games vice president Mark Rein at Apple’s iPad demo event today, happily tapping and gesturing to his heart’s content with one of the sleek new tablets. Will Epic bring its Unreal Engine to the iPad? Well, it already has , as Rein pointed out. The engine maker has a working demo of UE3 that runs on an iPhone 3GS (and Nvidia’s Tegra 2 system-on-a-chip), meaning it also runs on the iPad. But Rein was non-committal on a version of the engine tailored specifically for Apple’s new device, implying that Epic Games hasn’t had much, if any, hands-on development time with the iPad. Just don’t rule it out, as Rein seemed quite taken with Apple’s newest invention. “I am really impressed with the iPad,” Rein told Kotaku. “The quality of the materials is outstanding. The screen is amazing and the super-sized apps were fantastic. Everything seems to perform really well on the iPad and I was blown away by the iWork apps – I thought bringing those to iPad was a brilliant move by Apple!” Rein and I were on opposing sides of the fence, in terms of iPad’s must-have appeal. Sure, I wouldn’t mind having one, should it be given to me as a loaner or a gift, but I’m not investing in iPad version 1.0 just yet. The Epic VP sounds like he’s already convinced, lauding one app demo in particular. “The New York Times app was amazing,” Rein said. “I can’t wait to see what other companies will do for this device. The web is nice but great apps that leverage online content and data are a much better experience in my opinion.” But what about the relevant to your business stuff, Mark? Do you think the iPad is a viable gaming platform? “I was very impressed with the game demos,” Rein said. “I was surprised how good they were considering they only had a few weeks with the device. I think iPad will be great for gaming and I suspect we’ll see many games that make use of the differentiated form factor of the iPad.” Perhaps that Unreal Tournament tech demo will become something more? We’ll have to see if the Epic Games of the world will continue to let developers like Gameloft carve out a space in the iPod/iPad world. “Apple has done a great job at constantly improving the user experience on Mac and iPhone so I can only imagine where this platform can go in the future,” Rein added, practically guaranteeing at least one iPad 2.0 in the Rein household in the coming years.

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What Does Epic Games’ Mark Rein Think Of The iPad? [Ipad]

From Our Podcast: Co-Op FPS On iPhone Coming, Bayonetta 2 Not Next [Kotaku Talk Radio]

Did you miss Kotaku’s live podcast? Then you missed some news. Download links and an excerpt right here for you. Ngmoco’s Chris Plummer, producer on popular iPhone first-person-shooter Eliminate not only became the first Kotaku Talk Radio guest to need to be bleeped on air (he was pumped!) but he also told us that “We are working on other ways to play, including cooperatively in the game… we’re taking something where we have our millions of users out there in what is almost an instanced FPS RPG kind of experience right now, they’re leveled up… so now we’re working on ways to take all your Eliminate gear and stuff you’ve accumulated and instead of just going competitively, but teaming up and going up against AI-controlled enemy experiences.” Plummer said the mode is being tested now, release date TBD. It’ll be called “Extermination Mode.” Jump to the 40 minute mark to hear more. Also, Geoff Keighley let us know that the new game from Bayonetta-makers Platinum Games that will be announced Thursday night on his Game Trailers TV show will not be Bayonetta 2. Any guesses, then? Host: Stephen Totilo Guest: Geoff Keighley and Ngmoco’s Chris Plummer Download the MP3 [Chat About It] Listen to it [Chat About It] Subscribe via RSS [Chat About It] Download to your iPod or iPhone [iTunes] Subscribe to podcast on iTunes [iTunes] Download to your Zune [Zune]

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From Our Podcast: Co-Op FPS On iPhone Coming, Bayonetta 2 Not Next [Kotaku Talk Radio]

Pocket God Micro-Review: Heaven or Hell? [Review]

You are god. That’s the premise of iPhone app Pocket God from the two-man developer team Bolt Creative. But is it a heavenly experience or a hellish one? In Pocket God, players are a divine hand. As the first sentence of this review explains, you are god. And, as god, you can do pretty much whatever you want. Keen to create more Pygmies? Pop out six islander inhabitants. Want to throw them into a volcano? How about crack open coconuts on their heads? Roast their food? Players can care for his or her Pygmies or humorously torture them for sadistic pleasure. As god, players have control over the island, including the weather and even gravity. The US $0.99 app was released way back in January 2009, but over this past weekend, the game officially surpassed two million downloads on the Apple App Store, making it the first app to reach the magic 2 million mark. The game was developed and published by flash dev studio Bolt Creative (Dave Castelnuovo and Andrew Donley) in less than a week. The game has spawned a slew of imitators. Its success has been one of the industry’s Cinderella stories. Fairy tales are nice and all, but let’s see how the game stacks up: Loved Robust Support: The game is $0.99. Is chewing gum even 99 cents anymore? Even at $0.99, Bolt Creative continues to support the title, providing regular (and meaty!) updates that expand and enrich the Pocket God experience with new items and episodes for players to have their way with. The aftercare players get from Bolt is to be applauded. Game industry, take note! You Really Are God: Well, it is a god game. The nice thing about Pocket God is that it gives players the freedom to play it as they see fit. If players want to simply kill a few minutes of free time by taking care of (or taking advantage of) their Pygmies, Pocket God provides that experience. If players want a more challenging, and even deeper experience, the game does over that to a certain degree. For example, defeating the game’s Ice Monster proved way more difficult than I originally assumed it would be! Strong Production Values: For an app that costs $0.99 and was developed by two guys in less than a week, Pocket God doesn’t really look like an app that costs $0.99 and was developed by two guys in less than a week. The controls are responsive and take full advantage of the iPod/iPhone’s features — such as using the accelerometer to cause an earthquake. The design is cute and makes even the more gruesome aspects, such as killer fire ants, adorable, even. Pocket God is more than a simple time killer. It excels at some of the best the iPod/iPhone has to offer and does so brilliantly. While the players are put in the role of god, the real divine work here is the workman-like craft and development that went into making this title. Pocket God was developed and published by Bolt Creative for the iPhone/iPod Touch on January 9, 2009. Retails for US$.99 in the Apple App Store. A copy of the game was given to us by the developer for reviewing purposes. Played through all islands and, yes, defeated the Ice Monster.

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Pocket God Micro-Review: Heaven or Hell? [Review]

Giant Bomb’s Jeff Gerstmann In Our First-Ever, In-Studio Podcast [Kotaku Talk Radio]

Our latest podcast is now available for download. Listen in as we and some of you grill Giant Bomb ’s Jeff Gerstmann about review scores, discuss the inevitable failure of 3D and play with our fancy new sound effect buttons. We also unveiled our new, sound-engineered audio and discussed the ins and outs of this year’s Consumer Electronics Show, all from the confines of our sound studio at CBS Radio in Midtown Manhattan. Hosts: Brian Crecente and Stephen Totilo Guest: Jeff Gerstmann Download or Listen to The Show Through These Means: Download the MP3 [Chat About It] Listen to it [Chat About It] Download to your iPod or iPhone [iTunes] Subscribe to podcast on iTunes [iTunes]

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Giant Bomb’s Jeff Gerstmann In Our First-Ever, In-Studio Podcast [Kotaku Talk Radio]

What The Video Game Industry Wants For Christmas [Feature]

Christmas is a time for giving, yes, but it’s also a time for receiving. Which is more important. And while we know what we want for Christmas, we wondered: what do the big names of the video game industry want? Wondering got us to asking, so we asked around. And people like Ken Levine , Sid Meier , Gabe Newell , David Jaffe and Aaron Greenberg were kind enough to provide us with answers. Some wanted world peace. Others money. One wants to hear less Wham. Not sure Santa’s the right person to be asking that of. Anyway, without further ado, here’s what some of the video game industries biggest names (and, uh…us) hope to find under the Christmas tree come December 25. Pete Hines, Bethesda “I’d like to see the USA make it to the semifinals of the World Cup, or Wake Forest make it to the Final Four. Or both. And I’d like enough time to get through the pile of new games I need to play and haven’t gotten to yet. And money. And world peace. But mostly money.” Gabe Newell, Valve “I decided I needed a hobby, so I started teaching myself how to be a machinist. I’ve got a CNC mill, surface grinder, heat treat furnace, and lots of other devices designed to launch various body parts across my garage at high velocity while on fire. Once you start going down this path, it makes putting together a Christmas list pretty easy as there’s a near infinite amount of stuff that you can convince yourself you need. For example a year ago I’d never heard of Harvey Tool’s 270 degree undercutting end mill ( #23204 -C3), and now I can’t imagine how I’ll be able to make it through Christmas day if I don’t get it in my stocking. Band-Aids would also be nice…” Sid Meier, Firaxis “A Rickenbacker guitar! Playing and composing music is my second most favorite thing to do – next to making games of course! I’ve wanted one of these guitars for a while – hope Santa is reading this article.” Aaron Greenberg, Microsoft “The Wire box set. Because you can never have too much knowledge about the how the game is played.” Hideki Kamiya, Platinum Games “I would like lots of cute girlfriends for Christmas because I don’t really have any cute girlfriends right now.” Todd Howard, Bethesda “I’d like more time to sit in my basement and play video games. I don’t know that I’ve been nice enough to my family to deserve that though, because I’m usually in my basement playing video games.” David Jaffe, EatSleepPlay “As an agnostic who celebrates BOTH Christmas and Chanukah, my wish list includes: tickets to the Jay-Z concert at Staples center in March (I THINK my ex is getting them for me, but don’t tell her I know, cool?!?), a fantastic time with friends and family over the holiday, for the spirit of God/the Universe/whatever you choose to call it to continue to flow thru me and the amazing team at Eat Sleep Play so we can provide fans a great deal of joy and happiness in the new year; great jobs for all my gaming colleagues who are out of work right now; and finally and most importantly: health, understanding, love, and much peace to us all, especially to those who are suffering. Much love, ya’ll! Have a great holiday!” Ken Levine, 2K Boston “I’d like to get a working internet connection, Comcast! My guildmates need me! And damnit, I’ve been good enough to deserve a trip to the Scarlet Monastery.” Frank O’Connor, 343 Studios “Is it too much to ask Santa for a 50 inch Samsung LED TV? It’s not because of the picture so much as it’s the absolute, wafer-thin flatness of it. I have already been cheated, by life, out of a flying car. I just want a TV that looks like it would melt in your mouth. And then I could watch a documentary about world peace on it.” Ben Judd, Capcom “If I could get anything for Christmas it would be a reduction in the amount of times I had to hear “Last Christmas” by Wham! in the various convenience stores, department stores, even the local pork cutlet shop. All of those not living in Japan, thank your lucky stars you this song doesn’t have nearly the exposure in your country as it does in Japan. I have a very high threshold for pain… I even didn’t mind Hanson. But hearing this song more than 100 times in a single 30 day span can break any man. Any man.” Larry “Major Nelson” Hryb, Microsoft “I need Bioshock 2 to be worthy of the first game. I need it to be great! Can’t start next year with a broken heart.” Atsushi Inaba, Platinum Games “I’d like a deserted island, surrounded by emerald green seas. I think even if I really shouldn’t, having an island would make me feel like taking a vacation.” Luke Plunkett, Kotaku “What do I want, readers? I want the complete Battlestar Galactica collection on Blu-Ray. I’ll probably end up with something else, since that’s so damn expensive, but we’re talking about what I want here, not what I think I’ll get.” Stephen Totilo, Kotaku “I want all my comics to magically turn into trade paperbacks, my old cassette tapes to suddenly be on my iPod and all my video games accessible from harddrives instead of discs. And I want all of that to be indestructible and always accessible, please? Oh, and more time to read would be nice.” Michael Fahey, Kotaku “I want to know how to read and speak Japanese for Christmas. It would be lovely if this was something you could receive in a box with a neatly-wrapped bow around it. See, I’ve imported Final Fantasy XIII, and while I am to the point where I can make out a word in katakana if you give me a few minutes, I am relatively sure that won’t do in this situation. Other than suddenly having knowledge of a language that takes years to learn, my list mainly consists of harder-to-find games. Bust-A-Groove for the PlayStation (I own a Japanese copy I can’t play in anything,) and Thousand Arms. I would kill for a nice copy of Thousand Arms, probably my favorite RPG on the PlayStation. I suppose killing isn’t in keeping with the season. I’d…hug an orphan for a nice copy of Thousand Arms.” Amanda Glasser, Kotaku “Well, since I didn’t get The Hangover on DVD for Hanukkah, I’d like that for Christmas, as well as Family Guy’s Something Something Dark Side. The holidays are usually a real drag at my house and I’m forbidden to play video games because it’s not ’spending time with the family,’ so I’ll need funny stuff like this to watch while the family is in the same room with me. “Also, I’m still holding out for that pony.” Owen Good, Kotaku More than anything I want a conference championship in either football or men’s basketball for North Carolina State University. That’s all. Not a Final Four. I don’t even care about the Orange Bowl. Just a fucking Atlantic Coast Conference championship, which I’ve won a thousand times on my Xbox 360 in NCAA Football and Basketball, but which my school hasn’t seen in real life since Jim Valvano and Bo Rein . Both coaches died young, and tragically. My wish doesn’t really have much to do with games, unfortunately. But you asked, and when I honestly think of something that would make me happier than I have ever been in years, if only for a day, that is it. PIC via Matti Matilla’s Flickr photostream

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What The Video Game Industry Wants For Christmas [Feature]

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