The Silver Age: Is Valve The New (Old) Marvel? [Syndicated]

Jason McIntosh, producer of television show The Gameshelf and writer of the blog of the same name , explores the similarities between the video game and comic book markets of the past and present. Here, his second entry on the subject. More

Kotaku Originals: Insanity Ward [Original]

The onslaught of news this week was enough to send anyone to the nuthouse. Activision sacking Infinity Ward’s founders takes the gold, the PS3 clock error the silver, and Portal 2 a hard-fought bronze. The week in Kotaku’s original reporting: Activision vs. Infinity Ward Founders Ex-Infinity Ward Heads Claim “Orwellian” Moves By Activision Infinity Ward Founders Suing Activision Over Unpaid Royalties Video Games’ Team Coco Moment Where To Next For Call Of Duty? Infinity Ward Vs. Activision: The Battle For Creative Direction Guess Which Three Games Help Keep Activision Afloat Scandal Hits Call Of Duty Devs: What We Know Déjà Vu Surrounds Infinity Ward Rumors The Great PS3 Outrage PS3 Error 8001050F: The Nightmare May Be Over PS3s Suffering From Global Network Lockdown PS3 Failure, You Are Not Alone Portal 2 Portal Mysteriously Updated With Secret Radio Codes, New Achievement Portal 2 Adds Multiplayer Co-op, New & Familiar Characters An Insider’s Guide to Portal 2 Top Stories Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell Policy Nixed on Xbox 360 Live NHL 2K Isn’t Dead, It’s Just Resting Valve Teases Upcoming Mac Announcement, Not So Subtly K Monthly – February 2010 Kotaku Talk Radio Bad Company 2 Devs Have Nothing But Love For The Modding Community News God Of War III’s First Big Boss Battle Is Unforgettable The Next Big Thing In Video Games Might Be Fear Of Embarrassment iPhone Chart Toppers: Final Fantasies It Would Be Like Call Of Duty, But You Would Only Control A Leg DSi XL Versus iPad: The Battle of the Bigger Versions Which Pokemon Song Do You Like Better? We Were Wrong About Nier Before … Or We Are Now When Does God of War Go Too Far? When Someone Laughs Mirror’s Edge On iPhone Doing The Canabalt Aion Patch 1.9: Changing Perceptions And Pleasing The Players Revisiting The Great Class Dash: TF2’s Side-Scroller A Number of Boom Blox Developers Let Go Ex-Team Ninja Boss Has A New Studio With A New Name Five Yakuza Movies You Must See… Play A Facebook Game To Help The War Effort On Your Xbox 360, Or Vice Versa NSFW: Heavy Rain Glitch Brings Playable, Accidental Nudity Rumor: Screens From Unannounced Justice League Video Game Reviews, Previews, Hands-On and Impressions Battlefield: Bad Company 2 Review: Judging A Book By Its Cover Works Sonic & Sega All-Stars Racing Review: Remaster System Mega Man 10 Micro-Review: Capcom Had Mercy Match Defense Toy Soldiers Micro-Review: Finally, Mom Can Help Toy Soldiers Micro-review: A Farewell To Arms? Max & The Magic Marker Preview: For Those With Imagination The Secret Armory of General Knoxx Micro-Review: Hot Coals Over a Cakewalk Movies Alice In Wonderland Movie Review: A Bitter Underland The Crazies Review: Left 4 Dead In a Small Town An Eyes-On Sneak Peek At Tron Legacy… In 3D!!! Columns Well Played: Collateral Damage In The War On Piracy Speak-Up On Kotaku: Team Ninja, Splitscreen’s Absence, Used Games, And The Birthday Lord Twitterati: Gears of War Designer Mentions Something About Doing Things In Threes Stick Jockey: More Than Money, Licenses Give a League Control Tim Rogers: Japan: It’s Not Funny Anymore The PS2 at 10 The PS2’s First Ten Years: A Timeline Show Us Your 10-Year-Old PlayStation 2 My 10 Years With The PlayStation 2 The Road to the IGF Mile Marker 7: Limbo Mile Marker 8: Heroes of Newerth Mile Marker 9: Joe Danger Mile Marker 10: Shatter Roundups This Week In Comics The Tester: Episode 3: The “There’s No Cry In Team” Liveblog: No Goof Deed Goes Unpunished A Week In Comments Dammit Red Dead Redemption Delayed To May Your Red Dead Redemption Survival Guide: Listen To This! Kotaku ‘Shop Contest Kotaku ‘Shop Contest: Next-Gen Cereal System Edition Kotaku ‘Shop Contest: Worst Sonic & Sega Cameos Edition Winners

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Kotaku Originals: Insanity Ward [Original]

Kotaku Originals: Insanity Ward [Original]

The onslaught of news this week was enough to send anyone to the nuthouse. Activision sacking Infinity Ward’s founders takes the gold, the PS3 clock error the silver, and Portal 2 a hard-fought bronze. The week in Kotaku’s original reporting: Activision vs. Infinity Ward Founders Ex-Infinity Ward Heads Claim “Orwellian” Moves By Activision Infinity Ward Founders Suing Activision Over Unpaid Royalties Video Games’ Team Coco Moment Where To Next For Call Of Duty? Infinity Ward Vs. Activision: The Battle For Creative Direction Guess Which Three Games Help Keep Activision Afloat Scandal Hits Call Of Duty Devs: What We Know Déjà Vu Surrounds Infinity Ward Rumors The Great PS3 Outrage PS3 Error 8001050F: The Nightmare May Be Over PS3s Suffering From Global Network Lockdown PS3 Failure, You Are Not Alone Portal 2 Portal Mysteriously Updated With Secret Radio Codes, New Achievement Portal 2 Adds Multiplayer Co-op, New & Familiar Characters An Insider’s Guide to Portal 2 Top Stories Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell Policy Nixed on Xbox 360 Live NHL 2K Isn’t Dead, It’s Just Resting Valve Teases Upcoming Mac Announcement, Not So Subtly K Monthly – February 2010 Kotaku Talk Radio Bad Company 2 Devs Have Nothing But Love For The Modding Community News God Of War III’s First Big Boss Battle Is Unforgettable The Next Big Thing In Video Games Might Be Fear Of Embarrassment iPhone Chart Toppers: Final Fantasies It Would Be Like Call Of Duty, But You Would Only Control A Leg DSi XL Versus iPad: The Battle of the Bigger Versions Which Pokemon Song Do You Like Better? We Were Wrong About Nier Before … Or We Are Now When Does God of War Go Too Far? When Someone Laughs Mirror’s Edge On iPhone Doing The Canabalt Aion Patch 1.9: Changing Perceptions And Pleasing The Players Revisiting The Great Class Dash: TF2’s Side-Scroller A Number of Boom Blox Developers Let Go Ex-Team Ninja Boss Has A New Studio With A New Name Five Yakuza Movies You Must See… Play A Facebook Game To Help The War Effort On Your Xbox 360, Or Vice Versa NSFW: Heavy Rain Glitch Brings Playable, Accidental Nudity Rumor: Screens From Unannounced Justice League Video Game Reviews, Previews, Hands-On and Impressions Battlefield: Bad Company 2 Review: Judging A Book By Its Cover Works Sonic & Sega All-Stars Racing Review: Remaster System Mega Man 10 Micro-Review: Capcom Had Mercy Match Defense Toy Soldiers Micro-Review: Finally, Mom Can Help Toy Soldiers Micro-review: A Farewell To Arms? Max & The Magic Marker Preview: For Those With Imagination The Secret Armory of General Knoxx Micro-Review: Hot Coals Over a Cakewalk Movies Alice In Wonderland Movie Review: A Bitter Underland The Crazies Review: Left 4 Dead In a Small Town An Eyes-On Sneak Peek At Tron Legacy… In 3D!!! Columns Well Played: Collateral Damage In The War On Piracy Speak-Up On Kotaku: Team Ninja, Splitscreen’s Absence, Used Games, And The Birthday Lord Twitterati: Gears of War Designer Mentions Something About Doing Things In Threes Stick Jockey: More Than Money, Licenses Give a League Control Tim Rogers: Japan: It’s Not Funny Anymore The PS2 at 10 The PS2’s First Ten Years: A Timeline Show Us Your 10-Year-Old PlayStation 2 My 10 Years With The PlayStation 2 The Road to the IGF Mile Marker 7: Limbo Mile Marker 8: Heroes of Newerth Mile Marker 9: Joe Danger Mile Marker 10: Shatter Roundups This Week In Comics The Tester: Episode 3: The “There’s No Cry In Team” Liveblog: No Goof Deed Goes Unpunished A Week In Comments Dammit Red Dead Redemption Delayed To May Your Red Dead Redemption Survival Guide: Listen To This! Kotaku ‘Shop Contest Kotaku ‘Shop Contest: Next-Gen Cereal System Edition Kotaku ‘Shop Contest: Worst Sonic & Sega Cameos Edition Winners

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Kotaku Originals: Insanity Ward [Original]

Blur Challenge Messages Can Be Sent Over Xbox Live, Too [Multiplayer]

The Twitter-integrated challenge system in Blur allows players to send friends times to beat, regardless of what platform they use. Bizarre Creations says they’ll also be sent as Xbox Live dashboard messages, allowing for some multiplayer without a Gold account. The difference, of course, is the challenge doesn’t take place head-to-head. Friends get a message (editable by the sender) containing the results and other information from the sender’s race and a challenge to try to beat it. He’s then free to do so on his time. Bizarre Creations told MTV Multiplayer the challenge-message system was conceived because the studio’s design staff had friends flung across the globe in vastly different time zones, or were leading busy lifestyles that didn’t have them online at predictable times to race against friends. “A lot of us have kids and family and stuff, but we’re finding that as we’re getting older we’re just not able to get everyone together to play at the same time,” lead designer Gareth Wilson said. ‘ Blur ‘ Multiplayer Allows Competition Across Platforms And XBL Silver Accounts [MTV Multiplayer]

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Blur Challenge Messages Can Be Sent Over Xbox Live, Too [Multiplayer]

Activision Terminates Fan-Made King’s Quest Extension [King's Quest]

The team of King’s Quest enthusiasts who had, since 2002, been working on an unofficial continuation of the seminal adventure game, have complied with a demand by Activision to cease all development of their game. The Silver Lining has a long and unusual history, even for fan-built games. The final official installment of King’s Quest came in 1998 . Two years later, enthusiasts started their first attempt at coding their own sequel, starting over with the current development volunteers, Phoenix Online Studios, in 2002. From the beginning, the team asserted a right to the project under U.S. fair use copyright law. In 2005, Phoenix Online survived its first cease-and-desist order from the rights holder at the time, Vivendi Universal. Outcry and backlash over the project’s termination led to an extraordinary non-commercial “fan license” granted for The Silver Lining . However, Sierra’s intellectual property has since changed hands from Vivendi to Activision. And Activision is not interested in continuing this license or crafting another non-commercial agreement. Says the developers: After talks and negotiations in the last few months between ourselves and Activision, they have reached the decision that they are not interested in granting a non-commercial license to The Silver Lining , and have asked that we cease production and take down all related materials on our website. As before, we must and will comply with this decision, as much as we may wish we could do otherwise. We cannot say enough how much we appreciate the support we have had over these years from our fans. Without you, we would never have gotten this far. There would be no game to develop, and no one to develop it for. You have been amazing and steadfast, and we will always remember that and appreciate it more than we can say. Sadly, after eight years of dedicated work and even more dedicated fans, The Silver Lining project is closing down. What’s more, the C&D requires closure of most of the forums set up to support the project’s development. Phoenix Online says it is building a new, empty forum so fans brought together by the project can stay in touch. The Silver Lining [site]

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Activision Terminates Fan-Made King’s Quest Extension [King's Quest]

Week in Games: Baseball’s Back [New Releases]

Pitchers and catchers reported last week. One week later we have opening day on the consoles, as MLB 2K10 and MLB 10 the Show release on Tuesday. Oh yeah, Battlefield: Bad Company 2 is also out. This week’s count: Eleven for PC, 10 for Wii, nine for DS, six for PSP, five for Xbox 360, three for PS3 and two for PS2. Sunday (Feb. 28) Aztec Treasure Hunt (DS) City Builder (Wii) Crazy Garage (DS, PC, Wii) Dust Devils (360) Ella’s Hope (PC) Gunbird 2 Remix (PSP) Halfbrick Rocket Racing (PSP) House M.D. (PC) Hubert the Teddy Bear: Winter Games (Wii) Hunted (PC) Party Designer (DS) Royal Envoy (PC) Theatre of War II – Kursk 1943 (PC) Zooloretto (Wii) Monday (March 1) Alganon (PC) Build-a-Bear Workshop: Friendship Valley (Wii, DS) Dante’s Inferno (PSP) Mega Man 10 (Wii) Tuesday (March 2) Alice in Wonderland (DS, Wii) Battle of Giants: Mutant Insects (DS) Battlefield: Bad Company 2 (PC, PS3, 360) Foto Showdown (DS) Lips: Party Classics (360) Lunar: Silver Star Harmony (PSP) Major League Baseball 2K10 (PS2, PS3, PSP, Wii, 360) MLB 10: The Show (PS2, PS3, PSP) Project Runway (Wii) Silent Hunter V: Battle of the Atlantic (PC) Sonic Classic Collection (DS) SpongeBob’s Boating Bash (DS, Wii) Supreme Commander 2 (PC) Wednesday (May 3) Clover: A Curious Tale (PC) Toy Soldiers (360)

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Week in Games: Baseball’s Back [New Releases]

Fantasy RPG Risen Now Available at Retail Stores for $49.99

Deep Silver, the games label of Koch Media, announced today that Risen is now available on the Xbox 360 video game and entertainment system from Microsoft in North America; the epic fantasy RPG will cost $49.99 at video game stores.

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Fantasy RPG Risen Now Available at Retail Stores for $49.99

Microsoft Prices And Dates The Xbox Live Block Party [Xbox Live]

Microsoft gets its Xbox Live Block Party started right, scheduling the weekly releases of Toy Soldiers, Scrap Metal, Perfect Dark, and Game Room, with a chance for players to score Microsoft points and a month of Xbox Live Gold. The Xbox Live Block Party is a month-long celebration of….something or another, taking place over the course of next month, punctuated by the release of some major titles for the Xbox Live Arcade, including Rare’s update of Perfect Dark and Game Room, Microsoft’s free, avatar-driven retro arcade application. Here’s the release schedule, along with the prices for next month’s releases: March 3rd: Toy Soldiers -1200 points March 10: Scrap Metal – 1200 points March 17: Perfect Dark – 800 points March 24: Game Room – Free to download. Individual games will cost 240 to 400 points So picking up each game and the free download of Game Room will run you $40, but Microsoft is softening the blow to your wallet, with folks who purchase the whole shebang scoring 400 bonus MS points, along with an extra month of Xbox Live Gold for current Gold subscribers. Once all of the games are released, Microsoft is holding a free online play weekend for the Block Party titles from March 26 to March 29, giving Silver members a chance to see what they’re missing out on. So, what are you folks planning to buy? Xbox LIVE Block Party details and dates [Major Nelson]

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Microsoft Prices And Dates The Xbox Live Block Party [Xbox Live]

Report: Menace II Society Directors To Helm Akira Flick [Hollywood]

The Hughes brothers, best known for their urban crime drama Menace II Society and more recently The Book of Eli , will be bringing the cyberpunk Akira manga to the silver screen, says New York magazine. The screen will be penned by Iron Man writers Mark Fergus and Hawk Ostby and produced by Leonardo DiCaprio. Instead of trying to cram all of 2,000 plus pages of the Akira manga epic into two hours, Warner Bros. is planning on releasing the film in two parts. Each part would cover three volumes of the manga. (Not entirely convinced the world even needs a Hollywood adaptation of Akira!) The Hughes brothers could be a good choice: Menace II Society was solid and Book of Eli looks cool. Too bad Dead Presidents and From Hell were crap. This is unconfirmed, but we do not imagine that Warner Bros. will greenlight an entire Japanese cast for the picture. Originally released in 1982, Katsuhiro Otomo’s Akira debuted. The manga become a feature film anime , directed by Otomo. Akira changed the way many outside Japan thought about Japanese animation. Over the years, Akira has gotten several video game adaptations, including 1988 Famicom game as well as a PS2 titles. Look forward to the rushed game adaptions of this upcoming feature film! Vulture Exclusive: The Hughes Brothers to Direct the Akira Remake — Vulture [NY Mag via ANN ]

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Report: Menace II Society Directors To Helm Akira Flick [Hollywood]

Report: Menace II Society Directors To Helm Akira Flick [Hollywood]

The Hughes brothers, best known for their urban crime drama Menace II Society and more recently The Book of Eli , will be bringing the cyberpunk Akira manga to the silver screen, says New York magazine. The screen will be penned by Iron Man writers Mark Fergus and Hawk Ostby and produced by Leonardo DiCaprio. Instead of trying to cram all of 2,000 plus pages of the Akira manga epic into two hours, Warner Bros. is planning on releasing the film in two parts. Each part would cover three volumes of the manga. (Not entirely convinced the world even needs a Hollywood adaptation of Akira!) The Hughes brothers could be a good choice: Menace II Society was solid and Book of Eli looks cool. Too bad Dead Presidents and From Hell were crap. This is unconfirmed, but we do not imagine that Warner Bros. will greenlight an entire Japanese cast for the picture. Originally released in 1982, Katsuhiro Otomo’s Akira debuted. The manga become a feature film anime , directed by Otomo. Akira changed the way many outside Japan thought about Japanese animation. Over the years, Akira has gotten several video game adaptations, including 1988 Famicom game as well as a PS2 titles. Look forward to the rushed game adaptions of this upcoming feature film! Vulture Exclusive: The Hughes Brothers to Direct the Akira Remake — Vulture [NY Mag via ANN ]

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Report: Menace II Society Directors To Helm Akira Flick [Hollywood]

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