The Fitness Controllers Are White, Because Black Looked Heavy [Gdc]

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Three-Year-Old Kills Herself With Game Controller-Shaped Gun [Tragedy]

A three-year-old in Wilson County, Tennessee died Sunday evening after accidentally shooting herself in the abdomen with a weapon she may have mistaken for a plastic Wii facsimile. At least that’s how the news is being reported today in The Tennessean. Three-year-old Cheyenne Alexis McKeehan had been playing a Nintendo Wii game in her living room using a gun-shaped controller which, according to the story, “looked very similar to the real handgun” her stepfather used to scare away dogs that were hanging about the family’s home. The child had been playing a Nintendo Wii video game, Ashe said. The game’s controller was shaped like a gun that looked very similar to the real handgun, which her stepfather had put on a table in the living room. Ashe said the girl pulled the gun off the table and it went off. My question is this: why is the Wii even mentioned in this article? Someone left a loaded handgun in reach of a three-year-old girl. That’s the story here. The fact that the child was playing with a Wii controller that looked like a real gun is a non-issue. This is a three-year-old we are talking about. Three-year-olds touch everything, regardless of whether or not it looks like something they were allowed to touch previously. Not to mention the fact that most Wii gun controllers are either white and blue or Nerf-colored, neither of which are colors commonly found in handguns. This story is horrible, unfortunate, and tragic, but the way that things are worded here make me wonder if there aren’t pair of parents out there thinking that had they not let their child play that Wii game, she would still be alive today. I don’t think the majority of our readership needs clarification on this, but just in case, no – if her stepfather had not left a loaded weapon within reach of a curious three-year-old’s hands, she would still be alive today. Accidental shooting kills Wilson County child [The Tennessean]

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Three-Year-Old Kills Herself With Game Controller-Shaped Gun [Tragedy]

Alice In Wonderland Movie Review: A Bitter Underland [Review]

Tim Burton once again treads on sacred fantasy ground in Alice in Wonderland, a twisted take on Lewis Carroll’s classic novels. How far down the rabbit hole does Burton go? Alice in Wonderland is a new movie from Tim Burton based on a classic work of literary fantasy, starring Helena Bonham Carter and Johnny Depp, not to be confused with most of Burton’s other films. Rather than creating a film based directly off Lewis Carroll’s famous works, Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland and Through the Looking Glass, Burton has opted to tell his own story, using Carroll’s iconic characters and unique fantasy setting. Is that a wise idea? We’ve seen the concept done right before, most famously in America McGee’s Alice. McGee’s vision of an older Alice, driven mad by survivor’s guilt, returning to a Wonderland transformed by her own madness, was as disturbing as it was poignant, while building off Carroll’s original work in a way that made sense in the grand scheme of things. Burton’s new movie features a 19 year-old Alice who’s forgotten all about the Wonderland (or Underland, as Burton rechristens it) of her childhood, preparing for her engagement to a wealthy young lord. Panicking at the moment of truth, Alice flees into the woods, falls down a rabbit hole, and finds herself in a strange world that remembers her, even if she doesn’t remember it. A prophetic scroll reveals that Alice is fated to become the savior of Underland, slaying a terrible beast of legend and freeing the land of the Red Queen’s tyranny. It’s about this time that Lewis Carroll fans begin to feel desperately ill, and I don’t want to be responsible for any violent heaving due to continuing on with the plot synopsis. Let’s just get straight to the review instead. Loved Bizarre Landscapes: Visually, Wonderland, or Underland, as it’s called in the movie, is a real treat. The bizarre landscapes that Alice and her odd companions wander through are unique and appealing, even if Burton couldn’t resist including a few spirals and topiary animal sculptures. It’s his thing, you know. I expected much worse, only to be delighted that Burton has either mellowed a bit with age or someone reined him in before he made this world into A Nightmare Before Wonderland. Sorry, Underland. Talking With The Animals: Due to some of the issues I had with the “human” actors in the movie, many of my favorite scenes involved the various CGI animals populating Underland. The worrisome White Rabbit, maniacally Scottish March Hare, and standoffish Dormouse stole many a scene, while Alan Rickman’s voice lent weight to the cryptic words of the hookah smoking Caterpillar. Trumping all of them, however, was comedian Stephen Fry’s turn as the Cheshire Cat, managing to win my heart despite looking like a cross between the live-action Garfield and Nightcrawler from the X-Men movies. Another Score For Danny Elfman: I’ve been a big fan of Danny Elfman’s movie music since the original Batman films, though I, like many others, have felt his work with Burton was getting a bit too formulaic. While he does explore some familiar territory with the Alice score (a women’s chorus lala-ing is one of Elfman’s trademarks), he seems to have matured somewhat, creating a sweeping fantasy score that is just as important (or possibly more so) to the film than the plot or the actors. Hated Through The Looking Glass Darkly: This is not Lewis Carroll’s Wonderland. Hell, this isn’t even Disney’s Wonderland. Rather than the fine episodic tales presented in the original works, or the woefully inaccurate yet appealing animated movie, this is a story of a young woman learning to make her own way in the world, not living life to please others, using Wonderland as a backdrop. Burton takes elements from Carroll’s works, tosses them in a blender, and pours them out into a mold more fitting his vision as a director and storyteller. Unfortunately it’s a mold he’s used far too often, and the ingredients he adds to help make the story his own – his wife, the Mad Hatter’s origin story, and renaming Wonderland to Underland – feel forced rather than natural. I won’t even get into the plot revolving around Alice being the chosen one who must defeat the Jabberwocky on the Frabjous Day with the Vorpal sword. My head will explode. It’s a generic fantasy film that Burton is trying to liven up by including well-known characters from a beloved franchise. It’s the movie equivalent of Sonic & The Black Knight. What Big Eyes You Have: How was the acting in Alice in Wonderland? It’s hard to say, mainly because 80% of the human characters in the film have been twisted into hideous mockeries of real people, thanks to the magic of truly awful computer effects. Helena Bonham Carter’s oversized head is the most distracting thing since Helena Bonham Carter’s actual head. They’ve taken Crispin Glover, already a wiry sort of fellow, and stretched him to ridiculous proportions, and sat him upon a CGI horse with a bad frame rate. I have no idea what they did to Johnny Depp’s eyes, but it makes him painful to watch, and Tweedledee and Tweedledum, both portrayed by Matt Lucas, just seem wrong. That’s the only word I can come up with. Wrong. Not only do these CGI distortions make these bizarre characters nearly unwatchable, their outrageouseness completely overshadows Mia Wasikowska’s already understated performance as Alice. Then again, considering most of the marketing material for the movie features the Mad Hatter instead of the titular heroine, maybe that was the point all along. Useless 3D: Alice in Wonderland doesn’t seem to be a movie that was made with 3D in mind, yet most of the theaters showing it in my area force you to don a pair of plastic 3D glasses to watch the film. Watching a movie with glasses on top of my regular vision correction lenses is uncomfortable enough, but when the payoff is this minimal, it’s hardly worth the effort. Aside from a few bits of scenery and some background creatures flying towards the screen, most of the 3D effects in the movie are simple depth perception tricks. In fact, it almost feels like some of the 3D elements were added after the fact, without any real thought as to how they would affect the film, such as branches in the foreground as characters travel through the forest, obscuring your view of the action, as it were. If you wind up seeing the 2D version of the movie, don’t worry – you’re not missing anything. Of all the variations on the Alice in Wonderland story I’ve seen over the years, Tim Burton’s Alice in Wonderland is by far the loosest interpretation of the source material, if you could even call it an interpretation. Burton has said that he never connected emotionally with the original story of Alice, and wanted to make his movie feel more like a story rather than a series of character meetings. This isn’t a sequel to the original Alice, or even a re-imagining. Instead, Burton treats the original story like so much wrapping paper, using the familiar characters and concepts to tell the story he wanted to tell, about a woman triumphing over societies preconceived notions of who and what she should be, by traveling to a fantasy world and becoming exactly what this other society expects her to be. Burton’s twisted sense of art design may have mellowed over the years, but it’s been replaced with a twisted sense of plot, resulting in a tangled mess of a movie hanging onto Carroll’s work like a drowning man clinging to a piece of driftwood. Alice in Wonderland was directed by Tim Burton, released on March 5th by Walt Disney Pictures. Confused by our reviews? Read our review FAQ .

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Alice In Wonderland Movie Review: A Bitter Underland [Review]

Ubisoft Announces Shaun White Skateboarding

Shaun White Skateboarding (X360) It will melt your mind.

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Ubisoft Announces Shaun White Skateboarding

Limbo: It’s Black And White And Headed To Xbox Live Arcade [Xbox Live Arcade]

Nominated for awards in Art and Technical Excellence for obvious reasons in the 12th Annual Independent Games Festival, Playdead’s stunning black and white puzzle platformer Limbo is heading to Xbox Live Arcade this summer. Limbo is the story of a young boy braving a bleak and mysterious world in order to determine the fate of his sister. The art is purely black and white, with the main character and platforming elements silhouetted against beautiful greyscale backdrops. Today Playdead announces a worldwide release for the game on consoles this year, with an exclusive summer launch on Xbox Live Arcade. Limbo will be playable at the IGF Pavilion during the 2010 Game Developers Conference next weekend. You can learn about the game at its official site, which includes a video teaser that’s even more impressive than these screens. Be sure to stay tuned to our Road to IGF coverage for more on Playdead’s Limbo.

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Limbo: It’s Black And White And Headed To Xbox Live Arcade [Xbox Live Arcade]

PlayStation Store Update: Greeks, Greed & Grandia [North America]

Hurry, get yourself to your PlayStation 3 and download the God of War III demo before everyone else starts putting a hurtin’ on the PlayStation Network. Actually, there’s a lot of new stuff on the PlayStation Store this week. The North American version of the store has the new PSone Classic Grandia, plus that Darksiders demo you were promised and plenty of PSP games, demos and other downloadable gems that will probably be occupying hard drive space later tonight. Don’t forget about the Uncharted 2: Among Thieves Drake’s Fortune multiplayer content, which may be confusingly titled for some. Oh man, and the Borderlands Secret Armory of General Knoxx expansion is out too? Eesh! You better get some background downloading queued up. Here’s the full list. Games & Demos for PlayStation 3 Greed Corp. ($9.99) PSone Classics: Grandia ($9.99) God of War III Demo Darksiders Demo Digger HD Demo Games & Demos for PSP echoshift ($14.99) GTI Club Supermini Festa! ($29.99) PSP minis: Retro Cave Flyer ($4.99) PSP minis: The Terminator ($6.99) PSP minis: Age of Zombies ($4.99) The Eye of Judgment Legends Demo Expansions & Add-ons Uncharted 2: Among Thieves Drake’s Fortune MP Map Pack ($3.99) Uncharted 2: Among Thieves Drake’s Fortune MP Skin Pack ($2.99) Uncharted 2: Among Thieves Drake’s Fortune MP Pack (bundle) ($5.99) LittleBigPlanet White Knight Chronicles Costume Pack ($5.99) LittleBigPlanet White Knight Chronicles Black Knight Costume ($1.99) LittleBigPlanet White Knight Chronicles Dragon Knight Costume ($1.99) LittleBigPlanet White Knight Chronicles Leonard Costume ($1.99) LittleBigPlanet White Knight Chronicles White Knight Costume ($1.99) Borderlands Secret Armory of General Knoxx ($9.99) Dante’s Inferno Animated Film Dante Costume ($1.99) FIFA 10 Ultimate Team (English, Spanish, French) ($4.99 each) Operation Flashpoint Dragon Rising Overwatch Pack ($4.99) Valkyria Chronicles Challenge of the Edy ($4.99) Guitar Hero 5 tracks “Can You Take Me” by Third Eye Blind ($1.99) “Losing a Whole Year” by Third Eye Blind ($1.99) “Never Let You Go” by Third Eye Blind ($1.99) Third Eye Blind Track Pack ($5.49) “Can You Take Me”, “Losing A Whole Year”, and “Never Let You Go” by Third Eye Blind Rock Band tracks “Distracted” by KSM ($1.99) “Walking on the Moon” by The Police ($1.99) “Heartkiller” by HIM ($1.99) “Ode to Solitude” by HIM ($1.99) “Wings of a Butterfly” by HIM ($1.99) “Just For Tonight” by One Night Only ($1.99) “The Dope Show” by Marilyn Manson ($1.99) HIM Pack 1 ($5.49) – “Heartkiller,” “Ode to Solitude,” and “Wings of a Butterfly” by HIM. Game Videos The Tester Episode 2 “Communication Breakdown” (free) PlayStation 3 TV Commercial – “Grandma” MLB 10: The Show Reveal Trailer SOCOM Fireteam Bravo 3 Launch Trailer MAG “Dear PlayStation” Spot MAG: How To – Leadership Overview MAG: How To – OIC MAG: How To – Platoon Leader MAG: How To – Squad Leader Yakuza 3 Dev Diary 1 Dragon Age: Origins Awakening Trailer War Machine Trailer Sonic & Sega All-Stars Racing All-Star Moves Trailer Themes & Wallpapers MLB 10: The Show Themes (Diamondbacks, Orioles, Red Sox, Rockies, Dodgers, Yankees, Padres, Giants, Rays, and Blue Jays) (free) MAG SVER Dynamic Theme ($2.99) MAG Raven Dynamic Theme ($2.99) MAG Valor Dynamic Theme ($2.99) Abstracted Theme ($1.49) Irish Flags Theme ($1.99) Wallpaper (free) Madden NFL 11 Contest Wallpapers (x3) (Drew Brees, Jared Allen and Reggie Wayne)

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PlayStation Store Update: Greeks, Greed & Grandia [North America]

Initial Rankings for MLB 10 The Show Released [Mlb 10 The Show]

Earlier this week MLB 2K10 revealed its team numeric ratings. MLB 10 The Show has now divulged its rankings of all 30 Major League teams across four categories. The New York Yankees are this year’s overall No. 1. The Show’s rankings come in four flavors: Overall, hitting, pitching and defense. I’ve broken them out here. Overall Team Rankings 1 Yankees 2 Red Sox 3 Phillies 4 Dodgers 5 Rays 6 Braves 7 Angels 8 Rockies 9 Cubs 10 Rangers 11 Diamondbacks 12 Twins 13 White Sox 14 Giants 15 Blue Jays 16 Cardinals 17 Mets 18 Brewers 19 Reds 20 Orioles 21 Mariners 22 Astros 23 Athletics 24 Tigers 25 Padres 26 Marlins 27 Royals 28 Nationals 29 Pirates 30 Indians Team Hitting Rankings 1 Yankees 2 Red Sox 3 Phillies 4 Rangers 5 Rays 6 Rockies 7 Angels 8 Cubs 9 Braves 10 Dodgers 11 Twins 12 Blue Jays 13 Diamondbacks 14 Orioles 15 Mets 16 Giants 17 Reds 18 White Sox 19 Brewers 20 Cardinals 21 Marlins 22 Mariners 23 Nationals 24 Astros 25 Pirates 26 Padres 27 Royals 28 Indians 29 Tigers 30 Athletics Team Pitching Rankings 1 Yankees 2 Dodgers 3 Red Sox 4 Braves 5 Diamondbacks 6 White Sox 7 Phillies 8 Athletics 9 Cubs 10 Angels 11 Twins 12 Rays 13 Giants 14 Tigers 15 Cardinals 16 Rockies 17 Brewers 18 Padres 19 Mariners 20 Royals 21 Reds 22 Mets 23 Rangers 24 Astros 25 Blue Jays 26 Nationals 27 Pirates 28 Indians 29 Orioles 30 Marlins Team Defense Rankings 1 Red Sox 2 Mets 3 Mariners 4 Dodgers 5 Phillies 6 Yankees 7 White Sox 8 Rays 9 Astros 10 Blue Jays 11 Rangers 12 Orioles 13 Cardinals 14 Tigers 15 Royals 16 Angels 17 Athletics 18 Nationals 19 Reds 20 Pirates 21 Giants 22 Braves 23 Twins 24 Rockies 25 Indians 26 Cubs 27 Diamondbacks 28 Brewers 29 Marlins 30 Padres Again, I am plainly astonished at the rank given to Boston’s hitting. I’ll admit to not being the most sophisticated analyst of stats but this seems either reputational in nature or based on past performance, and in David Ortiz’s case, past performance that’s two years ago. By the same token, I’m flummoxed by the Red Sox’ No. 2 rating in pitching, but that’s an incremental difference between it and the No. 1 where I believe it should be. The Phillies’ No. 7 pitching is a real eye-popper to me. The Roy Halladay trade was Dec. 16 and I can scarcely believe these rankings reflect a roster before that date. Other notes: The Cardinals and Cubs are almost completely swapped compared with MLB 2K10. They go from 7 and 13 in 2K10, respectively, to 9 and 16 here. Might not be an apples to apples comparison because 2K gave ratings, and these are positions relative to one another, but still, it’s curious. Update: EnigmaNemesis points out this Operation Sports thread , featuring an SCEA community manager, explaining how the ratings are developed. “Player ratings are not done by human hands,” he says. It’s all done by a program that examines the past three years, with the most recent year given the most weight. MLB 10 The Show is a PlayStation 3 exclusive and releases March 2. MLB 10 The Show Team Rankings [Pasta Padre]

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Initial Rankings for MLB 10 The Show Released [Mlb 10 The Show]

One Headache Averted [Note]

To: Ash From: Crecente Loved your piece this morning on White Dog and its tangential link to Dante’s Inferno. Great stuff. I finally, finally finished playing through Aliens Vs. Predators this afternoon. Single player is meh, but man there are some AMAZING multiplayer modes. It appears all it takes is one movie review for a lot of people to forget our commenting policies, despite having four posts a day in which they can go off on random tangents. What’s so disappointing is that people decide to derail potential on-topic conversation with complaints about the topic of a story instead of just moving on. It’s like some people feel that they are obligated to read every story on Kotaku. I guess that’s nice, but I’d prefer they skip the stuff they’re not interested in, or at least not waste everyone’s time with unrelated comments. Comment moderation is a big deal, allowing people to fill a post with off topic conversation and name calling could potentially end with the post overrun by trolling, memes and off topic commenters. I know you know that we not only don’t mind when someone disagrees with us, we like it, just so it’s civil and about the story at hand. And the star commenters, they’re supposed to be the intellectual of Kotaku. In theory people should be able to click on “show featured discussions only” and get a nice cross section of on-topic opinion about the topic at hand. Unfortunately, that’s not always the case. As a reminder commenters should read this . What you missed: Bungie Explains If Halo Reach Is More of an ODST or a Halo 3 Game Mile Marker 21: Owlboy Alan Wake Preview: The First Full Episode Halo 3 Multiplayer Servers Will Survive Halo Reach’s Launch Judging The Covers Of Games, And How To Make Them Better Percy Jackson & the Olympians: The Lightning Thief Review: A Muddled Mess Bobby Kotick, Warm and Fuzzy, Defends Notorious No-Fun Statements Activision Chief Regrets Not Making Guitar Hero With Harmonix World Of Warcraft Plushies: On The Wings Of Cuteness

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One Headache Averted [Note]

Video Game Namesake Wins Olympic Gold [Olympics]

“Shaun White” isn’t just some name on some snowboarding game called Shaun White Snowboarding. He’s an actual person! And he’s won Olympic gold. Again. After taking Olympic gold for halfpipe at the 2006 Torino competition, White has won gold yet again at the 2010 Vancouver Winter Games. White did so well on his first run that he posted the recording-breaking top score. So does that mean there is a Shaun White Snowboarding coverboy curse? No, quite the opposite. White, Vonn, Davis Win Olympic Gold in Record-Tying U.S. Haul [BusinessWeek] [ Pic ]

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Video Game Namesake Wins Olympic Gold [Olympics]

White Chili [Note]

To: Ash From: Crecente Re: I’m making white chili tonight, also known as Chicken Chili Verde. I haven’t made chili in a good year or so, which is weird because I love making and eating it. Typically I make a straight-forward Texas red chili. No beans, lots of meat. So this white should be interesting. Do you like chili? You must, you lived in Texas. My red has won awards… but only in the neighborhood. What you missed: Beyond Halo, Marathon, Myth, Oni, What’s Next For Bungie At Last, A Keyboard With A LOL Button Hitler Stares Into The Memeverse, Sees Himself Staring Back First Screens From Assassin’s Creed II’s Bonfire Of The Vanities More Xbox “Programming” Coming After Success of 1 vs. 100 PoP: The Forgotten Sands Taps The Wii’s “Full Graphical Capabilities” Chime Review: Tune In, Drop Out Halo: The Mega Bloks Toys Diablo III’s Female Barbarian Is Rather Well-Armored Mile Marker 23: Star Guard These Folks Made A Marshmallow-Firing Bazooka

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White Chili [Note]

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