Kotaku Australia

Valentine’s Day Gifts For Your Sweetheart

Tracey Lien — Wed, 08 Feb 2012 16:00:10 +1100

The last time I posted links to Valentine’s Day cards a few readers cried lonely tears. Well, let me say right now that Valentine’s Day isn’t just for couples. For example, this Valentine’s Day I’m going to feed my dog a whole bunch of cookies and we’re going to frolic in the grass together. I will probably make my puppy a card, too. So here are some gift ideas ...

Melbourne Indie Dev Wins QANTAS SOYA

Tracey Lien — Wed, 08 Feb 2012 15:30:40 +1100

Harry Lee is no stranger to Kotaku. We’ve played and loved his puzzle game, Impasse, and we were charmed by his enthusiasm at Melbourne Game Jam (Katie mentions him here and here). Now he’s gotten Qantas’ attention by winning the 2012 Qantas Spirit of Youth Awards (SOYA) in the Interactive Content and Gaming category. The Interactive Content and Gaming category was only ...

Couples Who Play Together, Stay Together

Patrick Stafford — Wed, 08 Feb 2012 13:00:51 +1100

Typically too much gaming in a relationship can cause issues — but on some occasions it actually brings couples closer together. Patrick Stafford speaks to some of those couples… There is a stereotype ingrained in mainstream culture: only children play video games and adults, especially married couples and those in long-term relationships, should have outgrown them. It’ ...

Believe It Or Not! A JB-Hifi Review

Tracey Lien — Wed, 08 Feb 2012 12:30:53 +1100

Every outlet should just hang up their hats and give up. There is no point in continuing. How can anyone continue to review games when JB-Hifi is doing such a stellar job of it? As much as some people may think that Mark and I just camp out at JB in search for amusing reviews, we don’t actually do that. Actually, I have maybe done it once. Today’s JB-Hifi review was sent in by Kotaku ...

Remember This?

Tracey Lien — Wed, 08 Feb 2012 12:00:41 +1100

Do you remember the game from this fragment of a screenshot? Kotaku reader M. Ludlow has taken pity on us editors for posting screenshots that readers can guess within two minutes, so he has suggested a game that will hopefully stump everyone. Leave your answer in the comments! ...

Ask Me Stuff

Tracey Lien — Wed, 08 Feb 2012 10:30:49 +1100

You folks have any burning questions? About anything? This is Ask Me Stuff, which does exactly what it says on the tin. Leave me a question in the comments below and I’ll endeavour to answer it before the day is out. ...

You Awake To Find Yourself In A Dark Room…

Mark Serrels — Wed, 08 Feb 2012 10:30:07 +1100

You awake to find yourself in a dark room. Do you — go north? Sleep? Turn on a light switch? Or ask why? This is the opening question asked in the entertaining Youtube game The Dark Room, by a terrifying floating head with a voice like an angry Patrick Stewart. You’re choices from this point on will lead to other instructions from said floating head, and the whole thing just e ...

Schafer: Publishers Are Scared Of New IP

Tracey Lien — Wed, 08 Feb 2012 10:00:29 +1100

In a time where every other game is a sequel of some kind, Tim Schafer’s Double Fine game studio has been pumping out original IP with the likes of Iron Brigade, Stacking, and Happy Action Theatre. But according to the veteran game developer, this hasn’t been easy. The Double Fine boss has revealed that it has been difficult attracting publishers to fund new ...

More Mass Effect After Mass Effect 3?

Tracey Lien — Wed, 08 Feb 2012 09:30:17 +1100

The Mass Effect triology comes to an end this March when Mass Effect 3 is released… but will that be the end of Mass Effect forever? Perhaps not! In an interview with PSM3, Mass Effect’s producer, Casey Hudson, said that the end of the trilogy may not mean the end of the Mass Effect. When asked if he was sad that the series was coming to an ...

While You Were Sleeping

Tracey Lien — Wed, 08 Feb 2012 09:00:05 +1100

While you were sleeping, puppies happened. Along with puppies, video games also happened. So here is our usual round-up of video game happenings that you may or may not have missed out on while you were being a puppy. Mass Effect for iOS? Yes, this is a thing! EA has announced that the Mass Effect franchise will be coming to iOS in a new game called Mass Effect: Infiltrator< ...

Talk Amongst Yourselves

Mark Serrels — Wed, 08 Feb 2012 08:30:58 +1100

This is where Kotaku readers go to talk about the stuff we’re not already posting about. Think of it as the official unofficial Kotaku community forum. ...

Confirmed: SEGA Studios Australia Makes 37 Of Its Staff Redundant

Mark Serrels — Tue, 07 Feb 2012 16:00:06 +1100

We’ve just had confirmation that SEGA Studios Australia has undergone restructuring in order to focus on “the digital marketplace”, leaving 37 of its 80 staff members redundant. An direct email from the SEGA Studios Australia stated the following… As SEGA Studios Australia nears completion of London 2012™ – The Official Video Game of the Olympic Games, it is essenti ...

99 Problems But A Pitch Ain’t One

Mark Serrels — Tue, 07 Feb 2012 15:00:55 +1100

One children’s video game. Thousands of business documents, $200k in sweat equity, 150 gruelling meetings with hardball investors. Decades of experience; a paltry eight minutes to convince 20 investors using a ten slide pitch deck. Hundreds, thousands of man hours shoehorned, smelted down into one single, crucial, rapid fire 30 seconds of sell. BubbleGum Interactive has 99 problems… B ...

Journey Is Finished, Release Date Imminent

Mark Serrels — Tue, 07 Feb 2012 13:00:31 +1100

Journey was my most anticipated game of 2011 and now, in the grand future of 2012, we could be very close to a release date for thatgamecompany’s latest effort. Earlier today Jenova Chen, co-founder and Creative Director of thatgamecompany tweeted that the game was “finally finished”. All that is required now is for Sony to schedule, then announce, an official release date. At th ...

Remember This?

Mark Serrels — Tue, 07 Feb 2012 12:00:12 +1100

I’m slipping. I know I’ve made this too easy. I just know it. My prediction: over in five minutes flat! ...

4Chan Is Holding Its Very Own ‘Vidya Gaem Awards’

Mark Serrels — Tue, 07 Feb 2012 10:45:25 +1100

Man, dis gon’ be gud! 4Chan is apparently in the midst of creating its very own Game of the Year awards, and I’m actually really looking forward to it. If anything, you can truly count on 4Chan to be completely and brutally honest. Also — they have the best categories. Called the Vidya Gaem Awards, or the /v/GAs for short, the categories are as follows… - Least Hat ...

IndieCade Now Accepting Submissions

Mark Serrels — Tue, 07 Feb 2012 10:15:18 +1100

IndieCade has been described as the video game industry’s Sundance, but in reality it’s much more than that. It’s a chance to network, meet like-minded developers and learn. We’ve spoken to a couple of local developers who have attended, and they had nothing but good things to say about it. Now IndieCade is accepting submissions for its 2012 festival in October. So if you&# ...

Rockstar San Diego Hiring For New Open World Game

Mark Serrels — Tue, 07 Feb 2012 09:45:04 +1100

I think when I look back, Red Dead Redemption may be my favourite game of this generation, so when I hear that Rockstar San Diego has put up two new job ads on Gamasutra that mention “open world experiences”, you can forgive me for getting a little excited. Considering Red Dead Redemption was one of the biggest critical and commercial successes of the last few year, R ...

Bioware: We May Tell Additional Mass Effect Stories In The Future

Mark Serrels — Tue, 07 Feb 2012 09:15:49 +1100

Bioware’s greatest achievement with the Mass Effect series may be one of universe building. In a conversation I had with Casey Hudson before the release of Mass Effect 2, he insisted that the world of Mass Effect came first — before the art, before the assets, before the story. Now that we’re approaching the end of the Mass Effect trilogy, Biow ...

While You Were Sleeping

Mark Serrels — Tue, 07 Feb 2012 09:00:47 +1100

Man, my apartment is still leaking. That’s what happened while I was sleeping. You know what else happened? Game stuff. I’ve been meaning to continue my Skyrim game, now that I have nothing new I want to play, and it’s stories like this that pull me back in. A Booksellers Video Game Lament — essentially it’s a story about a major flaw in Skyrim’s intern ...