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Double Fine's record-breaking Kickstarter adventure has, over the past few days, rekindled the perennial discussion about the entire genre of adventure games. The classic adventure has had its death announced dozens, if not hundreds, of times over the past decade or so, with at least an equal number of rebuttals. More »
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In case you've missed it, a video game idea on Kickstarter has helped smash the site's records by raising over one million dollars in a single day. More »
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In 2007, shares in publisher THQ were going for over $30 a piece. Today, in 2012, they're going for around $0.70. Studios are rumoured to be on the chopping block. Over 200 employees are being let go. And the company's boss has taken a 50% pay cut. More »
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It's not news that you can get a plastic gun to play a video game where you get to shoot other human beings. It is news that you can get gun controllers that exist with the blessing of the U.S. Army. More »
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The guy who supposedly started this rides a crotch-rocket motorcycle, and his Facebook gallery is full of shirtless, sunglassed, dudebro posturing, koozied beer in hand. He's in marketing and he can't spell for shit, even when he's insulting you. He may even be a steroid user. More »
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"The Spike Video Game Awards are not everyone's ideal version of a video game award show, and complaining about them has become an annual event, like the show itself." Totilo wrote that over the weekend, and I agree 100%. Complaints over the show and its format are getting as tiring as the show itself, so let's spare each other the routine of throwing our arms on our hips and pontificating as to how we'd drastically change the thing, turn it into something "we" think "our" industry somehow deserves. More »
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Some time ago I realized I did not have a certain common video game fever. I didn't care about one of the most popular elements of modern video games: the Achievement. More »
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Among many of those who like to label themselves as a "gamer", there is no franchise more reviled than Call of Duty. The merest mention of its name sends people flying to post anonymous comments blasting the game as the very model of everything that's wrong with video games today. More »
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Video games are a wonder. They're built solely for people to enjoy as a leisure pursuit. They can be touching, explosive, challenging, manipulative. They are my passion in life, and I'd wager, for many of you as well. More »
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Grand Theft Auto is a franchise driven by stories, with a massive cast of characters and nearly endless replayability. But the thing that most distinguishes one Grand Theft Auto from the next is Rockstar's glorious, subversive take on each of the games' settings. More »
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There are many things I expect to see in a panel called "East Meets West, Art Direction for a Worldwide Audience." I expected to hear Isamu Kamikokuryo, the art director for Final Fantasy XIII-2 discuss how Japanese artists focus on creating new worlds, Norse mythology and its influence on the game, and drawing inspiration from Cuba for some of the beautifully rendered backgrounds. I expected to hear Jonathan Jacques-Bellêtete, the art director of Deus Ex: Human Revolution, talk about influences like Andrew Loomis and Metal Gear Solid. I had hoped for an interesting back and forth between the two designers on how technology influences artistic development as well as what happens to geographic differences in artistic influences in our increasingly connected worlds. More »
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Today's Total Recall won't be about video game history. It's about dealing with what happens when video game history is dredged back to the present and coated in bright pink lipstick. More »
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Do you ever use a word without fully understanding what it means? I have a friend like that. He uses the word "frumpy," but I'm fairly sure he's never opened the dictionary to find out just what it means. In his mind, "frumpy" means "bloated" or "bored" or whatever he needs it to mean in his present case of misappropriation. More »
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Is the new Homefront necessary? Pardon that imprudent question, but when a man is drowning in a sea of first-person shooters, may he question the next bucket? More »
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Watch me, Stephen Totilo, chatting with Times Techland's Evan Narcisse about the future fate of Nintendo. More »
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Today is the last day when the Legend of Zelda will be free through a special offer on Nintendo's 3DS. More »
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There's a new 3DS update in the wild. And it does, well...something. What exactly that is, Nintendo isn't saying, because when Nintendo updates the 3DS, it doesn't tell you what it's updated. More »
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Anders Behring Breivik was a likable loner, a seemingly harmless Norwegian who masked his sudden disappearance from society to prepare for the biggest single-handed massacre in recent history with a modern affliction: Video game addiction. More »
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Dying in a video game pisses people off. In-games advertising pisses people off. Independent free-to-play browser-based online game developer Artix figures it might as well kill two angry birds with one annoying stone, merging death with in-game ads. Isn't it just perfect? More »
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Predator drones and other high-tech weaponry are turning war into video games and making the use of military force a more, perhaps too, palatable option, an Aljazeera op-ed piece argues. More »
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This morning the U.S. Supreme Court put to rest, perhaps finally, the debate over not only whether video games are protected speech, but whether they are art. More »
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Across North America yesterday evening, PlayStation Network returned after a 23-day total blackout. In a process spanning about seven hours, the PlayStation 3's online capabilities gradually reactivated state-by-state, beginning in New York and ending in Texas. As gamers rushed to message boards to verify the news in their precincts, the evening had the feel of an election night, one whose results were cheered and celebrated by all. More »
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Over the past few weeks, Portal developer Valve and its more devoted fans have been engaged in an alternate reality game, which was believed to have resulted in people getting to play Portal 2 early. Just hours from its conclusion, it hasn't really worked out that way. More »
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I understand that role-playing video games owe their existence to role-playing tabletop games, and as a result, share many of their predecessor's customs and traditions. After all, if tabletop games need to simulate action via numeric values, then it was natural for the first video game RPGs to do the same. More »
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Much has been written about Michael Vick's dog fighting ring. About the 70 dogs seized, the cruelty they were subjected to and the two year sentence that came when the NFL football player admitted that he pitted dogs against dogs. And killed—with his own hands—the losing animals. More »
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I have a dream. That when a big shooter is released, at least some of its downloadable content caters to the crowd that prefers to game alone. More »
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>It didn't take long after MLB 11 The Show's release for everyone to notice its microtransactions menu and give it a good public flogging. While I don't claim that these things are in anyone's interest other than the publisher's, gamers do a fantastic job of making this out to be a more odious threat than it really is. More »
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There was a time when video game developers seemed to be seeking approval from a wider, more mainstream audience. More »
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Don't be fooled, I say. Ubisoft, amongst others, have been getting a lot of good press lately, including from this very site, [Kotaku editor's note: he means Rock Paper Shotgun, where this originally ran.] for the apparent backtracking on the DRM that had crippled a number of games. By insisting that players be always online as they played, Ubisoft's games became a subject of headlines – gamers' progress would be lost, players dumped out of their games, because BT pressed a wrong button somewhere, or the Sun's flares caused a blip in a wifi signal. It took Digital Rights Management to a whole new level of pointlessly ruining valid customers' experiences; while the pirates they were pretending to fight continued to enjoy a far better game. And so we celebrate as they remove this, and we compliment them for backing down from the nonsense. But I (John Walker, whose views don't necessarily reflect those of his (inevitably wrong) colleagues) say: let's just think about that a little more carefully. More »
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For a sport where things propelled by man move really fast, there aren't many games about the humble bicycle. Um, why not? More »
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Comic fans got some good (or at least promising) news yesterday, with word that two of the best series in recent years — The Walking Dead and Fables — will be turned into video games. They're a...start. I guess. More »
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A couple of weeks ago, I finished Donkey Kong Country Returns. I was warned that it would be tough. I was told I could get assistance. I resisted, until the end when I let Nintendo finish a game for me. I have no regrets. More »
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Video games are meant to be an escape from the real world. Yet sometimes, escape be damned, they do such a good job of depicting real locations that the player can't help but want to pack their bags and go travelling. More »
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It is impossible to fairly judge the Nintendo 3DS, the next hot thing from the people who brought us the Wii, until you see it in person. More »
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Hey, Nintendo: this whole 3DS launch thing may be the talk of the town this week, but when you peel back the hype of a new handheld what's left beneath isn't all high fives and back slaps. More »
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Like the movie business, video games can be incredibly insular, lots of the same kind of thing coming out at the same time. But these games — all from the same game maker — go a little beyond that. More »
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I used to think badly of some of the people I saw on the New York City subway. They were misusing video games. They didn't know what I was sure I knew: the proper way to enjoy video games. More »
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I had many fond memories playing my way through 2010, but none were as fond as these. More »
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Minecraft was the undisputed indie success story of 2010. Yet much of its appeal seems to lie in what it's not, rather than what it is. More »
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There were so many things to get excited about in 2010! So many things to cherish! Sadly, life isn't all kittens and rainbows, and for every up, there must be a down. More »
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