Dogs are big, dumb, infinitely lovable obedience machines. Cats—love 'em, hate 'em, or spend half your day giggleweeping to Internet videos of them—are anything but. Why are they so willfully difficult? What's going on in their heads? The short version: we don't really know. » 4/22/14 9:26pm 4/22/14 9:26pm

We know all about humans learning to empathize with goats thanks to the instant classic that is Goat Simulator. But who knew goats could master such a wide range of human emotions? Here's a whole different kind of game of goats. Be careful if you play this one, though. Because when you do, you win or you NEAHHH. » 4/09/14 7:00pm 4/09/14 7:00pm

In Japan, popstars and celebrities aren't the only ones with handshaking events: Otters have them, too. » 3/27/14 5:20am 3/27/14 5:20am

You read that headline right. Chinese internet giant NetEase will soon be selling pork. » 3/24/14 8:00am 3/24/14 8:00am

Animals are dangerous, especially wild animals. You do not want to mess with them. This, however, is not a wild animal. » 2/06/14 8:00am 2/06/14 8:00am

In what might be the most creative use of tissue ever, Fuyu Arai created this wonderful stop motion animation video for Nepia, a Japanese tissue paper company. It shows different animals like birds, dogs, kangaroos, frogs, etc. being formed through just tissue paper. The animation is so fluid that you almost believe… » 11/19/13 4:39am 11/19/13 4:39am

Just like cats, man's best friend is a returning character in every genre. We've selected those video game dogs—from games both old and new—which are usually portrayed as companions; sidekicks who can both help us with minor tasks and save our asses in difficult situations. » 3/05/13 6:30pm 3/05/13 6:30pm

I had no idea all these animals could make these sounds. Some aren't so surprising—goats screaming videos have been floating around the web this week. And some, like the frogs—the frogs!! What the heck!? » 2/15/13 10:00pm 2/15/13 10:00pm

We breed them, kill them, cook them. Millions of man-hours have been spent flinging Angry Birds at them, but has anyone ever tried playing video games with them? A team of livestock ethics researchers and game designers in the Netherlands is doing just that with Pig Chase. » 1/12/12 10:00am 1/12/12 10:00am

I've seen orangutans play video games on a touch screen, but this is the first lizard. And this Bearded Dragon doesn't need opposable thumbs to master the art of gaming, he uses his tongue. » 12/14/11 11:20am 12/14/11 11:20am

With a puppy appearing in the opening scene of the Grand Theft Auto V debut trailer, animal-loving commenter Nostrapadamous is worried that a virtual dog might run out in front of his virtual car and virtually die. In the arms of angels goes today's Speak Up on Kotaku. » 11/03/11 11:20am 11/03/11 11:20am

Britain's hedgehog population is in crisis, with many falling victim to roadkill. Sega staged a "hedgehog road crossing" to raise awareness of the creatures, and, of course, Sonic Colors. Here one's fitted with red booties. Seen via Daily Mail. » 11/10/10 11:30pm 11/10/10 11:30pm

On the topic of shooting animals in Red Dead Redemption, one player of Rockstar's big Western writes to Kotaku about his resistance to killing virtual bison. » 7/01/10 5:00pm 7/01/10 5:00pm

Do Red Dead Redemption players hate crows? I shoot virtual deer and wolves a lot in that fantastic video game Western, but look at these stats, pulled from the Rockstar Social Club: » 6/30/10 12:30am 6/30/10 12:30am

Reacting to yesterday's news that popular Facebook game Mafia Wars is adding animals as weapons, the People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals requests developer reconsider, using Zynga founder Mark Pincus' own beloved pet as ammunition. » 4/22/10 4:20pm 4/22/10 4:20pm

Evey game has a Horde Mode these days. EVERY game. I mean, Bass Pro Shops: The Hunt has one, except it's no standalone stand-off-against-ugly-Locust-soldiers mode. It's a mode that is all about man against attacking forest animals. » 4/14/10 11:00am 4/14/10 11:00am