• the sims 3

    A Bright Idea: Sims 3 USB Christmas Lights

    To go with the reviewers' copies of The Sims 3 Collectors Edition (plum-bob USB memory stick included), EA also sent a set of USB Christmas lights, also in the shape of plum-bobs. More »
    06/08/09
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    Comment by Mit: Kitty :D Need more pictures of cats with swag whenever you guys get new swag. 9 Responses | Other threads

  • nintendo

    Nintendo's President Explains Christmas To Some Japanese Guy

    If you could ask the President of Nintendo a question, would you blow it on "why do sales in America spike during December?" No. Some Japanese guy did, though, and got this for his troubles. More »
    02/06/09
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    Comment by psychobaka: He could've just said there is an American holiday at the end of December that everyone customarily buys gifts for... 28 Responses | Other threads

  • Best Christmas Ever

    Xbox's Best Euro Christmas Ever

    Gather round for a rousing bout of back slapping and carousing as the Xbox brand celebrates its best European Christmas season in six years, with 100% growth over last December. More »
    01/05/09
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    Comment by up2nogood_316: why add a dire 'for now'? i seem to remember everyone saying xbox is ok 'for now' until MGS4 comes... 20 Responses | Other threads

  • 2008 holiday cards

    Happy Holidays From Paradox Interactive

    Paradox Interactive gains bonus points for holiday cheer, having delivered not one but three different holiday cards featuring artwork from their upcoming real-time strategy title, Majesty 2: The Fantasy Kingdom Sim. More »
    12/23/08
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    Comment by FrigidAir44: I'm not sure whats going on in that picture, but I find it oddly enthralling. 2 Responses | Other threads

  • rant

    Please, Economic Crisis, Put An End To The Christmas Rush

    As a part-time gamer, Christmas must be brilliant, because not only do you get some time off work to play games, but you’ll probably receive games for Christmas as well. Double score. More »
    12/10/08
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    Comment by Archaotic: Well, Killzone 2 is out in February as well, but I don't know if that's seeking the same market as... 9 Responses | Other threads

  • chiptunes

    8-Bit Jesus Blips Up Your Holidays

    Chiptunes artiste Doctor Octoroc has assembled nine MP3s filled with Christmas joy, each packed with retro 8-bitty goodness. With titles like "Ryu the Red Nosed Ninja" and "Super Jingle Bros.", how can you resist? More »
    12/08/08
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    Comment by 492b2 3b5t5k4mk3 3ñx39: 8-Bit + Jesus = ????? 3 Responses | Other threads

  • free

    Rounding Up (Free) Indie Gems

    If you've got some time this afternoon, the Escapist has a nice answer to holiday excess — several pages of free indie gems you probably haven't heard of. More »
    12/06/08
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    Comment by grimdeath9740: Hmm, its upsetting when people mistake "indie" as being free games, or worst yet only flash games! Probably the biggest... 2 Responses | Other threads

  • lists

    Count Down the '12 Games of Christmas' with RPS

    Can you ever get enough Rock, Paper, Shotgun? The answer is no, especially not during the holidays — last year saw the gaming advent calendar, and this year has two new features. More »
    12/06/08
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    Comment by Babelfish: Is Kotaku's article text showing up as bigger and bold-faced for anyone else? Everything but the article text is... 6 Responses | Other threads

  • singstar

    SingStar Offers Celine Dion For The Holidays

    Is Celine Dion festive holiday fun? Sony Computer Entertainment seems to think so, bundling her single "Christmas Eve" together with four other innocent recording artists' works and calling it the Festive Fun SongPack. Joining Celine as she claws her raptor-ish way through your PlayStation 3 will be Toni Braxton with "Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas", Babyface with "Sleigh Ride", the legendary Paul McCartney with "Wonderful Christmastime", and finally Shakin’ Stevens with "Merry Christmas Everyone". The pack shall be released on Thanksgiving Day, November 27th. More »
    11/24/08
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    Comment by ProfWho: So, should I start talking about how Sony has now abandoned the "core" audience? 4 Responses | Other threads

  • piracy

    Xmas Console Sales Affected By Piracy. No, Seriously.

    It's all fun and games using 'Piracy' to describe copyright infringement when you want to reframe the debate and equate the sharing of intellectual property with aquatic larceny, but what happens when your actual ship-based armed robbers yo-ho-ho into view? What then, Mr cognitive linguistics smartypants? More »
    11/14/08
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    Comment by DukeOfPwn: Turns out real pirates are, like people who pirate games, complete assholes. 19 Responses | Other threads

  • nintendo

    It's That Time Of Year Again - Nintendo Expecting Wii Shortages

    You can tell it is nearly Christmas - perfume adverts are on TV, frost is biting your nose in the morning and Nintendo have announced that they might be short of Wiis again. Or are they? More »
    10/27/08
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    Comment by ramenite: And anyone who doesn't believe this is intentional is delusional. it's been TWO YEARS. Nintendo is either keeping supply low... 9 Responses | Other threads

  • microsoft

    Microsoft Splurging Millions On Xmas

    No, not just on Steve Balmer's Xmas stocking (he is getting hundreds of Zunes). Microsoft are preparing for a full-on Xbox marketing blitz this Christmas. More »
    09/19/08
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    Comment by SofaKingHI: there is something about this that just seems desperate. 13 Responses | Other threads

  • feature

    Nintendo Torpedoes The Wii Grey Market

    Twas the month before Christmas and all through the land, More »
    01/07/08
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  • media

    Kotaku Kristmas Kard, 'Still Not Banned'

    More »
    12/31/07
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    Comment by basseman: that was not so bad except, on little thing. you know when people write that they´re ears are bleading? my ears... more » | Other threads

  • playstation 3

    The PlayStation PhoneBook

    Imagine this scene: A 13-year-old boy awakes Christmas morning and runs down the stairs to the tree where he finds a brand new Playstation 3 box waiting. Tearing open the sealed box he finds inside not a sleek, black Playstation 3 but a bulky, yellow telephone book. More »
    12/26/07
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    Comment by ivealwaysgotmail10: @Veltis: Are you serious? I AM REID GODSHAW, The supposed kid "hired by fox" to pose as the kid with... more » | Other threads

  • amazon

    Wii Wins the Amazon Christmas

    Amazon is just giddy with excitement. The holidays are over and they are bursting at the seams with money spent on presents. Their annual "We made a shitton of money during the holidays" press release went out this morning and in it the the Wii as their top selling console and Call of Duty 4 as their top game. More »
    12/26/07
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    Comment by Benjo: And why are we not surprised? more » | Other threads

  • microsoft

    Xbox LIVE Celebrates A Bumpy Holiday

    According to a few reports we've spotted on the web, some Xbox LIVE users had difficulty connecting to the service (while others claimed complete outages) during and around December 25th. We wrote Microsoft's own Larry "Major Nelson" Hryb regarding the issue, along with an inquiry whether or not a lighter holiday-celebrating LIVE maintenance staff may have had difficulty handling new users. Hyrb responded:
    ...LIVE was never completely offline. We did have some spotty issues over the weekend, but the XOC (Xbox Operations Center) was fully staffed (as it always is 24/7/365) and they addressed the issue as quickly as they could.
    And then Hyrb wondered silently*, "It was freaking Christmas for Christ's sake! Don't these people have lives???" More »
    12/26/07
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    Comment by a-small-white-x: @WarlockSoL: yah the same thing happened to me i was connected to xb live and i could see my friends... more » | Other threads

  • serious games

    Where Are The Christmas Games?

    Ian Bogost—of Persuasive Games, Water Cooler Games and Kotaku guest-editing fame—wonders in print via Gamasutra where the holiday-themed games are. Alongside a quick primer on winter, Christmas and Hannukah specific content, such as Christmas NiGHTS for the Sega Saturn and The Sims 2 Holiday Stuff, he explores the potential gain that publishers and developers could reap from throwaway titles that appeal to the holiday spirit. Sure, there are a few snow and ice levels thrown about, but no one's taking Christmas seriously. More »
    12/20/07
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    Comment by eridener: Wasn't there an area in Secret of Mana where you rescued Santa after he was turned into a demon or... more » | Other threads

  • holiday greetings

    A Raving Christmas

    Is it just me, or are the Rabbids slowly losing their charm? When the first game was deep in its initial marketing blitz we saw some truly hilarious shorts coming out of Ubisoft's Rayman Raving Rabbids team, but now as the second game has just failed to reignite the Rabbid fever in me. Yes, this is a terrible way to react to a heartfelt Christmas greetings advertisement, but worry not - I've got a line on an adorable little scamp who walks with a crutch who'll "God bless us, everyone" us out of this depressing line of thinking in no time. WAAAAHHHHHH!
    12/19/07
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    Comment by sandwiches: @sandwiches: It's "THEIR appeal", not "THEY'RE appeal", you fucking retard. more » | Other threads

  • holiday cards 07

    Universe at Peace, From Petroglyph

    12/18/07
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    Comment by Rjak: You don't need a gold subscription to just play multiplayer. All you lose with a silver account is ranked... more » | Other threads

  • wii

    Wii Sell Out, One Store's Story

    More »
    12/17/07
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    Comment by WEGGLES90: @amazinglarry: You know when the stores open, you have an alarm clock. It's all about oppertunity. I'd begrudge paying 50 to... more » | Other threads

  • original

    Nintendo: Wiis Hit Shelves This Weekend

    More »
    12/14/07
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    Comment by ncsbert: My Target had 70. I showed up an hour before they opened (7am) and was ticket number 61. Niice. more » | Other threads

  • the legend of zelda

    A Triforce Atop The Christmas Tree

    Here's an idea you still have time to steal. Nick and Will of the Gnatline podcast created their very own lighted Triforce, fashioned from "fairy lights", ran it up to the top of a fifty foot tree and took pics to prove it happened. The results (and making of) are the subject of massive gallery at their site. It's totally the tops. More »
    12/12/07
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    Comment by KM91: Where can I get one? more » | Other threads

  • charity

    Oxfam Says "Give Sheep, Not Wiis" This Holiday Season

    In an (admittedly somewhat successful) attempt to coast on the holiday popularity of the Nintendo Wii, Oxfam America is urging consumers to "Give wool, not Wii" this season. Like fellow non-profit Greenpeace, the international relief organization is attempting to appeal to consumer guilt, asking Americans in a press release to "put down potentially dangerous Wii remotes", instead devoting that $250 (or more) to giving "the gift that keeps on giving: fluffy sheep." More »
    12/12/07
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    Comment by Tye-The-Czar: NO. I think it's more because of the overflow of crappy third-party games on the system is why they're doing... more » | Other threads

  • christmas

    Game Trees Are Totally In This Year

    Game Christmas trees are the new game pumpkins which were the new game cake. Previously, we've seen the D.I.Y. Halo tree and jaw dropping Pac-Man tree. Now, Gay Gamer brings us the 8-bit tree. Decorated with Perler bead creations that include Bubble Bobble, Pac-Man, The Legend of Zelda, Final Fantasy, Super Mario Bros. and Castlevania among others. If that wasn't enough, just check out that wall! More »
    12/11/07
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    Comment by edgeblade: Any other sites for such things? more » | Other threads

  • vc update

    Virtual Console Gifting Comes To U.S.

    Nintendo gives us the gift of gift giving in this week's update to the Wii's Virtual Console! Alongside Pokemon Snap with new photo-sharing capabilities (1,000 points), Ghouls and Ghosts for the NES (500 points), and Baseball Stars 2 for the NEOGEO (900 points), Wii owners can now purchase VC games for other players with whom they've exchanged friend codes. So for instance if Crecente wanted to thank me for covering for him during his vacation by grabbing me a copy of Pokemon Snap, he could just log into the Wii Shop Channel and use my friend code to send it to me. If I had already purchased it, he'd get a message saying so and would be sent back into the catalog to try and find me something just as nice. Hit the jump to read up on this week's game releases and the gifting feature while I go email someone my friend code. More »
    12/10/07
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    Comment by DarkLinkinfinite: Well, I tried it and you can't send a gift to someone if the recipient's wii has a different country... more » | Other threads

  • christmas

    The Gaming Advent Calendar

    I love Rock, Paper, Shotgun, and I really love advent calendars - when my aunt and uncle lived in Germany, they'd send me one every year. RPS has co-opted the (fair trade!) advent calendar idea to count down to their game of the year (to be revealed on the 25th, naturally), and left me going "Why didn't WE think of that?": More »
    12/09/07
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    Comment by lalahsghost: Keep privvy on what RockPaperShotgun is douing because they are becoming better and better by the month. Their interviews are... more » | Other threads

  • christmas

    A Halo Christmas Tree

    Have a Halo helmet sitting around collecting dust? Clearly, it's crying out to be a tree topper. I've seen a couple of these floating around (my favorite had a Santa hat jovially stuck on top), but I have yet to see the obvious: the Halo helmet with a ... halo. Kotakuite shizknight sent in these photos of his friend's Christmas tree. Anyone else have any clever game-related decorating ideas?
    12/09/07
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    Comment by CheezBurga-san: Eyesore indeed. If i put my Mario boxers as a tree topper would that make it special too? more » | Other threads

  • world of warcraft

    Christmas In Azeroth Updates For BC

    It's almost time for the Feast of Winter Veil in the World of Warcraft, Azeroth's annual Christmas party that features holiday-themed quests and items to help players pretend they are actually celebrating the season and not just sitting in a chair in their underwear! This year marks the first post-Burning Crusade feast, and Blizzard has updated the event to make sure players hanging out beyond the Dark Portal get their daily dose of holiday cheer. Changes include Preserved Holly, the special item that transforms your mount into a reindeer, now working with flying mounts, a new Mechanotoy pet under the Winter Veil trees in Orgrimmar and Ironforge, and a Handful of Snowflakes item that makes it snow over your head. Huzzah! They've also added holiday bosses to several of the Burning Crusade instances, which are basically normal bosses wearing festive outfits that drop Santa Claus hats when defeated, which will be ninja looted by the damn hunter, who will then disconnect. Happy holidays! More »
    12/07/07
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    Comment by Odin: @myshl0ng: Like Bluestreak said the Winter Veil content runs for most of the month of December so while some people... more » | Other threads

  • world of warcraft

    Ding In The Holidays With WoW Xmas Ornamentation

    Looking for something special and especially dorky for the World of Warcraft junkie in your life? With this last-minute addition to the holiday gift guide, you can establish Christmas tree nerd cred with Paul Pape Design's Khorium Ore-naments, a sculpted recreation of the rare spawn mineral deposit from Blizzard's sort of successful MMO. More »
    12/03/07
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    Comment by Sturm Truppen: Shame about khorium not looking like some grape chewing gum with a crystal sticking out the top. Other than that,... more » | Other threads

  • gaming furniture

    A Tower For Your Wii

    Attention Mom! You asked me the other day what I wanted for Christmas. Well here it is. While I cannot give you a link to purchase it from, unable to find any reference to it on the internet whatsoever, this officially licensed Nintendo Wii tower organizer by a company called Level Up is a thing of beauty to behold, and an answer to at least one of my living room organizational issues. It's sleek, sexy, and the blue translucent Wiimote and Nunchuck holders give it that futuristic look I am trying to achieve. According to Will from The Wiicast, it was discovered at Walmart for a measly $69.99. Just look at it! When I'm not using the Wii I can pretend it's a podium and host imaginary game shows for my cats. "Hello, and welcome to Lick Your Own Butt! I'm your host, Michael Fahey". Oh who am I kidding? My mother never reads this crap. Hit the link below to check out The Wiicast's flickr gallery of another Christmas dream that won't come true. More »
    11/23/07
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    Comment by Michael Tarpey: Got one for Christmas. Awesome. :D more » | Other threads

  • kotaku gift guide 07

    Kotaku's 2007 Gift Guide of Obscene Nicety and Sublime Naughtyness

    More »
  • kotaku gift guide 2007

    Kotaku's 2007 Video Game Wish List

    Earlier this week we posted our first ever, sorta, Gaming Gift Guide. While the G3 was packed full of all sorts of goodies, mostly game related, but not totally, it was completely missing any actual games. That's because we had a different idea for listing out which video games would make good gifts and why. More »
  • giant julien face

    This Christmas Critical for Wii Third Party Support

    Third parties are important. Very, very important. So if the Wii is going to have legs and continue to be successful, the console is going to need strong third party support. Eidos' Julien Merceron (pictured) thinks this Christmas could be make or break for Wii third party support. His thoughts: More »
    11/08/07
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    Comment by PlaidNinja: @necrozen: I think you missed the point, specifically were I said "I don't need blood and guts and f bombs... more » | Other threads

  • wow

    Santa Visits Azeroth

    More »
    12/25/06
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    Comment by Deadmeat: That Holiday Cheer wand isn't new. I had one from last year that didn't have a duration for months... more » | Other threads

  • christmas

    Merry Christmas What Are You Playing Today

    More »
    12/25/06
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    Comment by kingofallcosmos: I played nothing yesterday because of all of the running around, but on Saturday, I beat story mode for Rayman... more » | Other threads

  • top

    Nintendo: Mario, Others Hit VC on Christmas

    Nintendo has confirmed that the original Super Mario Bros is hitting the Wii shopping channel on Christmas morning for 500 points along with a bunch of other hot titles. More »
  • gossip

    Nintendo: No Free VC Cmas Games

    Nintendo has turned all Scrooge (bad Scrooge, not good Scrooge) on us, apparently telling game site Eurogamer that there will be no "free" VC Christmas downloads. It's been rumored that Super Mario Bros., Toe Jam & Earl and R-Types would be available to all at no charge on the 25th. Instead, gamers can look forward to paying for stuff. Happy Holidays! Brian Ashcraft More »
    12/21/06
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    Comment by Donner, party of 4... er...3?: EnigmaNemesis - Hate to burst your bubble, but retards on messageboards everywhere (even here!) still call Microsoft "M$" - no... more » | Other threads

  • wii

    Wiis Come And Wiis Go

    It was like a mini version of the Wii launch this weekend as people lined up at their local stores for what might be their last chance to pick up a Wii before Christmas. The story that most retail establishments would be receiving a new and probably final shipment of Wii's and PS3's this weekend sent people scurrying out to the stores for a chance to get their hands on the goods. More »
    12/17/06
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    Comment by Flynn: I hit the local Best Buy around 5am. There were reports of wild numbers, but they only sold 20.... more » | Other threads

  • wii

    USA Today Clues Masses In On Holiday Console Shipments

    Consider it that much harder to get your hardcore gamer hands on both the PlayStation 3 and the Wii this weekend. Daily Kotaku readers are obviously well aware that many retail outlets are holding onto their console stock for this Sunday's sales. But now every parent who finds the New York Times and the Wall Street Journal too "wordy" knows that Wiis and PS3s will be set free from their stock room confines no sooner than Sunday morning. More »
    12/14/06
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    Comment by Hrolf: Mmm, it's supposed to be dumping rain at my house Saturday night to Sunday mid day. And my wife just... more » | Other threads