Mike Fahey

The First Five Minutes Of Japan’s Premiere Fishing Platformer

With visual novels currently all the rage on Steam, it’s easy to pass up a gem just because it has a Japanese name like Sayonara Umihara Kawase, a platforming game starring a schoolgirl swinging from a fishing lure. Yup. Umihara Kawase is a Japanese platforming game series that debuted back in 1994 on the Super…

A Rock Band 4 Death Metal Lullaby For My Children

This magnificent Rock Band 4 vocals performance is brought to you by my children, Seamus and Archer, who made me sing every song on the tracklist alphabetically in order until falling asleep to “Dead Black (Heart of Ice).” Since an early age Archer and Seamus have loved the alphabet. Twenty-six letters in set order. A…

Need For Speed: No Limits’ Keeps Its Races Short And Sweet

If going fast were all racing was about, Need for Speed: No Limits would be one of the top games in the genre—most races last around 30 seconds. The latest mobile entry in the Need for Speed franchise, now available for free download oniOS and Android devices, comes from developer Firemonkeys of Real Racing fame.…

The First Five Minutes Of Transformers: Devastation: So Far, So Good

I was a little worried about not being able to get my hands on Transformers: Devastation until launch day. After playing for five minutes, everything is just prime. For starters, the game has Transformers in it. Thanks for watching! What, that’s not enough? Weird. Okay, it’s got good the good Transformers in it, voiced by…

Lenny Kravitz’ Pants Remain Intact Through An Entire Guitar Hero Live Spot

Not sure about James Franco’s. In honor of tomorrow’s launch of Rock Band 4, Activision has released a Guitar Hero Live promo spot featuring Lenny Kravitz and James Franco. It’s kind of adorable, and totally safe for work as well! Franco does manage to slip in a reference to Kravitz’ infamous dick slip (is that…

Marvel Puzzle Quest Coming To Consoles Without The Free-To-Play Nonsense

Marvel Puzzle Quest for mobile and PC was an exciting concept marred by free-to-play mechanics. Coming later this year, the console version of Marvel Puzzle Quest adds multiplayer and ditches free-to-play. Players will pay $14.99 for Marvel Puzzle Quest: Dark Reign when it hits Xboxes 360 and One and PlayStations 3 and 4 later this…

Rock Band 4 Is Pretty Great So Far. My Singing, Not So Much.

Warning: Rock Band 4 may cause a person to sing Scandal’s “The Warrior” with an external mic active, upload the resulting video to the internet and post it on Kotaku along with their initial impressions of the game. I’m so sorry. With a couple more features left I’d like to test out, my Rock Band…

Persona 4 Dancing All Night: The Kotaku Review

If it weren’t a severe breach of protocol I’d just put the giant YES up at the top of the review. But it is. So I won’t. Atlus has Persona 4’d the rhythm game. That completely real, don’t argue with me verb first cropped up with the release of Persona 4 Arena back in 2012.…

Kotaku ‘Shop Contest: A Coat For Max

My boss wasdissatisfied with the (nearly) top-tier jacket upgrade Max Max receives in his eponymous game outing. We’ve got this, Totilo. Now let’s see what the problem is here. Jesus Christmas that’s horrible. He looks like generic bad guy number 13. He should look like a rock star, or a male model, or a mailman.…

The Week In Games: Transform And Roll Out

All I want is to punch giant robots with my own giant robot, maybe turn into a car. Is that too much to ask? Transformers: Devastation comes out his week. I should be happy. But review codes don’t seem to be coming until either launch day or the day before (fingers crossed), and the last…

I’d Say I’m Ready For Halloween

My wife let me buy this mask for $15 at Target. She made a horrible mistake. “The first time you scare me awake wearing that I’m burning it,” she told me as I wandered silently through the retail outlet, turning my head slowly to track the people we passed. “Oh don’t worry,” I whispered in…

Shooty Skies Is A Game About Shooting In The Sky, And It Is Great

Shooty Skies takes the addictive formula that made road-crossing mobile game Crossy Road a smash hit and applies it to the scrolling shooter. In honor of this I’ve taken the same headline from our first Crossy Road articleand applied it to this one. Crossy Road creators Matt Hall and Andy Sum have teamed with entertainment…

The First Five Minutes Of Disgaea 5: Alliance Of Vengeance

There’s not a lot of gameplay in the first five minutes of the sixth installment of Nippon Ichi’s tactical role-playing game series. That’s what the remaining hundreds of hours are for. Marking the series’ debut on North American PlayStation 4 this week, Disgaea 5: Alliance of Vengeance promises to be another ridiculous, demon-powered orgy of…

Kotaku ‘Shop Contest: The Ugliest PlayStation 4: Winners!

Yep, that’s about the ugliest PlayStation 4 console I can imagine. For those of you just joining us, last week I tasked our lovely community with coming up with a PlayStation 4 that was uglier than the upcoming Call of Duty: Black Ops III limited edition system. Evan Narcisse called it “ugly as sin.” We…

Sunday Comics: It’s The Final Countdown

Welcome to Kotaku’s Sunday Comics, your pretty much weekly roundup of the best webcomics. The images enlarge if you click on the magnifying glass icon. Nerf NOW!! by Josué Pereira. Published October 3. Read more of Nerf NOW!! Awkward Zombie by Katie Tiedrich. Published September 28. Read more of Awkward Zombie Penny Arcade by Jerry…

Stephen Colbert Suitably Awed By No Man’s Sky

As demonstrated by his Pewdiepie interview earlier this week, Stephen Colbert’s new stint as the host of The Late Show gives him a chance to touch on topics his old gig couldn’t, like video games we wish we could just play already, dammit. Hello Games’ Sean Murray took to the couch on Friday night to…

Conker’s Bad Fur Day Was Once A Very Different Game

One of the filthiest games released on a Nintendo console was originally going to be just another kiddified 3D platformer. Check out some never-before-seen footage of the game that would become Conker’s Bad Fur Day. Long before Conker became an alcoholic shit-battler, Rare’s squirrel hero was something much more kid-friendly. After a debut as a…

The Keyboard Is Your Mightiest Weapon In Epistory

The only thing more powerful than the written word is the muse that stirs those words in the mind of the writer. That’s the player’s role in Flying Cactus’ Epistory. Released earlier this week on Steam Early Access, Epistory is essentially the tale of an author and her muse—a young girl riding on a three-tailed…

The Sun Comes Down In Smite To Kick Some Ass

For years I’ve spent most of my days desperately avoiding the big glowing ball of fire in the day, bottling up my frustration at its burning, sweat-generating touch. Next week’s Smite update brings the sun down from the sky, and I’ll be waiting. Fans of the Norse pantheon get thrown a fiery bone next week…

“We wanted a perfect future and fuck—we got it.” The story trailer for Call of Duty: Black Ops III is here, and it doesn’t paint a pretty picture. Why’d they have to call in the Special Victims Unit?