Jason Schreier

There’s a Nintendo Direct coming tomorrow at 11am Eastern. Nintendo says it’ll have “new details and information about previously announced Nintendo 3DS software launching through early 2014.” We’ll have all the details for you right here as it happens.

How Trophies Work On PS4

Trophies on the PlayStation 4 are coming back with a twist. Sony’s new console won’t just store your achievements—it’ll tell you the rarity of each Trophy you earn. We saw the new feature in action today during a demo of the PS4’s system interface at a big press event tied to the console’s Friday launch.…

Nine Cool Facts About The PS4’s Interface

We watched the PlayStation 4’s interface in action this morning at Sony’s big review event, and we got to see some of the cool little hardware quirks that make this system really feel next-gen. Seriously. For a while I’ve been skeptical about these new machines, but once you see the PS4’s interface in action, that…

Metal Gear Solid V Might Break Canon, But Kojima Says That’s Okay

“The first thing is, I shouldn’t have talked about clones,” said Hideo Kojima, laughing. He was joking. I think. Kotaku‘s Evan Narcisse and I were sitting in a swanky hotel room with the creator of Metal Gear Solid, and we’d just spent some time talking about his next game, Ground Zeroes, which is a prologue…

The PS4 is out in four days, and Kotaku’s review will go live at 9am Eastern on Wednesday, November 13. Look forward to that and tons more coverage as this week continues.

The Beautiful, Beardy Banner Saga Is Out In January

Vikings and dead gods and crazy gorgeous animation—this trailer’s got everything you could possibly want on a Friday night. The Banner Saga, the gorgeous RPG that was successfully Kickstartered back in 2012, now has an official release date: January 14, 2014 for PC and Mac. Can’t wait.

How The Last Generation Changed JRPGs For The Better

One of this generation’s most controversial JRPG trends might also turn out to be its best. When Team Kotaku first started planning out our Last-Gen Heroesfeature, I started thinking about how JRPGs have evolved over the past generation—a generation that some would argue has been disastrous for the genre. Between a polarizing thirteenth Final Fantasy,…

A Turn-Based RPG Inspired By Final Fantasy Tactics

Today in Kickstarters That Look Pretty Cool, here’s Gridlock Tactics, a “biopunk” role-playing game whose creators say they were inspired by the likes of Final Fantasy Tactics and Disgaea The people behind Gridlock Tactics—some of whom worked at Beenox, the studio behind the last few Spider-Man games—want $50,000 to make it happen. They hope to…

The Vita Gets A Brand New JRPG On November 26

Oh hey there, Mr. Vita. It’s been a while. I was worried about you. Good to see you’re getting some JRPGs of your own. The action-role-playing game Ys: Memories of Celceta comes out November 26, publisher XSEED announced today—just in time for Thanksgiving. Because nothing says America like turkey, stuffing, and a good old-fashioned JRPG.

Halo 4 Blooper Reel Is Worth Watching Just For Creepy Cortana

The people behind Halo 4 just released this blooper reel. It’s creepy, kinda funny, and worth watching just for Creepy Cortana, which is apparently based off a 343 designer’s face Watch right here:

Episode VII of Star Wars will be out on December 18, 2015, LucasFilm just announced. Just 771 days left.

GTA Online $500,000 Stimulus Package Starts Now

Starting today, you should begin to see money filling up your delicious virtual Los Santos coffers—Rockstar just announced that the GTA Online stimulus package will kick off today. Anyone who played GTA Online in October will get a free $500,000. It’s Rockstar’s way of saying sorry for all the launch woes and technical difficulties in…

2013 Call of Duty Lifts Scene From 2009 Call of Duty

Is it recycling? A homage? A cry for help? All of the above? As you can see in the above video by YouTuber satantribal, parts of the prologue of Call of Duty: Ghosts, released yesterday, mirror the ending of Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2, released in 2009. (Ghosts is the one on the right.)…

A Convincing Pitch For The Xbox One Kinect In Just Five Seconds

I’ve never been a Kinect guy; if I had the option, I’d rather buy a $400 Kinect-free Xbox One than one saddled with an accessory I probably won’t use all that much. But hey, Microsoft’s motion-sensing device might actually be a serious convenience, if it works properly. Via Microsoft’s Major Nelson, check out this quick…

Walmart Glitch Gives $18 New Games To Some Lucky Shoppers

A technical glitch led Walmart to mark down a ton of brand new video games early this morning, and as a result, some lucky shoppers got their hands on $60 games like Grand Theft Auto V and Battlefield 4 for just $18 each. The glitch, which led Walmart’s website to show super-cheap prices for many…

Watch The Designer Of Zelda Get Chased Around NYC

Some companies advertise their games through trailers and sizzle reels; Nintendo advertises their games by making ridiculous videos of their developers running around through New York City. Via NintendoEverything, here’s a video of Zelda designer Eiji Aonuma getting chased by Nintendo PR people through the streets of Manhattan, because why not?

Four New PS4 Commercials Hype Up Next Week’s Launch

We are officially ten days away from the PlayStation 4, and to mark the occasion, Sony’s got a bunch of new sizzle reels for their upcoming next-gen console. Today we’ve got four new commercials, all PS4-centric, all super-hypey. I think the most interesting is the look at Remote Play—for me, that feature could be a…

Eight Fun Facts About Valve’s Steam Machines

Steam Machines will start launching next year. One of Valve’s proprietary Steam Controllers will ship with each one. And you shouldn’t expect to get your hands on any of Valve’s prototypes… unless you’re one of the 300 lucky people selected for the beta this year. Over the past few weeks, a bunch of media outlets…

PS4 Chief Mark Cerny Answers Fan Questions

“As a gamer, I have a weakness for JRPGs.” Oh, Mark. How you’ve warmed my cold, cynical heart. That confession is the highlight of this short Q&A with Mr. Cerny, also known as the PlayStation 4’s lead architect, but the whole thing’s interesting if you’d like to get inside the head of the guy behind…

Call of Duty Makers Explain Why Resolution Is Lower On Xbox One

When word came out last month that upcoming dog simulator Call of Duty: Ghosts runs at a higher resolution on PS4 than it does on Xbox One, the reactions were loud and angry. Was this a launch-day anomaly, or will all multi-platform games perform better on Sony’s console? Today, the people who make Call of…