Jason Schreier

Data Leak Hints At Microtransactions In GTA Online

The upcoming Grand Theft Auto Online may let you buy in-game money with real money at some point—files found on a Rockstar server hint at the possibility, and it’s an interesting one. A Redditor says he found the files, which you can read here, by trying to access the store section of the game’s pause…

This Is Actually The Citizen Kane Of Video Games

There’s been a lot of chatter, in recent years, about the “Citizen Kane” of video games—that one achievement that will drag the world of gaming into our collective cultural consciousness, and convince all the naysayers that video games are indeed works of art. Well, it’s here. Our Citizen Kane has arrived. Citizen Kane: the JRPG.…

Valve Announces Steam OS

Steam is getting its very own operating system, Valve announced today. It’ll be a combination of Steam’s current platform and Linux. SteamOS is a free operating system designed for living rooms that Valve says “combines the rock-solid architecture of Linux with a gaming experience built for the big screen.” Valve says they’ve already got “hundreds…

Guy Re-Scores All Of Ni no Kuni‘s Music

This is pretty incredible: 23-year-old musician Sam Joseph Delves put together an orchestra and re-scored the RPG Ni no Kuni in its entirety. “With the help of BBC documentary composer Howard Davidson I was able to take the music to the studio with a purpose built video game orchestra in an attempt to film and…

Your Xbox One And PS4 Can Hook Up

This is it, guys. The console wars are over. Your PS4 and Xbox One don’t need to fight—they can hook up instead. See, the next Xbox has an HDMI-in port, so you can plug in an HDMI cord and output video from another device, like your TV cable box, and run it through the Xbox…

It’s Friday. Let’s Talk About JRPGs.

So. Thanks to a whole lot of unfortunate timing, I haven’t been able to put together Random Encounters for the past few weeks. Next week we’ll be back for real. This week, I’ve got two requests for you: 1) Send me some questions! Shoot an e-mail to [email protected] with the subject “Random Encounters.” The best…

Valve Teases Big Hardware Announcement For Monday

Here we go. It’s almost Steam Box time. Valve has just launched a teaser site for what seems to be their big hardware initiative, with a countdown clock ending on Monday at 1pm Eastern. Earlier this week, Valve boss Gabe Newell teased a hardware announcement for next week. The pieces are starting to fit! Here’s…

How To Upgrade PS3 Games To PS4 Games

Want to turn your PS3 games into PS4 games? It’s not hard. You just have to follow these steps. Today PlayStation Access released a cute video about the upgrade process, which might not be available for every cross-gen game, but has been confirmed for some, like Watch Dogs and Assassin’s Creed IV, both announced for…

Game industry figures share their thoughts on Hiroshi Yamauchi: We’ve collected statements from ex-Nintendo marketing boss Perrin Kaplan, EA’s Peter Moore, and designer Giles Goddard. Yamauchi, the former president of Nintendo who turned the company into what it is today, passed away yesterday.

See The Next Tales Game In English For The First Time

Here’s your first English trailer for Tales of Xillia 2, the Xillia sequel that’s coming to North America and Europe next year for PS3. Fans who have played the game in Japanese report that Xillia 2 is darker and more interesting than its predecessor, which I’m starting to believe. This trailer is pretty intense.

Here, Have Two New Final Fantasy Trailers

Ladies and gentlemen, for your viewing convenience, two brand new Final Fantasy trailers. Exhibit A: Lightning Returns: Final Fantasy XIII, a dress-up sim with RPG elements that’s out for PS3 and 360 in February. I’m psyched about this one—what I’ve played so far seems quite promising Exhibit B: Final Fantasy X and Final Fantasy X-2,…

Unbelievable GTA IV Shots Look Like Real Photos Of New York City

This week’s gaming conversation has been dominated by Grand Theft Auto V, but these screenshots from a modded PC version of GTA IV are the most mind-blowing thing you’ll see today. Via Reddit, and modder darkdeus, these screenshots could probably pass for real photos of New York City if not for the misshapen people and…

Atlus: We’re Happy To Be Able To Continue With Our Business

It’s business as usual over at Atlus, at least until the Sonic/Persona fanfiction comes out. For now, Atlus sent over a statement from head honcho Naoto Hiraoka to comment on this week’s news—that the company behind games like Shin Megami Tensei has been purchased by Sega, effective November 1. Full statement: Dear fans and customers,…

SimCity Gets A Sci-Fi Expansion On November 12

SimCity is going to the future, where hopefully the servers are better. EA’s controversial city-building game is getting an expansion, called Cities of Tomorrow, on November 12. It’s set 50 years in the future, and it’ll be out for both PC and Mac. It’ll cost you $30. Press release: SimCity Cities of Tomorrow gives players…

Nintendo President: We Will Carry On The Spirit Of Hiroshi Yamauchi

Current Nintendo president Satoru Iwata has delivered a brief statement following the death of his predecessor, Hiroshi Yamauchi. The statement, sent over to Kotaku by a Nintendo representative: The entire Nintendo group will carry on the spirit of Mr. Yamauchi by honoring, in our approach to entertainment, the sense of value he has taught us…

Definitely The Weirdest Game On PS4

If there’s a stranger PS4 game than Hohokum, we haven’t seen it yet. Check out this new poop-filled trailer, released on the PlayStation Blog today, for the upcoming platformer… music game… video game. Looks bizarre and fascinating. Hohokum is out next year for PS4, Vita, and PS3.

The Creator Of Final Fantasy Tactics Has A New Game

It’s called Unsung Story, and it’ll come to digital platforms at some point next year. Yasumi Matsuno, he of Vagrant Story and Final Fantasy Tactics fame, is helming the project with Playdek, a company built to bring tabletop games to digital platforms. So yes, this is a tabletop game, of sorts, just like Matsuno’s last…

The latest trend in video games: selfies. Check out this smart Wired piece about the Myspace phenomenon that’s found its way into a couple of video games that are out this week. What’s next—gangnam style? (ATTN: Video game developers. Please do not add gangnam style to your games.)

Link Almost Had Laser Eyes In Wind Waker

Did you know that the Hero of Time Winds almost shot laser beams out of his eyes? For real. It’s true. When making The Legend of Zelda: Wind Waker for the GameCube, Team Nintendo had to figure out a way to use the iconic hero’s newly-cartoony eyes, and one possibility came up quickly: laser beams.…

Brilliant Comic Slams How The Media Treats Video Games

Perhaps in response to yesterday’s Fox News debacle, this amazing Dorkly comic totally nails the way television newscasters tend to treat video games. Read it all below: