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15 Game Cases Fight To The Death In This Legendary Box-Art Brawl
Generally speaking, people compare games by listing bullet points. Which game has better graphics, which game has better gameplay? Which one has the better story, or better multiplayer? Little did they know, there is a better way to determine which game is best. Just leave your game cases in a room together and see which…
By Kirk Hamilton Published June 18, 2012 -
CultureTotal RecallBefore Journey, There Was A Game About The Rock Band Journey
Ha, ha, Journey reviewer. You think you’re so clever, inserting Journey lyrics into your game review. Well as it turns out, there once was an arcade game based on the band Journey. Well, it was something of a minigame collection, telling a somewhat awesome story of the band reuniting with their instruments, do a show,…
By Kirk Hamilton Published June 16, 2012 -
CultureTotal RecallA Super-Spy Intro Worthy of Solid Snake
Since I had not played Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater until recently, I had also not seen its introductory credits sequence and accompanying movie. How? I ask you. How had I not seen this? This song, performed by Cynthia Harrell, was a classic almost from the moment the game was released. When the song…
By Kirk Hamilton Published June 15, 2012 -
CultureTotal RecallThis Video Digs Into Our Love Affair With 8-Bit Art
You don’t have to be a regular Kotaku reader to know that “8-bit” has become one a hugely popular aesthetic. 8-bit art, 8-bit music, 8-bit everything. This terrific mini-documentary at PBS goes in-depth into the origins for the trend, pulling together all manner of artists familiar with the movement, from Dr. Octoroc to Anamanaguchi to…
By Kirk Hamilton Published June 15, 2012 -
I Haven’t Read Enough of These ‘Must-Read’ Books. Have You?
Between films, comics, tv, and a professional-grade diet of video games, I don’t have nearly as much time to read novels as I once did. It’s a real drag. I was equal parts happy and stressed to read Flavorwire’s list of 30 books everyone should read before turning 30. I already done turned 30, and…
By Kirk Hamilton Published June 15, 2012 -
Looks Like Valve is Working On A Left 4 Dead Prequel After All [UPDATE: No, They Aren’t]
Despite some vague-ish comments from Valve that this wasn’t the case, a video turned up on the Payday: The Heist YouTube channel indicating that Valve is working in some capacity with PayDay developers Overkill on something called No Mercy, which will explore the origins of the zombie virus from Left 4 Dead. The video was…
By Kirk Hamilton Published June 15, 2012 -
Try the Marvelous Botanicula For Free, Right In Your Browser
Hopefully by now, you’ve played Amanita Design’s marvelous point-and-click adventure/exploration/music-time story-thing Botanicula. But I’m entirely open to the idea that you have not—and so is Amanita, who have now made the first section of the game playable for free through their website You may recall that earlier this year I said Botanicula so charming that…
By Kirk Hamilton Published June 15, 2012 -
The Walking Dead Game Will Return This Month, More Brutal Than Ever
Last week at E3, I had a chance to sit with the folks at Telltale and watch the first 20 minutes of episode 2 of The Walking Dead, their 5-part episodic game series based on the comic series of the same name. AMC’s well-known television adaptation is also based on the comics, but in a…
By Kirk Hamilton Published June 15, 2012 -
Every Single Excellent Movie Death Ever, More or Less
The world of film has seen so, so many gruesome deaths. Some are funny, some are terrifying, some are nauseating. Some are all three. The delightful, all-over-the-place blog “My New Plaid Pants” has long been my go-to place for movie deaths. Every Thursday, Jason Adams posts the very best movie deaths under the tag “Thursday’s…
By Kirk Hamilton Published June 14, 2012 -
Okay, But What About All Those Tropes vs. Orcs in Video Games?
Sure, the many problematic sexist tropes used to depict women in games are worth exploring. So too, apparently, are tropes vs men in games (enough to merit a bona-fide indidgogo fundraiser.) But what about Orcs? Some jokers (or maybe actual Orcs!) have put together this draft kickstarter page to raise money for a film about…
By Kirk Hamilton Published June 14, 2012 -
The Best (And Worst) TV Show Opening-Credit Anthems
I love music, and I love television. And you know what I really love? When a show has a great opening credits sequence, with a perfectly picked piece of music set against a rockin montage. And hey, what do you know? It’s Kotaku Melodic time, a.k.a. the time when we talk about music. Maybe next…
By Kirk Hamilton Published June 14, 2012 -
Quest for Glory‘s Unsung Keytar Hero
I loved all of the Quest for Glory games, but Quest for Glory IV was easily my favorite. I re-installed it recently due to that great sale at GOG.Com, and so I’m once again making my way through Moravia. This game was great not only because it was one of Jennifer Hale’s first video game…
By Kirk Hamilton Published June 14, 2012 -
Forget Gotye, Kimbra Is The Most Exciting Singer I’ve Heard in Ages
Kimbra’s first album may have been out for a year, but most of the people I talk to have only heard her singing with Gotye on his great (though overplayed) tune “Somebody That I Used To Know.” I was one of those people, until I listened to some of her debut album and realized that…
By Kirk Hamilton Published June 14, 2012 -
The Dizzy, Delightfully Grand Music of Gravity Rush
This week saw the Western release of one of the very best games yet for the PlayStation Vita—the freewheeling, fantasy superhero game Gravity Rush. This game has so much of what I want in a video game—it combines the exploration and collection-obsession of Crackdown and Infamous with a uniquely fresh-feeling gravity shifting mechanic. And best…
By Kirk Hamilton Published June 14, 2012 -
Tyrion Lannister’s Greatest Moment, In Video Game Form
A couple of weeks ago, Chris made some gifs of the best ultraviolence from Game of Thrones‘ “Blackwater” episode. Yesterday, he put together these fantastic gifs of Mad Men reimagined as a video game. On something of a dare from one of our lovely Kotaku commenters, Chris has now combined the two ideas, rendering Tyrion…
By Kirk Hamilton Published June 14, 2012 -
Is This a Screenshot from Limbo 2 or Just The View From My San Francisco Window
I live out in the western part of San Francisco, and some mornings we get a lot of fog. “A lot” of fog to a San Franciscan is more fog than most people would even know what to do with. In the summer, there’s often a sort of “burn-off” in the morning hours, when the…
By Kirk Hamilton Published June 14, 2012 -
With Metal Gear‘s Splendid Vita Version, I Finally ‘Get’ Portable Console Gaming
Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater is a true gaming classic, held up by many as not just the best game in the Metal Gear series, but one of the best games ever made, period. In just the past six months, I’ve had several different opportunities to finally play the game. There was the PS3…
By Kirk Hamilton Published June 14, 2012 -
This is What It Looks Like to Lose Your Level 60 Diablo III Character Forever
Aw, man. This is rough. Diablo III‘s hardcore mode is not for the weak-willed or the unfocused. It’s not for the casual or the stoned. It’s a winner-take-all, loser-take-it-on-the-chin setup where a single death kills your character forever, no matter how far you’d made it in the game. And so it’s all the more heartbreaking…
By Kirk Hamilton Published June 14, 2012 -
What Will Become of Game of Thrones In The Long Run?
Oh hi there, Kotaku. Welcome to the Wednesday night open thread! For tonight’s open thread, a single prompt, brought on by a great article over at Pajiba. What will happen to Game of Thrones, long-term? Brian Byrd lays out a number of big challenges for the show, including the fact that “There’s no way HBO…
By Kirk Hamilton Published June 13, 2012
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