Owen Good

The Year of Luigi Will Continue into 2014

Remember that in February, Nintendo declared the “Year of Luigi.” Unless they were retroactively declaring January to be a Month of Luigi, too, this proclamation should extend into 2014—and Reggie Fils-Aime, the Nintendo of America president, said today it does. Siliconera got an interview with Fils-Aime today and didn’t waste the shot at a clever…

Cops Show Up Live on Warcraft Stream After Troll Phones In Fake Report

A popular Twitch.tv livestreamer had some unwanted guest stars yesterday evening—the Seminole County, Fla. Sheriff’s Office, summoned by a troll who phoned in a report of someone threatening others with a knife. You can see it play out here. The guy pointing the camera at the cops above is Swifty, who has more than 150,000…

Doki-Doki Universe Launches Tuesday on PS4

Doki-Doki Universe arrives on Dec. 10 for the PlayStation 3 and 4 and PlayStation Vita, the game’s developer, HumaNature Studios, said earlier today. It will be $14.99. The game is available over PlayStation Network and cross-buy is supported, so getting it for one system is as good as getting it for all three. Doki-Doki Universe…

If a ‘Phantom Stylus’ is Screwing Up Your 2DS, Here’s How to Fix It

Some users of the 2DS have reported a problem in the touchscreen—a “phantom stylus” depressing the upper left corner and cycling the screen endlessly. These units still are under warranty, but someone’s figured out how to make the fix on your own. Of course, that requires disassembling the entire unit and then filing down or…

Character Actor Confused For Sonic Sidekick’s Voice Dies at 48 [Corrected]

Christopher Evan Welch died on Monday. He was 48. Several reports, including one on this site, erroneously credited him with the role as sidekick Miles “Tails” Prower in the mid-1990s cartoon series Adventures of Sonic the Hedgehog. Welch’s agency has said he did not play that role. [Correction 12/05:] The headline of this story and…

Even Find Mii Gets a Super Smash Bros. Cameo

Nintendo has shrewdly delivered fan service with its announcements of characters and cameos for Super Smash Bros., from Mega Man to The Villager to Wii Fit Trainer. The latest tease, from creator Masahiro Sakurai, will appeal to fans of StreetPass’ RPG Find Mii. It’s the Dark Lord! How can we be sure that’s him? Well,…

Arrest Made in San Francisco PS4 Killing

San Francisco police arrested a man they suspect of killing a person trying tosell a PlayStation 4 through an online ad. It’s believed to be the second homicide related to the console since its launch on Nov. 15. Ronnie Collins, 21, of San Francisco, has been jailed on suspicion of murder and attempted robbery, reports…

Swear at the Ref in FIFA 14 and You’ll Be Reprimanded by Your Club

Kinect-supported (or sanctioned) cussin’ was introduced in the FIFA and NBA 2K series last year, but on the Xbox One, both games have stepped up their penalties if you can’t keep your potty mouth under control. In FIFA, you’ll get a nastygram from your club’s ownership, even. Deadspin noticed a couple of users who were…

Micro Hexagon is Super Hexagon on the Commodore 64

Commodore 64 enthusiasts and programmers staged their second RGCD Cartridge Development Competition over the weekend, and among the dozen games that beat Saturday’s submission deadline is this—Micro Hexagon, a port of last year’s mindbending Super Hexagon (and one of our GOTY nominees.) Micro Hexagon’s authors are Paul Koller and Mikkel Hastrup, adapting Terry Cavanagh’s PC…

The Walking Dead: Season Two arrives this month, Telltale Games just said through its Twitter feed. The tweet included this image, saying “a familiar face returns.” And they don’t mean Clementine.

Peggle 2 is coming Dec. 9 to the Xbox One via Xbox Live. This comes from PopCap, in a preview of the game in VentureBeat yesterday.Peggle 2 will have 120 levels and run $11.99.

A Video Game Might Recreate Auburn’s Miracle, But It Can’t Be Repeated

As Auburn’s grandstands still thundered above him, A.J. McCarron, the Alabama quarterback born in 1990, searched for the words to describe losing in such irregular fashion—on a play that had happened only five times before in major college football history, and never to decide a game, much less one this consequential. Today there seems to…

Holiday Heads Discovered in Borderlands‘ Thanksgiving DLC

The second Headhunter pack of DLC for Borderlands 2 arrived at a suspiciously large download size this week—large enough that fans went poking and probing and, lo and behold, they found something they shouldn’t have. Up above, in that video, are the holiday-themed heads and skins to be unlocked (or otherwise distributed) by some future…

Auburn Shocking Alabama is Awesome in Tecmo Bowl, Too

And now we have the proper memorial for the spine-tingling finish to No. 4 Auburn versus No. 1 Alabama yesterday—on the home turf of Auburn’s greatest player ever, and that’s not Jordan-Hare Stadium. It’s Tecmo Super Bowl Bo Jackson, the greatest video game athlete of all time, celebrated his 51st birthday yesterday. He was present…

The Week in Games: Gran Finale

We’re settling in for a long winter’s nap after Friday’s release of the PlayStation’s signature driving sim Gran Turismo 6. After that, well, there’ll be news this weekend from the Video Game Awards, but it’ll concern stuff well down the road. Not much cooking until February, so here is your week—or month—in games. Friday, Dec.…

Yes, you can also win Mario Party: Island Tour by doing nothing. Like Mario Party 9 and Super Smash Bros. Melee—and Global Thermonuclear War in Wargames—the only winning move is not to play. [Video by StreetPass Princeton, N.J.]

Kotaku ‘Shop Contest: I Love a Parade

Despite high winds, on Thursday Macy’s managed to fly balloons in its annual Thanksgiving Day Parade without anyone being injured (or cops stabbing and stomping Barney the Dinosaur to death) That gives me an idea for this week’s ‘Shop Contest. Two years ago, Sonic the Hedgehog’s reintroduction to the parade was the subject of this…

GTA V Cop Has a Nervous Breakdown, Goes Walkabout

There’s something Falling Down-esque about this cop’s nervous breakdown in Grand Theft Auto V. He almost gets the squad car out of the driveway with a multi-point back-and-fill move—but then … he just loses it. Tim Burke over at Deadspin captured this; it happened in the open world after finishing the heist mission Blitz Play.…

Sunday Comics: You Can’t Do That on TV

Welcome to Kotaku‘s Sunday Comics, your weekly roundup of the best webcomics. The images enlarge if you click on the magnifying glass icon. Penny Arcade by Jerry Holkins and Mike Krahulik. Published Nov. 27. Read more of Penny Arcade Awkward Zombie by Katie Tiedrich. Published Nov. 25. Read more of Awkward Zombie Brawl In The…

Kotaku ‘Shop Contest: The Sportsbros: The Winners

This week we asked you to make hay with the forbidding gaze of EA Sports’ next-gen cover stars. Son, I am not disappoint with this effort, which gives us a split overall No. 1 between Ginger Snap and halfbeast! Halfbeast, know that your work was greatly admired by everyone here inside Kotaku. Tina was amazed…