Owen Good

GRID 2‘s Achievements Will Be Written by Achievement Hunters

Xbox360Achievements.org and PS3Trophies.org have been tapped to draw up the achievements and trophies in GRID 2, due for release by the end of March. Publisher Codemasters and the two sites made a joint announcement of the team-up yesterday. “For years we’ve been criticizing lackluster achievement and trophy lists, and now, we finally get the chance…

Czech diplomats have been invited to Greece in the matter of two ArmA 3 devs held for 75 days on espionage charges.

Fans Asked to Pick Sonic & All Stars Racing DLC; Will Sega Hear Them Out?

Four days before the game’s release, Sonic & All Stars Racing Transformed was already getting suggestions from its community for future downloadable content additions. Steve Lycett of Sumo Digital, the game’s developer, popped into the thread, joked about how tough it was to please the fans, then set down a challenge: if they could come…

All the Gaming Deals of Black Friday [UPDATED with 80 More Deals]

Our deals partners at Dealzon have scanned all major retailers in North America for the video game offers of Black Friday, the day after Thanksgiving when many Americans begin their holiday shopping. Whether you’re picking up something for yourself, a loved one or a friend, here’s more than 60 deals on current video games, gaming…

Sonic & All-Stars Racing Transformed: The Kotaku Review

In a year in which I reviewed demanding motorsports simulations like F1 2012, and NASCAR The Game: Inside Line, with Forza Horizon thrown in for good measure, I can guarantee the toughest racing game I’ll play is Sonic & All Stars Racing Transformed That is no joke. It’s simply one of the least-accessible cart racers…

Student Gets a Football Manager Job Based on Football Manager Prowess

If I was in a pitch meeting with this story as a screenplay, I’d say it was The Last Starfighter meets Moneyball with a little bit of Cool Runnings. Vugar Huseynzade, 21, of Sweden, got a job as a supporting manager despite having no experience managing a football team, other than in Sega and Sports…

The Most Expensive Wii U on eBay was Melted Down in a Microwave Oven

“Professional microwaver” Kenny Irwin has performed a day-one (or close to it) nuking of of the Nintendo 3DS and the PlayStation Vita, as well as microwaving an Xbox 360 Elite (remember that model?) in the name of art. So hell yes he was going to melt down a deluxe-edition Wii U on release day, as…

Trashy remake Red Dawn is in theaters tonight. There’s nothing in it you haven’t seen before, such as this game.

Day 1 of the Wii U: Everything You Need to Know

It’s here. Nintendo’s sixth console, bringing one new controller and two screens to your living room, hit store shelves early this morning in America. As you would expect, there are are successes, setbacks, and tons of questions for the newest piece of video gaming hardware. Kotaku is here to document them all. What’s Inside: Wii…

If the Miiverse catches on, a new word will catch on with it: “Unyeah.”

The Baseball Video Gamer: A Hack Living in Mom’s Basement

When I was about 15, about the time you should begin to read serious books and challenge the accepted wisdom of your forebears, I got a copy of Total Baseball, an enormous, flaccid, yellow paperback about the size of the Manhattan phone book. I studied it at the foot of my bed next to the…

The Week in Games: Say U, Say Wii

The Wii U’s release opened a floodgate of new releases today, and also made about a dozen early launches on the new console finally playable. Tuesday returns things more to normal, with Hitman: Absolution arriving on consoles and Assassin’s Creed III coming to PC. Kotaku thanks our bargain-hunting watchdogs Dealzon for assembling The Week in…

Under 18? You Need 50 Cents to Register on Nintendo Network

As said earlier, Nintendo is serious about making Miiverse into an elegant online service for a more civilized age. They want to keep it safe, too, and make sure some adult in the house is aware of what the kids are doing on it. The best way to accomplish that seems to be requiring a…

Here’s What the Second Grand Theft Auto V Trailer Looks Like in GTA IV

We saw the first Grand Theft Auto V trailer recreated in the original San Andreas (GTA: San Andreas, to be exact). Then someone set it in Grand Theft Auto IV. So, with the second trailer’s release earlier this week, it’s natural we get that one rebuilt inside IV as well. This is by YouTube user…

What’s the Gray Market Like for the Wii U? Check Back After Black Friday

As of this writing there are at least 630 Wii Us listed on eBay for minimum bids or buy-it-now prices of $520 or more. Not a one of them has any takers. Even though it took less than a day for GameStop to sell out its preorder allotment, even though the retailer claims a waiting…

Kotaku ‘Shop Contest: Spike This Award

That’s Samuel L. Jackson in a publicity shot for the Video Game Awards, which he’ll be hosting in less than three weeks on Spike. I can think of a thousand things Jules might rather be holding, and so can you, probably. So let’s get going with this week’s ‘Shop Contest, featuring a special guest exploitable.…

Wii U Owners Bummed Out By Huge Firmware Update

That’s a progress bar 1/8th full after 30 minutes—a four-hour process at this rate—for the Wii U’s infamous firmware update, said to be 5 gigabytes (according to Geoff Keighley of GameTrailers TV, and repeated by numerous others). Sony, you are officially off the hook with the PS3’s interminable, poorly timed and mandatory system updates. It’s…

Sunday Comics: A Lot Harder Than It Looks

Welcome to your Sunday read of the week’s best in web comics. Make sure to click on the expand button in the bottom right to enlarge each comic. Awkward Zombie by Katie Tiedrich published Nov. 12.—Read more of Awkward Zombie Nerf NOW!! by Josué Pereira published Nov. 16.—Read more of Nerf NOW!! Penny Arcade by…

With one day to go, Star Citizen became the most crowd-funded video game project ever, $4.2 million and counting.

Kotaku ‘Shop Contest: Icing on the Chief: The Winners

Master Chief said it with cake when Halo 4 launched, though what exactly it says when he’s carving into his own noggin, I have no idea. That’s where our ‘Shop artists were supposed to supply a translation. We’ve got all the finalists above, plus overall No. 1 sciteach. GiantBoyDetective (3) had the best of the…