Patrick Klepek

Jonathan Blow’s next puzzle game, The Witness, arrives January 26, and he’s announced it’ll cost you $40 on PS4 and PC. While a game’s pricing is not usually noteworthy—and Blow has been raising expectations on The Witness for a while now—I suspect this may come as a surprise for some people. Heads up!

One of the best places to spot video game deals, Cheap Ass Gamer, has been dealing with a series of hacks. The attacker (or group) claims they’re after a child molester, but haven’t made clear why they’ve targeted CAG. The site claims passwords weren’t compromised, though emails and usernames may have been.

A Great Port Can’t Save The Most Boring Resident Evil Game

It doesn’t matter how pretty you make Resident Evil Zero—it’s still Resident Evil Zero. It’s easily one of the weakest entries in Capcom’s survival horror series, but if you’re interested in fighting zombies on a train, you’re suddenly in luck. It’s been a little over three years since Resident Evil 6 was released, and while…

Nintendo Is Deleting People’s Mario Maker Stages Without Telling Them Why

When Mario Maker launched, Nintendo warned players it could remove stages from the game for a variety of reasons, including ones that were merely unpopular. Nintendo has made good on that threat, but folks in the Mario Maker community are upset because it’s not really clear what “unpopular” means. Here’s what Nintendo originally outlined: Notice…

John Romero Releases First DOOM Level In 21 Years

One of the creators of DOOM is back with something special. Romero released “Tech Gone Bad” out of the blue this morning, which he described as a “warm-up.” A warm-up to what, though? Hmm. Here’s how Romero describes the setup for this stage: After exiting the Computer Station you knew the worst was up ahead.…

What Made Final Fantasy VII Special

As the new year rolls on, so does Worth Reading, our weekly collection of the best games writing around the web. Here’s what I’ve found. Hey, You Should Read These “The afterimage of Final Fantasy VII” by Christian Nutt A remake of Final Fantasy VII, despite Square Enix’s public reservations about the project over the…

In honor of David Bowie’s passing, Square Enix is giving away Steam keys for Omikron: The Nomad Soul, which he starred in and wrote music for. The offer is “while supplies last” and runs through January 22. US players should use this link, European players should use this link. Both require the code “omikron.” Contact…

That Dragon, Cancer’s Developers Are OK With Asshole Steam Discussions

That Dragon, Cancer is a powerful story about a tragic moment in the lives of the Green family. Their son, Joel, was diagnosed with cancer at 12 months old. The conversation on the game’s Steam forums has focused on the morality of making a game about that. Interestingly, the developers are letting it happen. Right…

Square Enix has announced the new Hitman game is now episodic, meaning you don’t have to pay $60 upfront—you can pay in chunks. Previously, the game was going to cost $60, but there’d be new content released every so often. The first episode hits March 11.

Someone Spent 10 Months Reverse-Engineering Dark Souls To Destroy Other Players

Though Dark Souls was released in 2011 and Dark Souls 3 is only a few months away, the community hasn’t moved on. Recently, someone created an AI for PvP combat to invade other players and totally wreck them. Meet…The King. Here’s a trailer made by Pokashine Created by Dark Souls fan metal-crow, The King is…

In Defense of Dragon’s Dogma

Dragon’s Dogma didn’t get the kindest review on Kotaku when it came out in 2012 for consoles. With the PC version arriving on Steam tomorrow, it’s an opportunity for me to mount a defense for one of my favorite flawed games of the last few years. Dragon’s Dogma is far from perfect, but damn, I…

Expert Mario 64 Player Demonstrates His Most Advanced Techniques 

Ever wondered how some of the best players pull off their ridiculous tricks? Super Mario 64 player pannenkoek2012, known for beating the game in as few button presses as possible, made a video explaining his process. It’s amazing. pannenkoek2012 walks through a bunch of his techniques in this video, though the one he initially focuses…

I hadn’t heard about The Aquatic Adventure of the Last Human until a few minutes ago, but apparently it comes out on January 19?! Looks a bit like In The Hunt, combined with Metroid and Shadow of the Colossus? Nice combo! Here’s a trailer.

Rockstar North Boss Leslie Benzies Is Out After Nearly Two Decades

The man in charge of the regional Rockstar studio long credited with handling the bulk of development for the Grand Theft Auto games is no longer at the company, Rockstar confirmed to Kotaku today. The company said Rockstar North studio head Leslie Benzies had been on sabbatical for much of the past 17 months. Rockstar…

The excellent music rhythm game Crypt of the Necrodancer is coming to PlayStation 4 and Vita on February 2. The game has crossbuy support, so if you pick it up on one platform, you’re good to go on the other. Contact the author at [email protected]

Sony recently attempted to trademark the term “Let’s Play” for reasons unknown, but the trademark was denied. Let’s Play is an incredibly popular, borderline ubiquitous term on YouTube and elsewhere. The company has an opportunity to appeal, and haven’t responded to our requests for comment. Contact the author at [email protected]

Video Game Erroneously Blocked Player Named Muhammad Khan For Being On Government List

Muhammad Zakir Khan wanted to check out the beta for the MOBA-inspired Paragon from Epic Games, but when he tried to register an account, he was blocked because his name was apparently on the US government’s “Specially Designated Nationals list.” It’s been fixed, but the hell happened? Here’s what showed up when Khan tried to…

That Dragon, Cancer Knocked Me On My Ass

I’ve been wondering when a game would make me cry, and that changed over the weekend. A few games have made me teary eyed, but that’s about it. That Dragon, Cancer not only made me weep, but I had to stop playing it a few times. I’m going to talk about some of the events…

Deadbolt is the newest game from the developers of the severely underrated Risk of Rain—here’s a trailer Best part? It’s coming out early this year and there’s already a playable demo of the game. Looks a bit like Gunpoint to me! You can reach the author of this post at [email protected] or on Twitter at…

How Star Wars Galaxies Fans Brought A Dead Game Back To Life

It’s been a few weeks since Worth Reading, our weekly round of the best games writing around, but it’s good to be back. Hey, You Should Read These “How Players Revived Star Wars Galaxies And EverQuest” by Steven Messner The video game industry is terrible at archiving what it makes, so we’re left with fans…