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The Difference Between A Good Video Game and a Bad One
During my first 25 years playing video games I had no theory about what makes a video game good. I knew the good ones when I played them. I just felt it. Last year, however, I was forced to come up with a theory—a theory about what makes a video game good. I’ve been testing…
By Stephen Totilo Published July 9, 2012 -
This Is What You Will Unlock In Borderlands 2 If You Have a Borderlands Save File
People who have save files for the first Borderlands on PC, PlayStation 3 or Xbox 360 will get the stuff in the image here, according to an official posting by Borderlands folks at the official Gearbox community site.
By Stephen Totilo Published July 6, 2012 -
In Praise of the Video Game Controller, the Violin for ‘Gaming’s Virtuosos’
To those who are infatuated with motion controls—their fingers swiping across iPad, their hands waving in front of Kinects—I’d like to point out that the controller is still an excellent and precise (!) way to play video games. That is the point of a new piece about the benefits of the unheralded video game controller…
By Stephen Totilo Published July 6, 2012 -
Let’s Name the Next Xbox
The next Xbox might be called Xbox 8. Or Microsoft recently grabbed that web address for some other purpose (possibly holding it for the release of the eighth Xbox in the year 2060). But if not “Xbox 8”, what should the makers of the next Xbox call this thing? Let’s help them. Names they’ve considered…
By Stephen Totilo Published July 6, 2012 -
How a Video Game Tester Beat Cancer
Graham Henry was 16 years old when he was diagnosed with cancer. Today, at age 18, he’s cancer-free and testing games for Epic. He tells his story at the website for the St. Baldrick’s Foundation, a group working to help kids with cancers. We’re all smiling for you, Graham!
By Stephen Totilo Published July 6, 2012 -
The Wonderful, Hidden Message of Far Cry 3 Is That Your Parents Weren’t Idiots
My favorite things about Far Cry 2 won’t be in Far Cry 3 I’m really looking forward to Far Cry 3 How’d I get from there to there? First, pretend you’re me. You’re at a Ubisoft showcase. You’ve just played Far Cry 3, single-player and co-op. You sit down with the game’s producer, Dan Hay.…
By Stephen Totilo Published July 5, 2012 -
Dearest EA, This Is What I Thought of Crysis 3
Occasionally we in the world of games journalism are asked by people in the world of public relations what we thought of a game we just saw. Surely, anything I could say to them, I could say to you, reader of Kotaku. And I should, right? Otherwise I’m just doing free consultation. In answer to…
By Stephen Totilo Published July 5, 2012 -
Does This Random Celebrity Mii Look Like This Random Celebrity To You?
Here, for some reason known only to Nintendo and some publicists, is a QR code that will generate the official Mii of actress Denise Richards. This is probably not a collection of data you were expecting to get today. But now you’ve got it. If you have a Nintendo 3DS, can load up a Mii-making…
By Stephen Totilo Published July 4, 2012 -
A New, $99 Console Called Ouya Is Real and Radically Different From Xbox, PlayStation and Wii
Leaks are springing, and word is out that a new mystery home video game console called Ouya is in development. This is a real thing. Ouya is a $99 box running on the Android platform, with a focus on free gaming, according to details spotted in a listing on a site for tech start-ups spotted…
By Stephen Totilo Published July 3, 2012 -
We’ve Got Jonathan Blow (The Witness, Braid) and Chris Hecker (Spy Party) Here To Answer Your Best Questions
Two of the most talented and fiercely independent video game creators I’ve ever met are joining us today, right below these words I’m writing, to answer your best questions. We’ve got Jonathan Blow, the man who brought us Braid and is leading development on the lovely island-exploration puzzle game The Witness. And we’ve got Chris…
By Stephen Totilo Published July 3, 2012 -
These Are The 40 Most Powerful People In Video Games
The world of video games is full of mighty people—people whose mere whims control what video games we play, what we play games on, how we buy them or even what games are like. We’ve often wondered who the most powerful person is in video games. And we’ve wondered who the second is, the third…
By Stephen Totilo Published July 3, 2012 -
She’s Not Hiding From The Hate She’s Getting For Examining Video Games. She’s Exposing It.
Anita Sarkeesian wanted to make a web series about how women are portrayed in video games. She asked the world for $6,000. Some of the people who thought that was interesting and worth doing have given her just shy of $159,000. Some of the people who thought it was not worth doing, have defaced her…
By Stephen Totilo Published July 3, 2012 -
Finally, I Can Recommend a PlayStation Mini To You
For reasons that I’m sure are my fault but may also have to do with their placement in an unlit corner of the PlayStation Network’s digital store, I’ve not been able to recommend a PlayStation Mini to you. These little games are playable on PS3’s, PSPs and Vitas. They’re little, like the iPhone games I…
By Stephen Totilo Published July 2, 2012 -
You May Already Own a PlayStation 4: The Sci-Fi Implications of Last Night’s Big Sony-Gaikai News
We can always count on the people at PlayStation for planting crazy ideas about the future of gaming in our heads. These are the people who advertised the PlayStation 2 with a commercial for the PlayStation 9, who told us that their PS2 games would look like Pixar movies and who, at one time, were…
By Stephen Totilo Published July 2, 2012 -
About Commenting…
Last Thursday, we introduced our new discussion system on Kotaku. We call it Kinja. It takes the place of our previous commenting system. Since Thursday, I’ve heard from many readers about the new system. My team has heard from readers on the site. We’ve heard from folks though e-mail and on Twitter. We’ve heard some…
By Stephen Totilo Published July 2, 2012 -
Assassin’s Creed III‘s Newest Trailer Is All About War
The latest trailer for the non-jingoistic Assassin’s Creed III celebrates the war for American independence, which is commemorated annually by the good, old 4th of July. There’s a lot of fighting in this Independence Day clip… plus a reminder of that hallmark of true independence: retailer-specific pre-order incentives. If GameStop was selling the Declaration of…
By Stephen Totilo Published July 2, 2012 -
The Games We Liked or Disliked, As Featured in The New York Times
Welcome. There’s a good chance you arrived at this link from The New York Times‘ Arts Section, which now features condensed, edited versions of games we have reviewed on Kotaku To the right, you’ll find links to reviews or impressions of all of the games that we’ve featured in the Times. We hope that these…
By Stephen Totilo Published July 1, 2012 -
We’re Getting An Awesome Lego Portal Movie This Year (Unofficially)
The amazing individual known as Kooberz, who brought us the brilliant stop-motion Lego take on Ghost Recon this past spring is—sorry, Ghost Recon—doing something cooler for his next project: stop-motion Lego Portal. The short film will be released in two or three parts, with the first one scheduled for release later this year. For now,…
By Stephen Totilo Published June 30, 2012
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