Stephen Totilo

Mario Vs. Donkey Kong Gallery

Review: Dead Nation Justifies The Existence Of Yet Another Zombie Game

Game developers, please stop making zombie games when you stop making good ones. The PlayStation 3-exclusive Dead Nation is allowed. It’s a good one. Dead Nation could have been a bad one. It’s not just another groaning zombie game, following Left 4 Dead, Dead Rising, Left 4 Dead 2, Dead Rising 2, Avatar Zombie Massage…

Dead Nation Gallery

These Are Wood Pokémon

Some people say there are no wood Pokémon. Not true. There are woodcut Pokémon. Friend of the site Matt Hawkins curated a recent event at New York City arts gaming showcase Babycastles featuring an artist’s Pokémon woodcuts. They come from artist Maré Odomo, who used a laser cutter to make them, and will be on…

Hopefully, Gears of War 3 Has Some Of This In It

Whenever I see a new look at the Unreal Engine, I wonder: How will they use this in the next Gears of War? I did that in March. I’m doing it again with this brand-new look at the updated Engine. This is a trailer for the latest iteration of the Epic Games’ Unreal Engine, the…

Mass Effect 2 Gamers Greatly Prefer Playing As Soldier Dudes

I’m a guy, and I seldom play games as anything but a guy. I play Mass Effect as a female character, though, for some reason. Very few of my fellow Mass Effect gamers do. Fewer than one of five. What to make of this? It’s hard to say without knowing the percentage of Mass Effect…

Mark Wahlberg Will Be Nathan Drake, DeNiro Could Be Drake’s Dad

“Hopefully we’ll be making that movie this summer,” actor Mark Wahlberg tells MTV, talking about the Uncharted movie he’s planning with writer/director David O. Russell. Wahlberg would be Uncharted hero Nathan Drake. “DeNiro would be my father.” Wahlberg told MTV News’ Josh Horowitz that Russell’s script, as rumored, is being written with roles for the…

Talk Amongst Yourselves

Get yourself through the day by talking about video games right here. Thanks to MrMrScott for today’s image. Bravely submit your images to #TAYpics

Kotaku’s 2010 Xbox 360 Gift Guide

There sure were a lot of fantastic Xbox 360 games in 2010. But these 10 are the ones you or your grandma should be buying for people they love this holiday season. Apologies to three prominent games that feature the letter “B” in their title for leaving you off this list. The competition was just…

Crisis In Korea Has A Video Game Echo

If war flares again on the Korean peninsula as it threatened to today, there will be far more dire things to worry about than a video game, but the upcoming Homefront will nevertheless feel different. Homefront, as we’ve covered here before, is an upcoming first-person shooter set in the near future and scripted by the…

Why The Scribblenauts People Are Making A Shooter

If you know a little something about which people make which video games, the trailer for a game called Hybrid released late last month seemed strange. Hyrbid appears to be a shooter game, set maybe in the near future? Looks gritty and is coming to that game console full of shooters, the Xbox 360. But…

The Reverse Driving Simulator

Not only does this week’s Gran Turismo 5 on the PlayStation 3 include kart-racing, but it appears to include kart-racing that you can win driving backwards. Can’t do that in Mario Kart! Gran Turismo 5 – reverse Kart win [YouTube]

Kinect Hacked To Track Breasts, Or At Least Man-Boobs

The Xbox 360’s Kinect sensor can already track the movement of your head, your hands, your knees — officially — but leaving it to the amateurs to hack it so that it can track breasts. The enterprising Dan Wilcox hacked his Kinect to see if it could spot his chest. “The computer searches for my…

Talk Amongst Yourselves

Here’s the place for you to talk about games. Do so in the comments. And hop over to #TAYpics to submit images for future installments of Talk Amongst Yourselves. We’re running low. Uh-oh! Thanks to furiku for today’s image.

California Is The Best Place To Buy World of Warcraft: Cataclysm First

World of Warcraft: Cataclysm is the kind of game shops open at midnight to sell. No shop is planning more midnight Cataclysm madness than Fry’s Electronics in Fountain Valley, California. That store will host all of the following on the night of December 6, starting at 9PM PT as midnight and the WoW expansion tick…

Debatable Evidence That Conan O’Brien Is Copying Super Mario Again

The theme song for Conan O’Brien’s new show on TBS sounds sorta kinda like a theme song from Super Mario Bros. 3. And we know someone who works with Conan loves Mario. Right? Listen. Even the guy making the video concedes this might be a stretch, but listen and then try to not hear it.…

Is It Time For a Major Black And White Video Game?

Our video games are in color. Even our noir video games set in 1940s Los Angeles. They don’t have to be, right? This is a trailer for Rockstar Games’ L.A. Noire, with one change. We made it black and white. Sure, this is a crude transfer. I took Rockstar Games and Team Bondi’s official L.A.…

Talk Amongst Yourselves

We recommend that you talk about video games right here, in the comments section. And, hey, go submit an image to #TAYpics and it might be featured in a future installment. Thanks to p4w4rr10r for today’s image.

This Week’s Kotaku Video Game Review Round-Up

In the past week, we’ve reviewed seven video games (and a bunch of Black Ops gear). Some were great. At least one was not. These are our bottom lines for seven notable games, with links to our full reviews. Review: Naruto Shippuden: Ultimate Ninja Storm 2 Improves With Age The Bottom Line: Naruto: Ultimate Ninja…

The Secret Passageways In Kotaku

You can hang out in the main room of Kotaku, reading stories we write for you. But if you slide the bookcase or push a loose brick on the fireplace you can access the hidden halls of Kotaku’s tagpages. If you can a theme page on Kotaku, it can exist. All you need to do…