Stephen Totilo

14 Minutes of Watch Dogs Looking Like One of 2013’s Best New Games

One of my colleagues has been swooning over this new video of Watch Dogs. You should check it, too! The nearly 15-minute video shows a version of what I saw of the game last May—a section of Ubisoft’s open-world adventure that helps explain why this is one of the big fall video games we’re most…

One Great Pokémon Illustration Per Day. Here Are The First Seven.

The intimidatingly-talented Kotaku reader Stormborn (Bonny John on Tumblr and Deviant Art) has been drawing one Pokémon per day for the past week. You can find each of these entries over at our reader-run sister site, TAY. But for your viewing convenience, here are the first seven for you to cycle through. Bulbasaur! Ivysaur! Venusaur!…

Rayman Legends: The Kotaku Review

The mark of a better video game, for me, is that it lingers in my mind. I think about it after I’m done playing with it. It adds something enriching to my life, to my mental catalogue of experiences. The bad games don’t stick with me. I mostly forget them. I don’t think about them.…

The Xbox One’s Reinvention Of Watching TV And Sports Will Start Slowly

The Xbox One’s reinvention of television, both hyped and heckled for months, will begin with a baby step, if a recent demonstration of the November console’s impact on live sports broadcasts is any indication. At a fancy rented loft in Manhattan last week, Microsoft reps showed me the incremental progress they are making with the…

Quick Q&A: Why She Thinks Gamers Can Improve The World

Few people have made more effort to speak positively about video games in public than game designer, author, and researcher Jane McGonigal. She’s the opposite of all those people who trash games in the media and, in this week’s Quick Q&A, she’s got four answers for us and one big question for all of you.…

Sleep Mode: It’s Labor Day in America. The so-called end of summer. Dear readers, please don’t work too hard. You deserve a rest.

Is Armillo The Feel-Good Story Of PAX 2013? It Is For Me.

Two years ago, I’m at PAX in Seattle. I’m trying to cover every indie game possible, but even I have my limits. I spot a game called Armillo, don’t pay it much mind, but a developer ropes me in. It’s a Super–Mario–Galaxy–Bomberman–Sonic kind of thing. Looks slick. I’m impressed. I post about it. Commenters like…

Clock’s Ticking On Crowdfunding For This Gorgeous Gaming Art Book

This simple mustard-colored book titled Every Day is Play could be one of the most beautiful video game coffee table art books we’ve ever seen. But it probably needs to get Kickstartered first. Designer and loyal Kotaku reader Matthew Kenyon is less than two days and still about $5,000 away from hitting his goal. The…

‘The video game industry has become the whipping boy for laziness…’

Recently, a clip of a pro baseball coach imparting some life lessons to a young boy went viral online. One of those lessons: “Do you play video games? Don’t do that either, or you’ll be dumb like the rest of these idiots. That’s all they do is play video games. You come home from school…

Spotted in Oregon: Real Five-Acre Plants Vs. Zombies Corn Maze

A Plants Vs. Zombies public relations man tells me his company did not pay for this impressive five-acre corn maze in Oregon. He just sent some images and video… that has a zombie dancing in the middle of it. PR stunt or not, this maze is pretty awesome. UPDATE: Here’s a bigger pic for you…

Nintendo of America Chief on Xbox One and PS4: Being New Isn’t Enough

Nintendo has to compete with two more machines this fall, the Xbox One and PlayStation 4, both launching in November. It’s part of Nintendo of America president Reggie Fils-Aime’s job description to be unfazed by that. Here’s his take on the pending competition: “I don’t think consumers buy hardware just because it’s sexy and new,”…

How To StreetPass Like a Champ On the Nintendo 3DS

One of the best features of the Nintendo 3DS is its ability to StreetPass. You will find this feature in no other portable device that plays games. The Vita doesn’t do it. The iPhone can’t do it. Android’s hopeless, too. And yet some 3DS owners don’t StreetPass or do it minimally. Let’s change this! We…

Nintendo Is Still Making Its Most Popular System Ever

With the introduction of the Nintendo 2DS to bolster the Nintendo 3DS line-up, it seems that the days of the Nintendo DS could be drawing to a close. But it turns out Nintendo still makes a couple of models of the hardware. You just might not see them in your neck of the woods. “There…

Nintendo Says Wii U’s Name Not Responsible For Wii U’s Problems

One of the popular theories about why the Wii U has struggled is that it just might have the wrong name. Millions of people loved the Wii, so maybe they should have called this one the Wii 2? Here’s Nintendo of America president Reggie Fils-Aime’s take: “The challenges we’re facing with Wii U are not…

Readers of our sister site Lifehacker are sharing the secrets of How They Work—detailing the gear, the software and whatever else gets them through their day. One of those readers helps make Call of Duty. This is how he works…

New Zelda For 3DS Gets Handsome Boxart With Intriguing Icon

Here’s the excellent box art for November 22’s Nintendo 3DS (and 2DS—wow that feels weird) game The Legend of Zelda: A Link Between Worlds. Hey, listen! What’s that orange icon in the top right corner? Why, that’s the logo for the Nintendo Network, which indicates that a game might have online multiplayer or support DLC.…

Introducing… The Nintendo 2DS. No, That’s Not a Typo.

Nintendo will be launching a new portable gaming system in October. It’s called the Nintendo 2DS. It’s a 3DS without the 3D, and it’s shaped like a thin piece of cake. “This is an entry-level handheld gaming system,” Nintendo of America president Reggie Fils-Aime told Kotaku earlier this week when we got our hands on…

Wii U Price Drops $50 Effective September 20

Nintendo’s home console can be yours for just $299.99 starting September 20, the house of Mario announced today. That’s a $50 price cut for a console that’s about to get a steady flow of Nintendo-made games but that’s been struggling to sell at even half the pace of its predecessor. The Wii U will sell…

Wind Waker HD Releasing Early, If You’re Willing To Download It

The Wii U remake of the the GameCube’s Legend of Zelda: Wind Waker will be available two weeks earlier than initially announced by Nintendo, but only if you download it to the console. The download will be available on September 20. The disc version remains slated for an October 4 release. The digital-first promotion is…

Nintendo Doles Out Release Dates, Changes For Big Holiday Games

Mario and Donkey Kong are flipping release dates for Wii U this fall for what will be a Nintendo console and handheld line-up stacked with big Nintendo franchise sequels. Nintendo gamers, these are the major Nintendo game releases to choose from and, with few exceptions, the biggest games of the season for Wii U and…