Stephen Totilo

Quick Q&A: There Aren’t Enough Video Games

Welcome to the second Kotaku Quick Q&A, this time with a small twist. Our interviewee answers four of my questions and then has one question for me and you. On the hot seat today is Rami Ismail, who co-runs the indie studio Vlambeer. Popular critical hits such as Super Crate Box and Ridiculous Fishing have…

Pikmin 3: The Kotaku Review(s)

I can’t review Pikmin 3 just once. I won’t. I’m going to review it seven times. Before I get to the reviewing, though, let me do some explaining. In case you don’t know. Pikmin games are made by Nintendo and were dreamt up by Shigeru Miyamoto, the man credited with inventing Mario and Zelda. Pikmin…

Two Astounding New EverQuest Games Are Coming. Full Details.

Just when it seemed that the future of MMOs might be a bit boring, the people behind EverQuest have decided to massively shake things up. Announced today in Las Vegas, Sony Online Entertainment is making not one but two new EverQuest games. Actually, you may be helping make one of them. The expected part of…

Sony’s Most WTF PlayStation Ad Yet?

Sony, the company responsible for the walkman, the PlayStation and lots of very odd ads, is trying to sell the PS Vita and PS3 in Argentina. And they are trying to do it with a most unusual tagline. The line in the ad above translates to: “When your son is playing he doesn’t ask you…

Indie Games Are Full Of Helpless Women But Critic Finds Some To Praise

Feminist critic Anita Sarkeesian has good things to say about a bunch of games in the third part of her analysis of the rampant use of “damsels in distress” in video games. She spends a lot of this one checking in on how indie games and modders handle things. Oh, but before that praise, she…

Watch Us Play… Pikmin 3 And Try To Do This Thing Called ‘Teamwork’

Pikmin 3‘s timed missions are tough, even in co-op. Here’s one of the early ones. Kotaku‘s Steve Marinconz and I had just seven minutes to slay a mighty monster. Could we do it? We recorded the video a couple of days ago, if that matters to you. For more impressions of the Wii U’s first…

Nintendo’s Brighter Gaming Future

Amid much ado about Nintendo’s high 3DS sales and low Wii U sales, we’ve also got an updated chart of game release dates from the House of Mario. This one shows the major releases for both Nintendo consoles, though it surely omits most of the surprise downloadable releases the company loves to dole out. What…

It’s Important to Feel Like Batman When You Play A Game As Batman

“What would Batman do?” That’s a driving principle behind the upcoming game Batman: Arkham Origins. And, sure, that’s what the people making any game about a famous character are going to say. Still, how do they do that? Part of it is having you control a guy that looks like Batman. Part of it is…

This Airport’s ‘Free’ Wi-Fi Will Only Cost Gamers Their Dignity

Some airports charge you for Internet. Some don’t (Daytona Beach International Airport, you rule!). And then there’s the rocking-chair-filled Charlotte airport, which makes discriminating gamers pay a heavy, heavy price. I tried to log onto Charlotte’s free, magical wireless Internet this past Sunday, and I hit the obstacle you see screencapped above. I had to…

Quick Q&A: He Used to Like Achievements

Here’s something new for you. A Q&A from Kotaku with a top gaming person—short enough that you can read the whole thing before the bus arrives, before it’s your turn in line, before your date is back in his/her seat. Weekly. First-up: game designer Cliff Bleszinski. Bleszinski is the former creative lead at Epic. His…

We’re Just Not Sure About The New Thief. Here’s Why.

I’m going to level with you. I have no idea if the next Thief game is going to be any good. And that’s not for a lack of trying to figure it out. The game, which is something of a reboot of the ur-stealth video game series by the same name, won’t be out until…

Guess Which Upcoming Game’s Plot Involves ‘An Elite Group Of Soldiers’

Guess the upcoming game that has the following plot. (Hint: it’s not Sonic: Lost World.) Ready? It’s cheating if you use Google. The world is on the brink of chaos, China is the tinderbox and you and your squad are the inadvertent spark that could ignite a global conflict. This is [GAME NAME REDACTED]. As…

Ubisoft’s brain trust believes gamers will prefer open-world games that can be always-online, Polygon reports. Also in that article: Assassin’s Creed IV might secretly be a message game about how Captain Ahab would have been more successful if he had more friends.

This Is Probably Why Ubisoft Wants Nintendo To Sell More Wii U’s

Here’s a chart released by Assassin’s Creed/Watch Dogs/Splinter Cell publisher Ubisoft today. That’d be the publisher that put out a bunch of games for Wii U last year, including the superb launch-day exclusive ZombiU but now doesn’t want to do more exclusives until Nintendo sells more systems. In this chart, “Q1 2013/2014” is April 1-June…

A 44-Step Guide To Enjoying the Ouya

The good people at Gamesies have (had?) an Ouya. Here is their guide to getting the most out of the system. Look, the Ouya’s alright. Not amazing. Not terrible. It’s got potential. It’s got a few cool games. I don’t support any piracy nor risking your life at a pawn shop, but, hey, this is…

This is Video Game High School. Season Two.

What’s the verdict on Video Game High School? I didn’t see season one. Good? Bad? Watchable? Better than Saved by the Bell? The new, six-episode season will premiere on July 25 on YouTube and RocketJump.com To contact the author of this post, write to [email protected] or find him on Twitter @stephentotilo

Possibly-Profound Gaming Lesson: Don’t Shoot, And You’ll Heal

The person who is playing the upcoming video game Luftrausers in the GIF here understands a basic rule of the game: don’t shoot, and your ship will heal. Games are made of simple rules like these. Occasionally, those rules can feel profound. I’m not saying that Luftrausers is a deep message game. It is, more…

DualShock 4 vs. DualShock 3

Just how similar is the new PlayStation 4 controller to the one that PlayStation 3 gamers have been using for nearly seven years? At a PlayStation event in New York City yesterday, we were able to put a model of the DualShock 4 up against a DualShock 3. The biggest difference between the controllers is…

One-Man Console War, Vol. 1

The only people who ever lose a console war are people who make games. The people who actually play games usually win. We, the gamers, dictate who the victors are while enjoying the spoils. The worst thing that’ll happen to a gamer because of a console war is that he or she might miss out…

A Game Creator’s Argument For Only Letting You Play As A Boy

From what I’ve seen of it, The Puppeteer is a delightful upcoming PlayStation 3 game starring a boy in a cartoon play. Its creative director, Gavin Moore, doesn’t believe players should have the option of playing as a girl in his game. “Why do we want girls to play girls and why do we want…