Yannick LeJacq

Counter-Strike Could Really Use More Legos

This is an image from Counter-Strike: Global Offensive. Something looks a little different than what you’d normally expect to see in the latest installment in Valve’s online game about counter-terrorists shooting at counter-terrorists, though. No, I’m not talking about the heads-up display. Ted McIlwain, a level designer at Digital Extremes, has been tinkering with a…

Emergency Eye Wash And Other Strange Things At Valve’s Offices

For many people, touring a video game studio is like taking a trip to nerd heaven. Valve let the winners of its 2013 Saxxy Awards film contest peek behind the curtain in this way. The resulting photo gallery that was recently posted online makes the place look about as whacky as you’d expect the company…

Not Being Able To Talk Trash Online In Mario Kart 8 Is Strange

Something strange happened the first time I played Mario Kart 8 online. I had finally convinced my friend Francis to get a Wii U. Once his console arrived, we decided to take Mario Kart‘s online multiplayer out for a spin. Things were going swimmingly, at first. He created a room for me to join, and…

Katamari Rap Mashups Take Remixing To Insane Conclusion

Rap nerds and video game nerds have a lot in common. So whenever the two overlap thanks to the magic of the internet, things get pretty weird pretty quickly. In the latest and possibly greatest example of this digital melting pot, electronic musician Timothy Jacques, AKA Team Teamwork, just released an album called Katamar Da-Emcee…

Now I Know Why Lemmings Died

Remember Lemmings? Of course you do. It was that cute puzzle game from the nineties about shepherding herds of the titular critters to safety. Many of my earliest memories of being enthralled by a computer screen come from solving these puzzles. Or trying to, at least. Man, I loved that game. The lemmings were all…

Project Spark, Microsoft’s video game about making video games, is coming out on October 8th. The company said in a press release that it will be available for the Xbox One and Windows 8.1 computers. Learn more about the game here

Cliff Bleszinski’s Next Game Is A Free-To-Play Shooter

It’s been a long time coming, but Cliff Bleszinski has finally taken the lid off his next game and the first project he’s embarking on since he left Epic Games two years ago. It’s code-named “Blue Streak,” and he describes it as a free-to-play sci-fi arena shooter for the PC. The game is being made…

Watch Things Get Built And Destroyed In Fortnite

Despite putting the game out in the open way back in 2011, Epic has remained relatively quiet about its cartoonish shooter Fortnite ever since. Now it’s finally starting to put the game back in the spotlight by releasing promising footage like this new gameplay trailer. The short clip shows off some of the game’s fast-paced…

Pushmo World Is My Favorite Kind Of Puzzle Game

This’ll be easy, I said. How can it not be? The game is too cute to not be easy Little did I know. I was playing Pushmo World. The game is the latest installment in one of Nintendo’s lesser-known series, so I had no idea what I was getting myself into when I booted up…

Attention Borderlands fans: Gearbox just released 14 more minutes of butt-stomping action from the upcoming “Pre-Sequel,” out this October for the PS3, Xbox 360, and PC. Watch the new video above and read our thoughts on a recent preview for the game here

The Quest to Build Mario Kart Inside Dota 2

You know what they say about oil and water, or kart racers and multiplayer online battle arenas (MOBAs). Neither mixes together very well. But that hasn’t stopped a brave crew of Dota 2 players-cum-modders from attempting to rejigger Valve’s classic to be a little more like Mario Kart. The unorthodox union is called Dota Dash.…

See, it’s funny because it’s also a metaphor for how difficult it was to unite these States of America. From Mike Meade’s Twitter.

The Samurai Robot Isn’t Racist, He’s The Best Part Of Transformers 4

I’m the rare kind of person who unabashedly adores Michael Bay’s much-maligned treatment of Transformers. Everybody else I know hates these movies, so much so that none of them have even bothered to see the new one. If this is purely a matter of taste, I’m totally fine being the lone Transformers fan. But one…

Track: Xxplosive Artist: Dr. Dre, Kurupt, Hittman, Six-Two, Nate Dogg Album: The Chronic 2001 Kotaku Soundtrack is a selection of the stuff we’re listening to – and gaming to – at the moment.

Nintendo Keeps Guilt-Tripping Me For Not Playing Their Games

It’s hard to keep up with sim games. All those little virtual pets demand your attention constantly, crying out from behind the screen to make sure you know they’re hungry or tired or lonely or bored or whatever. “Hey,” you just want to say sometimes. “I have a life too, you know. What about my…

Video Games Didn’t Make Me Gay, But They Did Make Me Proud

I wish that the first time I had sex with a man had been in a video game. Instead, it was the second. And he really wasn’t a man at all, so much as a bundle of pixels and sprites. That’s why I wish I could’ve done things differently, though. Because the first man I…

It’s Not A New Okami, But At Least You Can Hang It On Your Wall

Okami might have gotten a new HD paint job back in 2012, but it was already one of the most visually stunning video games out there. Capcom, the game’s publisher, has made a series of prints with Dutch art dealership Cook & Becker to commemorate its enduring visual splendor and general amazingness. It’s not quite…

Still on the fence about Tomodachi Life? Well, Nintendo just said that it’s made a free demo of its new 3DS sim game available on the eShop. Check it out if you’re one of those people who’s still not sure you’re ready to move on from Animal Crossing, and read our review here

Airtight Games is no more, according to GeekWire. The independent developer behind Quantum Conundrum and Soul Fjord recently released Murdered: Soul Suspect, a noir-themed adventure game published by Square Enix. The GeekWire reporter found the studio’s Redmond, WA headquarters newly vacated, “with a sign outside saying the company is closing its doors.”

Your Favorite Atari Games Are Now Advertisements For Denny’s

It’s a dispiriting law of nature, but everything in pop culture eventually grows old and starts to lose its edge. Thankfully, corporate sponsors are always ready to step up and put a stop to this uncontrollable slide towards obsolescence. That, or just make it worse. I can’t tell which Denny’s managed to achieve with Atari…