Culture

I’m Not Sure, But I Think PETA Is Upset With Pokémon.

Remember when we had to wait years for a follow-up to our pro-animal rights propaganda video games? The People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals return to the Unrelated Region a year after Pokémon Black & Blue with Pokémon Red, White & Blue: Loosely Connected to McDonald’s. Last year’s game called out all of humanity…

Which One Of These Images Is A Photo, And Which Is A 3D Render?

The answer? Well, they’re both renders, actually. For real. Dan Roarty is a lead character artist at Tomb Raider developers Crystal Dynamics. Before that, though, he worked on the ill-fated Star Wars 1313, modelling and texturing the game’s main character. As you can see below, his 3D modelling skills are off the charts. That old…

Track: Karma Slave | Album: Possibilities / Titan A.E. Soundtrack | Artist: Splashdown Kotaku Soundtrack is a selection of the stuff we’re listening to – and gaming to – at the moment.

Track: Statement | Album: Smile | Artist: Boris Kotaku Soundtrack is a selection of the stuff we’re listening to – and gaming to – at the moment.

How To Get Eaten By A Giant Freakin’ Dragon

Artist Frank Hong used to work for companies such as Ubisoft and EA. He’s since moved into the film business, helping out on stuff like Oblivion and Pacific Rim, as well as the upcoming RoboCop and Godzilla flicks. You can see more of his art at his personal site, blog and CGHub page._To see the…

Why You Should Always Wear Helmets In Battle

Wenjun Lin is a Chinese concept artist who, like every other artist on the planet, has most recently done some cards for Applibot’s mobile juggernaut, Legend of the Cryptids. You can see more of his work at his personal site, blog and CGHub page. To see the larger pics in all their glory (or, if…

Track: Civilization | Album: Audio, Video, Disco | Artist: Justice Kotaku Soundtrack is a selection of the stuff we’re listening to – and gaming to – at the moment.

Kate Upton and Snoop Dogg Made an Amazing Hot Pockets Ad

Take Biz Markie’s “Just a Friend.” Change the song so that it’s about Hot Pockets, and then get Snoop Dogg and Kate Upton to perform it. Add lots of pot and Minecraft references, and throw in some other cameos in there for good measure. What do you get? Why, you get this nonsensical yet glorious…

I Am in Love With This Game’s Colorful, Vivid Backgrounds

I admit, I am one of those who is constantly annoyed that, constrained only by the limits of our imagination, we continually produce “realistic” looking games that have a color palette dominated by browns, grays, and blacks. So I am ecstatic whenever a game like Arcadias no Ikusahime comes along. The backgrounds are beautifully rendered…

I For One Welcome Our New Robot Overlords

Last week, the guys at BLR (with help from some WETA artists) released one of the most incredible pieces of sci-fi animation this planet has ever seen. Keloid. Let’s bask in the afterglow, then, with some art from the guys who designed the killer robots. While some of the design was handled in-house, two WETA…

GTA: Australia Has The Same Old GTA Problems

Weird animation issues? Check. Crazy civilians? Check. Australians buying drugs and…wait a minute. Only once has the GTA series left American shores. I can’t see it happening again, and if it did, it won’t come to Australia. But a man can dream. And so can these guys. The Thing About GTA V… [Max & Sam]

Just How Much Crap Can A Video Game Character Carry?

The short answer is “too much”. The long answer is: over 800 pounds for a Grand Theft Auto character, and when it comes to Minecraft, holy shit. If you didn’t know that you could carry 25% of the total gold ever mined by the human species on your back, well, now you know. How Much…

My New Favourite Thing: 100 Cars Exploding In GTA V

Put explosions and decent physics in a game and you can be sure people will spend a lot of time making some very impressive things blow up. In this case, over 100 cars at a time, in what we can call a fiery display of metal-and-upholstery fireworks. If you’re wondering how it was done, creator…

Track: Unbound | Album: — | Artist: Cathedrals Kotaku Soundtrack is a selection of the stuff we’re listening to—and gaming to—at the moment.

The Week in Games: Two Souls, Two Pokémons

This week’s big news is Beyond: Two Souls, the PS3 exclusive from Quantic Dream, on Tuesday, and Pokémon X and Pokémon Yon Saturday. Not interested in those? Some collections and GOTY editions—including Farming Simulator 2013 Titanium Edition!—round out the releases. Monday • Sparkling Amber (PC) Tuesday • Borderlands 2: Game of the Year Edition (360,…

Sunday Comics: Extreme Makeover

Welcome to Kotaku’s Sunday Comics, your weekly roundup of the best webcomics. The comics enlarge by clicking on the icon in the upper-left corner. Nerf NOW!! by Josué Pereira. Published Oct. 2. Read more of Nerf NOW!! Awkward Zombie by Katie Tiedrich. Published Sept. 30. Read more of Awkward Zombie Penny Arcade by Jerry Holkins…

This Week in the Business: Doomed to Repeat History?

What’s happened in the business of video games this past week … QUOTE | “Industry veterans will remember the crash of 1983 … Today, the industry runs a similar risk.”—Analyst report from Superdata, on the data indicating consumers are resistant to adding more hardware to their living rooms QUOTE | “I know at least a…

Track: Starting Over | Album: The Dragon of an Ordinary Family | Artist: Jehst Kotaku Soundtrack is a selection of the stuff we’re listening to – and gaming to – at the moment.

Assassin’s Creed IV Isn’t All Rum & Beaches. There’s…Montreal, Too.

While it’s easy to get carried away and think you’ll be spending your entire Assassin’s Creed IV experience walking planks and punching sharks, remember: there’ll be near-future shenanigans going on as well. And going by this art, looks like it’ll be taking place in Montreal. Which is convenient, since that’s where the main studio making…

Watch This Video About Robots Shooting Each Other, Right Now

This is Keloid. It’s not a movie. It’s not a trailer. It’s not even a short. It’s just a “spec” project, a mock trailer made to let those involved flex their creative muscles and come up with their vision of a future where robots fight wars, and those robots look fantastic If you’re wondering as…