Remember: People Made This Game, And They Want You To Have Fun With It

Fire up Black Ops III for the first time and you’ll be presented with this message. It sticks out amongst the corporate logos and splash screens, but it’s also a nice little touch. Like, everyone knows that games are made by large teams of human beings, but do we really? A lot of fans treat…

Could a Video Game Start A Religion?

I’m a confirmed believer in the church of video games, a sect whose faith has been rewarded over the past decade, as games have sailed easily over the hurdles that have been placed in front of them by the apostates. No one really disputes anymore that games can make us cry, make us laugh, teach…

“IT’S JOHN CENA.” Overheard (about a life-sized Overwatch statue) at BlizzCon. Winston is, of course, a kindly yet terrifying genetically engineered gorilla—not John Cena, who is a different kindly yet terrifying genetically engineered gorilla. I wonder who would win a fight. Here’s the statue up-close: He even has actual hair. Clearly someone cares a lot…

The Bob Ross Twitch Phenomenon Supposedly Ends Tonight

The best thing to happen on Twitch all year comes to a close later tonight. Or at least, it’s supposed to. For the last week, a Bob Ross marathon of every episode of The Joy of Painting has been broadcasting on Twitch, and it’s been a delight. Every time I’ve tuned in, I become mesmerized…

How Snoopy Killed Peanuts

By the end of its run in 2000, Peanuts was an institution. It had become an omnipresent part of American culture, and that’s not a compliment. (Note: this piece originally ran on August 20, 2015.) The general response to reading the average Peanuts strip in the 80s and 90s was a ‘meh’ half-smile — a…

Fabled ‘Nintendo PlayStation’ Console Only Cost $75 at Auction, Seems to Work

Earlier this year, reports surfacedof a surviving Nintendo PlayStation prototype from the short-lived partnershipbetween the two video game giants. Many were skeptical if the device was real. But now there’s video of the prototype powering on and playing games. Video footage of the Nintendo PlayStation prototype comes via Engadget, who also have an in-depth interview…

Ask Dr. NerdLove: Can I Be Happy As An Older Virgin?

Hello, Internet! Welcome to Ask Dr. NerdLove, the only dating column that carries an unlicensed portable nuclear accelerator on its back. This week, it’s less about getting into someone’s pants and more about getting out of your own head. We’re going to be talking about anxieties and expectations and how to handle them. One reader…

Overwatch Base Price Will Be $40, $60 On Consoles

Turns out Overwatch won’t be free-to-play, as many (myself included!) had predicted. Instead it’ll cost you $40 to buy the base version of Blizzard’s new hero shooter on PC, Blizzard just announced. To buy the premium “Origins” edition, which comes with a bunch of skins and other perks and is available for PC, PS4, and…

New Hearthstone Adventure Comes Out Next Week

Blizzard’s mega-popular competitive game is getting a bunch of new card and mechanics with the League of Explorers adventure mode, which will launch next week. Announced today at Blizzcon, League of Explorers will be a four-wing pack full of bosses and new legendary cards. It’ll also add new game boards, some class challenges, and a…

Crazy New Heroes of the Storm Character Is Controlled By Two People At Once

Heroes of the Storm’s next hero is going to be a giant ogre named Cho’gall, game director Dustin Browder said today at Blizzcon. In a unique twist, he’ll be played by two separate people at the same time. Holy crap. Blizzard really meant it when they said they’re breaking all the MOBA rules! Browder also…

Here’s The Warcraft Movie Trailer

Showcased at Blizzcon today, here’s the trailer for the upcoming Warcraft movie, which will debut in June. There are orc babies. Also some war. Directed by Duncan Jones (Moon), this Warcraft movie will be set early in the franchise’s history, and will star iconic old characters like Lothar, Durotan, and Medivh. It’ll be out on…

Watch The Blizzcon Keynote Right Here

Is Overwatch free-to-play? When’s World of Warcraft: Legion coming out? Where’s the Warcraft movie trailer? We’ll hopefully get some answers to those questions and more this afternoon at Blizzcon. Watch the keynote, which starts at 2pm ET, right here:

A PS4 Game’s Quest To Create A Realistic Woman

Hellblade, Ninja Theory’s upcoming action game that explores mental illness, wants a protagonist that looks as believable as possible. This means two things, as far as the developers are concerned: nailing the protagonist’s expressions so they look human, and giving the character a body with realistic proportions. Two weeks ago, Ninja Theory detailed all the…

Activision Blizzard Launches Film And TV Studio

You might think that, after this week’s surprise $5.9 billion acquisition, Activision might be out of big announcements to make. But it turns out they’ve got at least one more. The mega-publisher announced today that they’re launching a studio for film and TV projects in their huge stable of francises, which includes Call of Duty,…

The Dumbest Video Game Marketing Moves

This week’s terribly generic announcementof Paragon got us thinking—what were the worst marketing moves in video game history? That’s the main topic for this week’s episode of Kotaku Splitscreen, where Kirk and I regale you with all sorts of video game talk. Our special guest this week is Matthew Burns, a writer and game developer…