Star Wars Episode VII: Party City

Why did Redditor eleetpancake recreate the poster for The Force Awakens using stock photos of people in Star Wars costumes from Party City? Because he’s the best. . Via Super Punch

What’s More Exciting Than Overwatch? More Overwatch Animation. 

Yannick might be quite fond of Overwatch, but I wasn’t charmed by an online shooter. I was charmed by a beautifully animated trailer. As this storyboard animation reel from BlizzCon demonstrates, there’s a lot more animation on the way. During yesterday’s World of Overwatch panel at BlizzCon, Chris Metzen and crew talked about how a…

Kotaku ‘Shop Contest: Fallout 4 Adventures

Fallout 4 launches this week, and hundreds of thousands of gamers are eager to see where Bethesda’s vast open-world adventure will take them. Let’s speculate with pictures! It’s the classic tale of a boy (at least in this case) and his dog, wandering the wastelands of post-apocalyptic Massachusetts. Or modern day New York City. Or…

Sunday Comics: Your Everyday Life

Welcome to Kotaku’s Sunday Comics, your weekly roundup of the best webcomics. The images enlarge if you click on the magnifying glass icon. Nerf NOW!! by Josué Pereira. Published November 3. Read more of Nerf NOW!! Awkward Zombie by Katie Tiedrich. Published November 2. Read more of Awkward Zombie Penny Arcade by Jerry Holkins and…

Why Overwatch Isn’t Free-To-Play

Everyone thought Blizzard’s excellent new shooter, Overwatch, was gonna be free-to-play. Then it wasn’t. It’s going for $40 (or $60 for a special edition). What happened? The long and short of it is, while Overwatch—with its expanding roster of MOBA-esque heroes and focus on multiplayer—might seem like a no-brainer for the “party upfront, business in…

GameStop’s 2015 Black Friday Deals Have Leaked, Of Course

While the most exciting deal of GameStop’s 2015 Black Friday sale is letting employee’s take all of Thanksgiving off, $299 PlayStation 4 and Xbox One bundles, $80 used PS3 and Xbox 360 systems and the best possible Wii U bundle aren’t too shabby either. As a former GameStop employee the idea that stores aren’t opening…

The Warcraft Movie Could Revive Classic Warcraft Games

World of Warcraft and the official Shrek origin story (aka the Warcraft movie) are separate. Mostly. However, the movie has gotten Blizzard thinking about older Warcraft games—and how they could bring them back. After a BlizzCon Warcraft movie panel in which, among other things, Blizzard lore maestro Chris Metzen described the film as kind of…

At BlizzCon, not even Hydralisks get to jump the line. Here is a truly inspired piece of BlizzCon cosplay, a Hydralisk from StarCraft. Go below for more images and some video. Apologies for the blurriness. I need a better camera. And here’s some video of Hydralisk and his friend/foe who I think is a Terran…

Elmo Versus The Jet Engine

Hope I’m not spoiling the outcome of this battle for anybody. In the name of parents everywhere, PowerModz strapped either the most delightful or most insufferable (depending on many factors) Muppet on Sesame Street to a pole and placed that pole behind the jet engine that was just sitting around on the back of a…

My Favorite Black Ops III Feature So Far Is Theater Mode

Because official screenshots wouldn’t dare get us this close to Jeff Goldblum’s majestic virtuosity, there is Theater mode. Giving players free access to gameplay footage and virtual camera controls is nothing new—games that pride themselves on their visual flair have been letting players show off their stuff for years. Perhaps one day it will be…

This Week In The Business: A 5.9 Billion Dollar Bargain

QUOTE | “…Activision got them cheaply…” – Wedbush analyst Michael Pachter giving his thumbs up to Activision’s $5.9 billion purchase of Candy Crush Saga maker King. Elsewhere in the business of gaming this week… QUOTE | “Another near-term initiative for Activision Blizzard Studios will be the development of a robust cinematic universe based on the…

Heroes Of The Storm‘s New Two-Player Hero Is Actually Great For Beginners

Heroes of the Storm is introducing a crazy new hero, Cho’gall, who’s controlled by two players at once. This has never been done before in any big MOBA—not DOTA, LoL, or HOTS Hi everyone. Quick public service announcement: By this point in the post, you might have noticed that I’m not Yannick LeJacq, our resident…

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…