The Binding of Isaac‘s New Secrets Sound Completely Nuts

The Binding of Isaac: Afterbirth was supposed to add at least 120 items to the tough-as-nails roguelike. Players have only found 74. This prompted claims McMillen had lied, but it seems they’re merely…hidden. Fans are ripping the game apart to find the truth, even going so far as to read the Bible for hints. There…

A Video Game About Finding Love And Sex Through An MMO

Cibele, a new PC game released earlier this week, might just be the most honest game about sex on Steam right now. Clocking in at about two hours, Cibele is a short autobiographical title that chronicles game developer Nina Freeman’s first love. The entire game takes place on a desktop… You can click on any…

Video game character of the year? One of the creatures in Yokai Watch, the massive 3DS hit in Japan that comes to North America this Friday. Excerpt above is from a Nintendo press release, highlighting the sensation that is Snotsolong.

All The Ways Activision Is Avoiding Saying What Destiny Actually Sold

Destiny, a video game in which players travel through the galaxy and battle against random loot tables, is by most accounts a commercial success. But over a year after release, publisher Activision still won’t say how many copies they’ve actually sold. [This post originally ran in November of 2014. We’ve been regularly updating it with…

No Wonder Call of Duty Isn’t Ditching Last-Gen Consoles

Black Ops 3 won’t have a campaign mode on Xbox 360 and PS3, and the game’s frame rate will fluctuate between 30 and 60 frames-per-second. But here’s why they’re making a version for aging hardware: Activision’s revealed there are still 12 million monthly active users for the three-year-old Black Ops II. Damn Call of Duty…

I Love Reading Internet Comments

I have a confession to make. I read the comments. Actually, it’s worse than that. I don’t just read the comments, I enjoy reading the comments. I’ve been getting paid to write on the Internet for more than 15 years, and you, Ungentle Reader—yes, you, the one who used to write “More liberal claptrap!” under…

Apple’s Boring Legal Notifications Are Now a Brilliant Graphic Novel

Millions of people use iTunes. Nobody reads the walls of text that show up every time Apple’s music software updates. Wait, you do? You’re a freak. So is Robert Sikoryak, who’s made a graphic novel out of the corporately mandated agreement, riffing off comics greats like Frank Miller and Charles Schulz. iTunes Terms And Conditions…

Metroid Fan Movie Is Pretty Great, Even Without Nintendo’s Help

Metroid: The Sky Calls is an 11-minute, fan-made short film that shows Samus having a very bad day at the office. It is—relative to the scope and budget—very, very good. It’s made by Rainfall Productions, the same team behind that cool Wonder Woman fan short from a few years back, and stars Nerdist’s Jessica Chobot…

Pokémon Go Legendaries Need Legendary Locations

Pokémon Go will be a game where people have to travel to real-world locations and interact with others to capture Pokémon. This raises the obvious question where the very rare ones will be. So for a simple Caterpie for example hanging around the nearby park might be enough. But what about Mewtwo? Or Dialga? The…

Cool Dad Puts His Kid In Command Of Cardboard MechWarrior

The tiny baby has no idea his cardboard BattleMech would be the deadliest costume in the play-school, while his dad—hidden behind the giant guns, holding the kiddo at his chest—is having the time of his life. Good job and good sound effects! To contact the author of this post, write to: [email protected]

A Look at What’s in The New Age of Empires II Expansion

Retro RTS fans, take note: the African Kingdoms expansion for Age of Empires II HD hits at the end of the week. Here’s what that’ll entail. There’s four new civilizations along with four new, fully voice-acted campaigns (the lack of voice acting was a fairly common complaint with AoE II HD’s first, otherwise well-received, expansion).…

Konami Needs Lots of Money for the Next Metal Gear Solid [Update]

Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain has proven to be a hit, selling five million copies worldwide. According to today’s Nikkei, the Tokyo-based fitness company has began internal talks about the next Metal Gear title. 11/4/15 – 2am Update: Konami has confirmed to Kotaku the Konami LA studio has been closed. Full statement below.…

Where to Buy Great Video Game Artwork

I have a rule for my house: no more than a third of the artwork on my walls is allowed to be gaming-related. This rule fell apart pretty quickly when it became clear just how much beautiful video game artwork there is out there. This post originally appeared on Kotaku UK, on July 24, 2014.…

Kara no Shojo – The Second Episode: The Kotaku Review

The original Kara no Shojo was one of the most violent and psychologically disturbing games I have ever played. And while the second is also full of brutal murder and complex mysteries, it never quite reaches the soul-crushing despair of the first. [This review spoils much of the original Kara No Shojo. For a non-spoiler…

Activision Buys Candy Crush Maker King For $5.9 Billion

Just two days after Halloween, Activision’s spending a whole lot of money on candy—the publisher announced tonight that they’ve bought Candy Crush developer King for $5.9 billion. Yes, that’s BILLION. The mega-acquisition has to go through approval in Ireland, where King is based, but Activision says they anticipate that everything will be official by spring…