The Final Exciting Match In The Smite World Championship

In which a team of five video game players wind up with a giant check for $1.3 million dollars and some lovely trophies. I spent the weekend at theSmite World Championshipsin Atlanta, watching live as eight teams from around the world were whittled down to two — Cognitive Prime from the U.S. and Team Titan…

That’s One Pretty (and Expensive) Link Amiibo

I’ll admit that this custom remodelled and repainted LinkAmiibo is beautiful. But is it £70 ($106) worth of beautiful? This post originally appeared on Kotaku UK The figure’s been slightly altered, with a repositioned head and the removal of the stand, which looks nicer but apparently makes him less stable. Although I can’t see him…

GIFs Make Monday Bearable

Monday sucks. It always sucks. So here are some animated GIFs to help get your through the morning. These GIFs were originally uploaded to 2ch (via Himasoku). Some of these you might know and love and have seen before. Others might be new to you. Hopefully they’ll bring a smile to your face. To contact…

Pokémon Wasn’t The Biggest Seller in Japan Last Year

In 2014, Japan saw the release of big Pocket Monster games Pokémon Omega Ruby and Alpha Sapphire. The games sold a ton in Japan, but not enough to reign supreme. A new challenger has taken the crown: Yokai Watch That’s right, Famitsu is reporting Yokai Watch 2 outsold Pokémon ORAS in 2014. What’s interesting about…

Schlocky and Stiff, Resident Evil 4 Nevertheless Remains a Classic

Well over 10 hours into Resident Evil 4, there’s a pertinent moment that says a lot about the game’s essence. This post originally appeared on Kotaku UK Leon S. Kennedy, our hero and veteran of Resident Evil 2, has bettered all manner of mutated meanies – villagers with significant social shortcomings, a giant fish with…

Hosts’ Reactions Are The Highlight Of Japanese ‘Face Hacking’ Video

My weekend shift is over, Kotaku, so I’ll leave you with this video of Tokyo artist and producer Nobumichi Asai’s impressive and slightly disturbing “face hacking” that I saw on Geekologie The effect — which we’ve seen previously — is achieved using face-tracking, projectors and 3D animations, according to Blastr, and is shown here being…

Smash Bros. Lore Theory May Make You Regret Beating Up On Master Hand

Is it possible that the big bosses featured in every Super Smash Bros. game—Master Hand, Crazy Hand, Tabuu, and Master Core—really represent different aspects of series creator Masahiro Sakurai? It sounds crazy (hand), but this video from The Game Theorists might actually convince you that it’s at least possible. Even if the video has some…

More Than You Ever Wanted To Know About The Sega Dreamcast

The latest from the video game trivia masters at Did You Know Gaming? tackles Sega’s ill-fated but fondly remembered Dreamcast—from inception to downfall. (Is it just me or is the rapid-fire pacing of this channel’s video releases starting to get a little crazy?) Anyway, the Dreamcast was not a bad system, but a perfect storm…

Half-Life 2 Characters Fit Perfectly In Artist Pogo’s Neighborhood

Artist Nick Bertke, AKA Pogo, made this video compositing elements from Half-Life 2 into footage of his real-life neighborhood and what looks like his home. And it looks astounding. Before I read the video’s description on YouTube I was slightly confused about what was real and what was CG, which is a testament both to…

Microsoft has updated its rules regarding videos that include footage from its games to allow creators to make money from ads—as long as they don’t use the game’s title in their video titles or include anything the company considers “objectionable” (does that mean no Spartan poop stance clips?). [via Windows Central]