How LucasArts Fell Apart

In June of 2011, then-LucasArts president Paul Meegan spoke publicly about his plans for turning the company around. “In recent years, LucasArts hasn’t always done a good job of making games,” he said at the time. “We should be making games that define our medium, that are competitive with the best of our industry, but…

The Newest Amiibos Are Sold Out, And Fans Are Upset

A new set of amiibos went on sale yesterday at GameStop, and it was a disaster. They’re already sold out. One day later, Nintendo’s acting as though nothing happened, and fans are pissed off. The GIF above comes courtesy of /r/amiibo, home to one of the highest concentrations of dedicated amiibo hunter and gatherers. Most…

Yeah, Ultron’s In This Avengers Comic, But It’s Not Just a Dumb Cash-In

When Marvel revealed that the 2015 Avengers movie sequel would focus on Ultron, there was much rejoicing. He’s a hell of a villain. The malevolent artificial intelligence is one of the Avengers’ toughest foes, one who Earth’s Mightiest Heroes barely manage to defeat when they win. In the newest comics series featuring Ultron, he’s already…

Excellent Respawn Animation, Sunset Overdrive

Xbox One exclusive Sunset Overdrive has the best respawn animations I’ve ever seen. They’re mostly jokes, riffing on Portal, Star Trek and stuff like that and worth the few seconds they take to put you back in the action. I’ve played the game for hours, though, and hadn’t seen this one until last night. Might…

A Hardcore Fan Is Merging Two Beloved Metroid Games Into One

You’re looking at Super Metroid, but you’re also look at Metroid Fusion. Slowly but surely, the two Metroid games are becoming one, thanks to an intrepid modder. While we patiently wait for Nintendo to consider another Metroid game, fans continue to experiment with the series. For years now, modder Metaquarius has been dropping elements from…

Incredible Bloodborne Player Beats Game Without Ever Leveling Up

This is probably the most impressive gaming feat of 2015 so far. SPOILERS FOR BLOODBORNE FOLLOW. For those that don’t know, Bloodborne offers a number of different classes. One of the available classes is called “Waste of Skin,” and the description for it reads, “You are nothing. Talentless. You shouldn’t have been born.” One ridiculous…

Seven Things I Like In StarCraft II: Legacy of the Void‘s Beta

The closed beta for StarCraft II’s second and final expansion, Legacy of the Void, launched two days ago, and while the game is in early development and it’s still evolving, there are already a lot of awesome ideas and changes in effect. After two days of playing, here are seven of my favorite ones. The…

Kotaku Asks: Video Game Localization Editor Mark MacDonald [Q&A Over]

Want to know what it was like to translate the wacky Metal Gear Rising? Want to find out how long it took to get Fire Emblem: Awakening to U.S. shores? Today’s a good day to get answers. Welcome to Kotaku Asks, a weekly feature where we invite guests from the world of gaming to come…

The very talented Marinko Milosevski looks back at Super Mario 64 with his latest poster. As usual, you can acquire a print through Marinko’s website—but if you’d prefer to just look, you can find the poster in its full glory below. Dayshot is an image-based feature that runs every morning, showcasing some of the prettiest,…

‘Jackie Chan’ Translation Fails Are the Best Translation Fails

Everybody knows Jackie Chan. He’s a martial artist, an actor, a filmmaker, a singer, and more. What he is not is a bus stop in Sichuan, China. As noted by Austin Ramzy (via Eric Jou) on Twitter, the bus stop named “The University Jackie Chan Campus Station” is apparently a computerized translation fail. The institution…

Naruto‘s Son Has a Silly Name. Here’s Why. 

Boruto? Really? We’re really going to run with this? This is…”Boruto.” He is Naruto’s son, and first appeared in Naruto: The Last Movie. Now, as recently confirmed, he’s getting his own spin-off movie. It’s called Boruto. As announced this week, it will be out August 7 in Japan. Actually, the title is Boruto: Naruto The…

Mewtwo from Super Smash Bros. Compared with Mewtwo from Melee

Want to see how each version of Mewtwo stacks up? How was the character’s Smash Bros. incarnation changed? Let’s find out! YouTuber Master0fHyrule made this comparison, using Super Smash Bros. footage from the most recent Nintendo Direct. Until the character is released on April 28, this should give you a pretty good idea how the…

Japanese Game Exec Has Disappeared, Nobody Can Find Him

Tokyo-based Imageepoch made its name with role-playing games like Arc Rise Fantasia, Luminous Arc, and Last Ranker. This week, Imageepoch’s websites went offline, and no one can find company president Ryoei Mikage. Imageepoch was founded in 2005, and as this 2009 GameSetWatch interview shows, the company had ambitious plans. Above, you can see a photo…