“Rising game budgets have created breathtaking, cinematic experiences. But not everyone is happy.” The Economist takes a look at the state of the video game industry in the wake of Destiny’s famously pricey launch and provides an interesting overview of where game development is headed in the near future.

PlayStation Home Finally Closing Down

Goodnight, sweet prince. You were… you, um… well at least you tried. PlayStation Home, Sony’s long-running (though never exactly beloved) attempt at creating a PlayStation 3 social hub one part Xbox Live and one part Second Life, is finally being put out to pasture. There, on March 31st, 2015, it will presumably be shot, with…

Watch Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare’s Multiplayer Right Here

Can’t wait to go head-to-head against a bunch of other exo-suit-wearing players in the next Call of Duty? You can get a taste of what it’ll look like in a livestream that’s happening right now. Twitch broadcaster AliA is currently streaming Advanced Warfare‘s online portion over on his channel. If you want to see how…

Forget horse armor. The first DLC for the Zelda spin-off Hyrule Warriors will include a horse weapon. That horse weapon is Epona, Link’s steed from The Ocarina of Time. On Nintendo’s Miiverse service, Zelda honcho Eiji Aonuma explained today how Epona will work as a “weapon” in the game as part of Hyrule Warriors‘ first…

Preorder Deals On Pretty Much Everything, Shadow of Mordor [Deals]

Two big options for console preorders today. Hit up this list to get a $10 Xbox Gift Card with whatever game you decide to lock up, or get a $25 Dell gift for even more games in your platform’s respective section below. Halo 5: Guardians Halo: The Master Chief Collection Sunset Overdrive Call of Duty:…

You’ll Probably Suck At Roundabout And That’s Okay

Roundabout is a game that contains roundabouts but isn’t actually about roundabouts — no, a more accurate title would be: Help! I’m A Limousine And I Can’t Stop Spinning Ok, that isn’t a particularly catchy title (I’ve never been good at titles). But I took a break from being horribly ill to play this game…

Nintendo Is Bringing An Old Favorite Back For Mario Kart 8

Slowly but surely, it looks like Mario Kart 8 is shaping up to be the game it was always meant to be. First, Nintendo delighted fans with the announcement that Zelda and Animal Crossing were making their way into the game. And now they’re sweetening the deal with a classic car from Mario Karts past:…

​Phew, Ex-WipEout Devs’ New Racing Game Looks Just Like WipEout

WipEout games have been synonymous with PlayStation platforms ever since the PS1. When Sony closed the studio responsible for the futuristic racing series in 2012, it looked like the PS4 wouldn’t be getting a WipEout game. But it—and the Xbox One—might be. Sort of. Formula Fusion—a newly announced game from R8, a new collective made…

A good, new five-minute Assassin’s Creed: Unity video shows how the November sequel’s new role-playing-game-like character customization system works. It also helpfully shows how the game’s 2/3/4-player co-op works. Lots of gameplay footage!

Today’s selection of articles from Kotaku‘s reader-run community: NAtURAL DOCtRINE: The TAY Review • Games of Summer 2014 – Epilogue: At Summer’s End • Settling the Dust in Destiny: A Guardian’s End? • Ao Haru Ride: Rockmandash’s Ani-TAY Review • Gamer-Teacher: “Trigger Words” for Gamer Distraction TAY Classic—TAY Open Forum—Beginner’s Guide To TAY Follow them…

Seven Types Of Pokémon Players

It’s easy to find ourselves and our playstyle in Dorkly’s latest comic with seven of the most typical Pokémon players represented. Poor shinies… Being a Pokémon owned by some of these trainers must be brutal. Click here for more Dorkly comics The 7 Types of Pokemon Players [Dorkly] To contact the author of this post,…

A Pop Ballad About Diablo III‘s Most Infamous Vendor

Dreamreaver‘s song is about Kadala, the passive-aggressive item vendor of Diablo III, who—although it was fixed not long ago—due to a bug, always sold items in a taunting manner with comments like “good paperweight, for which you can find a use… someday,” no matter how good the purchase was. After spending more than 20k Blood…

$99 Wii U Super Smash Bros Game+Controller Bundle Spotted on Amazon

Yes, the October 3 North America release date for the 3DS version of Nintendo’s all-star fighting franchise is just around the corner. But that doesn’t mean you can’t get excited for the home console version. Here’s what thepreviously announced game bundle looks like on Amazon. Note: Headline changed for clarification. There’s been no date announced…

Co-op Is My Favorite Part of Bayonetta 2

Eleven hours in to my live-stream ofBayonetta 2, I had beaten the game and was looking to enjoy my first meal of the day. Yet, even then, I just had to try out the game’s co-op mode—and I am so glad that I did. Even as tired as I was, it quickly became my favorite…

Iconic Final Fantasy Characters Made All Big-Headed and Cute

Square Enix just released character art and images of how iconic Final Fantasy characters will appear in upcoming 3DS title Final Fantasy Explorers The Explorers version of characters like Lightning, Cloud, Squall, and Tina (AKA Terra) look big-headed, slightly squat, and apparently cute. Here are images via 4Gamer: In Explorers, you can temporarily “transform” into…