- Kotaku East
World of Warcraft Joins Forces With McDonald’s China
With the upcoming World of Warcraft expansion, Warlords of Draenor, coming in November, October seems to be a big month for Blizzard in China. The company’s doing everything to drum up hype for the game, from an online cosplay contest to now an offline promotional partnership with fast food giant, McDonald’s. Last week, three McDonald’s…
By Eric Jou Published October 6, 2014 -
UncategorizedThe GameCube’s Secrets, Revealed
Hidden intro screens. Controllers that don’t exist. Dolphins. The GameCube has quite the collection of secrets and easter eggs. Did You Know Gaming’s latest video takes a look at the venerable Nintendo GameCube, which turns thirteen years old this year. And, like pretty much every other game system, it’s far from just a receptacle for…
By András Neltz Published October 6, 2014 - Kotaku East
Ridiculous Burgers Get Ridiculous USB Memory Sticks
Lotteria, one of the most unusual fastfood chains in Japan, has rolled out burger towers in the past (more here and here). And now, those burgers are being memorialized in actual sized burger-shaped USB memory sticks. According to Weekly ASCII, these burger USB sticks mark the seventh anniversary of Lotteria’s line of “zeppin” (superior) line…
By Brian Ashcraft Published October 6, 2014 - Kotaku East
The Naruto Manga Ends Next Month
It sure has been an impressive run, no? And next month, the Naruto manga is coming to a close. According to the Asahi Shimbun, the last entry in the long-running Naruto series will appear in the Weekly Shonen Jump that goes on sale November 10 in Japan. Naruto debuted in Weekly Shonen Jump in 1999…
By Brian Ashcraft Published October 6, 2014 - Uncategorized
Saturday Night Live Sketch Skewers the Gap Between Gameplay and Story
You’ve probably noticed it called out in some Grand Theft Auto, Uncharted and BioShock games: those moments where the emotions being presented to you in cutscenes or dialogue don’t match up with what the player’s being told to do. And while that issue has been a point of contention for many years, I wasn’t ever…
By Evan Narcisse Published October 5, 2014 - Culture
The Week In Games: Surely You Heard That
Did you hear that? Oh god, tell me you didn’t hear that. That gurgling, chittering sound? Surely it was my imagination, as is the heavy scuttling in the air ducts overhead. Still, could you folkss go check for me? I’ll wait here. Folks? Anything there? All I can see is the light from that flashlight…
By Mike Fahey Published October 5, 2014 - Esports
CBS Commentator Urges Gamers To Go Play The Real World
“…here’s a fun fact: Did you know the real world is broadcasting in 3-D? All the time? I know, amazing!” Yep, this is going to be one of those. Reader Darius pointed us towards a video that ran today on CBS Sunday Morning, in which commentator and radio host Luke Burbankdiscusses the recent acquisition of…
By Mike Fahey Published October 5, 2014 -
UncategorizedA Fan Album As Epic As Smash Bros. Itself
Were it possible, I’d replace every piece of music in my copy of Smash Bros. 3DS with one of the 101 tracks in Shinesparkers’ “Harmony of Heroes”, an amazing 101 track Super Smash Bros. fan arrangement album, now available for free download. Some 60 or so artists contributed to this massive undertaking, announced last year…
By Mike Fahey Published October 5, 2014 -
UncategorizedSonic Boom Animated Series Debuts November 8, Doesn’t Look Horrible
There’s no escaping it now. The next chapter of Sonic the Hedgehog history begins on November 8, when the Sonic Boom animated series premieres on Cartoon Network in North America. I think I could actually watch this. While my inner jury is still out on the games, Rise of Lyric (Wii U) and Shattered Crystal…
By Mike Fahey Published October 5, 2014 - Uncategorized
Kotaku ‘Shop Contest: Fine, We’ll Do Final Fantasy XV
When folks started taking shots from the Tokyo Game Show trailer for Final Fantasy XV and pasting things behind them, I figured Chris Person’s post about it was enough. Now Square Enix has decided to help things along. Fine, let’s do this. Look, this meme has been done to death already over the past couple…
By Mike Fahey Published October 5, 2014 -
ReviewsSkylanders: Trap Team: The Kotaku Review
It’s that time of year again. Time to set aside last year’s toys in favor of a shiny new batch of Skylanders: Trap Team figures. Seriously, set the older toys aside – you won’t be needing them for a while. In preparation for the arrival of the latest iteration of Activision’s hugely successful toys-meets-games franchise,…
By Mike Fahey Published October 5, 2014 - Culture
Sunday Comics: One Final Smash
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 October 4. Read more of Nerf NOW!! Awkward Zombie by Katie Tiedrich. Published September 29. Read more of Awkward Zombie Penny Arcade by Jerry Holkins and…
By Mike Fahey Published October 5, 2014 - Uncategorized
Kotaku ‘Shop Contest: Refilling Destiny‘s Loot Cave: The Winners!
Last week I tasked the Guardians of Kotaku‘s image manipulation community with finding something else with which to fill Destiny’s sadly empty Loot Cave. Then everything went crazy. I normally pick the winner of each week’s contest and the featured entries by going through all of the entries and picking my favorites. This week’s contest…
By Mike Fahey Published October 4, 2014 -
Tips & GuidesKeep Your Shadow Of Mordor Combo Going Forever
Speaking of impressiveShadow of Mordor feats, YouTuber Rabbit’s Respawn has come up with a combination of power-enhancing runes which allows players to run the map in one potentially never-ending combo. 413 hits is just the beginning. My first taste of Monolith’s hit Middle-earth adventureonly came this morning, so I’ve got a ways to go before…
By Mike Fahey Published October 4, 2014 -
UncategorizedTablet Is The Best Way To Play Skylanders: Trap Team
Normally when a big-name video game releases a version on tablet devices, it’s either a pared down version of the console experience or a completely different game altogether. Not only isSkylanders: Trap Team‘s tablet offering the exact same game as on consoles, its portability and convenience makes it the superior version. The console version of…
By Mike Fahey Published October 4, 2014 -
UncategorizedThe Honest Destiny Trailer Celebrates “Gaming’s Hottest 7 Out Of 10”
“The storytelling of Halo, the scope of World of Warcraft and the co-operative fun of Borderlands — may eventually get patched in.” Thus begins the brutally Honest Trailer for Destiny, “The video game equivalent of a beautiful mansion full of cheap Ikea furniture.” Okay, easy target, but Smosh Gamescompletely nails Bungie’s latest, especially with one…
By Mike Fahey Published October 4, 2014 - Uncategorized
Evolve Looks Good, But Is It $750 Statue Good?
Everybody loves 2K Games’ upcoming competitive monster shooter Evolve, but do they love it enough to start paying off a two and a half foot tall, 35 pound polystone statue of the game’s Goliath? As lovely as the Goliath statue from TriForce is, it’s an incredibly hard sell for me. I can see shelling out…
By Mike Fahey Published October 4, 2014 - Uncategorized
The Saturday Morning Stream Of Mordor (And We’re Done)
For the past two weeks I’ve had to hear or read about how much almost everyone on the site playing Middle-earth: Shadows of Mordor is loving the game. Now it’s my turn to exterminate some orcs. I’ve spent the past several weeks exclusively playing games involving colorful plastic toys, so something I only need a…
By Mike Fahey Published October 4, 2014 - Culture
This Week In The Business: A Vigorous Brainwashing
QUOTE | “We do all the things we can to essentially brainwash people into liking it before it actually comes out.” – Former Call of Duty director Dave Anthony, addressing a Washington think-tank about how Call of Duty is marketed and why it’s applicable to unpopular national security measures Elsewhere in the business of video…
By Steve Peterson Published October 4, 2014 - Uncategorized
9/29/2014: Super Smashed Bros.
Super Smash Bros. for the 3DS is officially out, and in honor of that I present the Kotaku Selects roundup alongside this wonderful comic by Safely Endangered. Poor Kirby. Enjoy your weekend/catching up on this week’s best content/Super Smash Bros. To contact the author of this post, write to [email protected] or find her on Twitter…
By Tina Amini Published October 4, 2014