A Dispatch From The Dysentery Races Along The Live-Action Oregon Trail

Oregon Trail Live, the real-world competition based on the Oregon Trail PC game, kicked off with the startling crack of a bullwhip in Salem, Oregon this past Saturday, sending “wagon trains” “westward” from “Independence, Mo.” (a.k.a. the check-in area) to complete ten OT-derived challenges en route to Oregon’s Willamette Valley (a.k.a. where we were all…

The New Gauntlet Lets Me Exercise My Inner Demon

In the original arcade classic Gauntlet it was “Elf shot the food.” In the new version launched on Steam today, it’s “Elf dodges through enemies, leaving us to fend for ourselves while he scoops up all of the gold.” I can live with that. I know there have been other games carrying on the grand…

People Are Already Abusing Steam Curations

Steam curations—which let people maintain custom pages of recommended PC games—are a great idea, but that doesn’t mean they’re water-tight just yet. People have figured out how to do downright mean/exploitative (and sometimes hilarious) things with them. Valve should probably unchain its moderation hounds. It’s not uncommon for new Steam features to be manipulated for…

VR Painting Program Lets You Make Art In Three Dimensions

Virtual reality has so many applications beyond just games and boob grabbing simulators — you can also use it to make wonderful 3D art. Above is the trailer for Tiltbrush — a prototype VR painting simulator made by Skillman & Hackett. Not only does it let you paint virtually in 3D, it even lets you…

Bummed Tester Explains Why He Couldn’t Love Valve’s Steam Machine

Only 300 people have gotten to test out the Steam Machine that Valve itself is making. After six months with one of the hotly anticipated high-powered gaming PCs, one such man made a video talking about his experience with it. Watch it. You’ll laugh. You’ll cry. You’ll ask “why, why, why? As most people probably…

Misconceptions about Space Battles You Probably Believe

“In space, no one can hear you scream.” Thanks to 1979’s hit Alien, that maxim’s been part of the popular consciousness for a while now, but there’s countless films and movies that just don’t seem to get it. Mass Effect, Star Wars, Halo and plenty more play fast and loose with science so often that…

Three Guys Left BioWare, Now They Make Games In A Van

The “Indie Van Game Jam” was supposed to drive around the country, making games and interviewing developers. Their kickstarter project didn’t make enough money, but they decided to do it anyway. Zeb, Chad and Diego met each other while working on Star Wars: The Old Republic at BioWare Austin. After the game’s release, there were…

Finally, A Game Where You Can Get Huge Points For Sniffing Dog Butts

You see them barking, jumping and running around in their little dirt track fiefdoms all over your cities. No jobs, no bills, no deadlines. They look like they’re having so much fun. How much fun? A new game breaks it down for you. Dog Park lets you be a dog. Not an anthropomorphized, talking, walking-on-two-legs…

Blizzard Cancels Titan

Technically, Blizzard never announced their long-in-development MMORPG Titan. It was always one of those big open secrets. And now, seven years later, the game is cancelled, Blizzard CEO Mike Morhaime tells Polygon “I wouldn’t say no to ever doing an MMO again,” Morhaime said to Polygon. “But I can say that right now, that’s not…

NES To USB, Corsair Gaming Gear, More Destiny Deals [Deals]

Need to plug an NES Controller into a PC or Mac. Now you can with this adapter, which is down to $11 today. [Tomee NES Adapter] More of a Super Nintendo person? This SNES Retro USB Controller was a nominee is Lifehacker’s Best PC Gamepad Hive Five and #13 in our list of the 13…

I Hope Someone Brings This JRPG To The West

A new 3DS RPG by the folks who worked on the SaGa series? Yes, please. This one had better get out of Japan. Meet Legend of Legacy, not to be confused with Beyond the Beyond or Divine Divinity, a newly-announced JRPG by the company behind Unchained Blades that comes out in January. The staff roll…

GameStop Now Accepting Old Toys For Store Credit. Great. [Update]

Remember back in 2012 when GameStop started allowing customers to trade in original Skylanders figures for store credit, and the customer service folk were completely miserable? Now GameStop is accepting Skylanders and Disney Infinity figures. Update: I traded some, check out what I got for them below. The original Skylanders trade-in plan did not last…

Have you seen an amazing gaming feat lately? Send it to us at [email protected] to get it included in our new feature, Highlight Reel! We’re looking for fun, exciting, or funny moments to show the world! For Highlight Reel, you can submit a clip of something you did or just something you saw online that…

Facebook Status Wars As Street Fighter, Only More Brutal

A never-ending battle to promote yourself, now with multiplayer. Director Dennis Liuputs my constant unease with the social network in terms I can relate to. I’ve been guilty in the past of basking in new baby likes. I may have even milked the fact that they were twins, but since then I’ve maintained relative radio…

A World Map Showing Where People Are Playing Smash Bros Right Now

Here’s a cool new feature in the newest Super Smash Bros. game for 3DS: a map of the globe that shows where everyone’s playing at any given time. As you can see in the shot above, right now most Smash players are based in Japan, though that’ll likely change when the game comes out in…

Today’s selection of articles from Kotaku‘s reader-run community: Aldnoah.Zero: The Ani-TAY Review • Gekkan Shoujo Nozaki-Kun: Rockmandash’s Ani-TAY Review • Haikyuu!!: The Ani-TAY Review • Destiny: Where It’s Been and Where It Should Go TAY Classic—TAY Open Forum—Beginner’s Guide To TAY Follow them here.