Early Sonic Boom Designs Caused “Discomfort” to Original Sonic Team

At one point, the current iteration of Sonic and his friends looked even more different compared to their original selves. So much so that it caused quite a few headaches to the series’ original creators. Speaking to GameSpot, Bob Rafei, head of the studio in charge of the character redesigns, said that early on, the…

Skimpy Flight Attendant Uniforms Called “Dangerous”

From the end of May, Japanese budget airline Skymark is rolling out a new Airbus A330-300 addition to its fleet. To mark the occasion, the airline is also introducing new uniforms for its female cabin crew. Very, very short uniforms. Today, one of the largest papers in Japan, Mainichi, reported how the country’s labor union…

A Pirate’s Life For Me (And These Guys)

Johan Grenier is a French character artist who has done work for companies like Ubisoft, Paizo and Privateer Press. In his time at Ubisoft, Grenier contributed to Assassin’s Creed Brotherhood, Revelations, III and IV. You can see more of Johan’s work at his personal site To see the larger pics in all their glory (or,…

Help A Man Build A 300-Foot Water Slide In The Middle Of A Road

Artist Luke Jerram wants to build a 300-foot-long slip-and-slide right down the middle of a street in Bristol, England. That is God’s work you are doing, Luke. It might seem absurd, but it actually has a shot of happening: being a slip-and-slide, all they’d need would be some tarps and a hose (OK, maybe a…

One Gamer Has More YouTube Subscribers Than Rihanna, Bieber

If anything is going to roll up 2014, the internet and video games together in one single fact, this has got to be it. Felix “PewDiePie” Kjellberg, one of the most well-known “Let’s Play” gamers on the planet, now has over 25 million subscribers (he’s doubled his tally in just a year). Compare that to…

Alessandro Ituarte made this retro version of Campo Santo’s promotional image for Firewatch.

Anyone Who’s Ever Loved A Pet Should Watch This

I posted this week’s special Brawl in the Family video comic in today’s edition of Sunday Comics, but I felt it needed a place of its own. As a friend put it, this is the tragedy of pet ownership spoken in the vernacular of video games. And that’s why I spent half the day reading…

This weekend also marks the 5th birthday of one of the most popular titles in mobile gaming history. Lima Sky’s Doodle Jump has been downloaded more than 150 million times since its 2009 launch, appearing on Android, iOS, Windows Phone 7 and 8, Nintendo DS, Xbox 360 and Symbian. Such gleeful hopping.

Pi Ain’t Nothing Special

As Kotaku‘s new weekend editor I am now off Thursday and Friday, so I missed the celebration of Pi Day on 3/14. I felt bad about it. Then I saw Vihart‘s latest anti-Pi rant. Now I feel much better, thanks to colored markers rapidly sketching out Pi’s overwhelming plainness. I think the whole affair is…

Kotaku ‘Shop Contest: The Pokemon World Cup

Welcome to my first official Kotaku ‘Shop Contest. I would have gone with something fluffy and light for my first go round, but when the most important soccer event in the entire goddamned universe is threatened by Pokemon, there can be only one response. In case you hadn’t heard, Japan is bringing Pokemon to the…

The 1980s Are Back To Help You Beat Super Mario 3D World

Travel back in time once more to the 1980s, a magical age when video game tips and tricks were delivered by warm, friendly voices over tinny television speakers, and no one called you names for needing help beating a Mario platformer.