We’re So Close To A Wooden PS4, People

The controller looks awful, because it’s half-assed. The rest? Somebody hold me. It’s beautiful. Just when I thought I knew the meaning of excitement after seeingan Atari PS4 skinwith some wood-panelling, along comes this. Dbrand’s wood finish vinyl skin for the PS4. Like I said, the controller gets a pass. But the rest? Very tempting.…

Reminder: Battlefield 4 On PC Is Very, Very Pretty

YouTuber Wintergore is both directing and “starring” in this machinima video as a dirtbike rider on the run from every dirtbike rider’s worst nightmare: a fleet of angry little robots. The action’s fun, but really, this is awesome just to kick up to HD and enjoy just how damn pretty Battlefield 4 on PC is.…

MC Escher, You’re Looking Different. And Gorgeous.

Remember echochrome? Cute PlayStation puzzler that had you guiding a little figure around increasingly-complex maps? Monument Valley is like that. Only a lot prettier. Designed as a tablet experience, it’s coming soon to iPad and “other mobile devices”. You can get in on a beta by signing up at the official site below. Monument Valley…

Game Ad Blocked On “Major US Games Site” Because It Was “Political”

Indie developer Cliff Harris, who recently released Democracy 3, wanted to advertise his new game. So he approached an agency that handles ads for a “major US games site”, only to be told the ad was “inappropriate”. Writing on his studio blog, Harris says the agency replied to his request with “I’m sorry, but your…

Metal Gear Solid Characters, Fresh Out Of A Cartoon

Digital artist RoboChandler has done an incredible thing. He’s transformed the serious, well-seasoned Metal Gear Solid characters into innocent, joyful cartoon characters. Here’s The End, one of the most memorable bosses of the Metal Gear series, with his parrot: And the others, on their own. Gotta love that wriggling Psycho Mantis: RoboChandler [DeviantART, via The…

YouTube Channels Crippled By Copyright Claims

Numerous video game-related YouTube personalities have spent the last day digging through piles of copyright claims suddenly filling their inboxes, claims that they say are messing with their ability to produce and profit from videos they post online. YouTuber Brad Colburn, whose TheRadBrad channel has some 1,943,317 subscribers, told Kotaku that he’s been getting copyright…

Double Fine is releasing a puzzle/action game called Hack ‘n’ Slash next year, the studio announced today. It was originally announced as a prototype during one of Double Fine’s big game jam sessions last November, and it’ll be out as a full game in the first half of 2014.

High-Definition Pokémon: check out the awesome CGI work of Tako-ashi—they’ve modeled the final evolutions of all the original starting Pokémon, and even done some cool fake posters for Red and Blue. You can see it all here.

At Least It’s Entertaining 47 Ronin In-Game Advertising

47 Ronin is the kind of film that motion picture executives are sure is going to resonate with the gaming crowd, which is why you’ll find ads for it everywhere from VGX world premiere game announcements to the new 47 Ronin Clash Mob event in Infinity Blade III Starting Friday the 13, Infinity Blade III…

New Xbox One System Update Promises Some OS Fixes

A new Xbox One system update will go live tonight at 8pm Eastern, Microsoft says. The update will address issues involving SmartGlass and multiplayer functionality, among other things. Via Microsoft’s Major Nelson, here’s what’s coming: * Addresses SmartGlass issues for some users when coming in and out of connected standby * Addresses multiplayer issues for…

Project Eternity Is Now Pillars of Eternity, And It Looks Great

There’s still no release date for Obsidian’s big new RPG, once called Project Eternity, but here’s a lovely new trailer for your medieval-landmark-loving eyes. The takeaway here: the game’s now called Pillars of Eternity; it looks like the old Infinity Engine brought back to life; all that Kickstarter money seems to have transformed into a…

Final Fantasy XI welcomes back players with special 11th anniversary promotions. No it doesn’t. Just give it up, Square Enix. You made a much better game, and now everyone wants to play that. No free activation of old accounts from now until December 23 and other special activities are going to change that.

Oh Good, Now We Can Buy Virtual Pets Inside Of World of Warcraft.

An absolutely evil development for anyone who’s been struggling over whether or not to spend $5-10 on a Cinder Kitten, the latest World of Warcraft update added an inescapable in-game store, capable of striking when the urge is strongest. Previously players had to alt-tab out of World of Warcraft to spend real money on virtual…

How To Play Project M, The Best Smash Bros. Mod Around

As of yesterday, you can download the newest version of a mod called Project M for Super Smash Bros. Brawl that improves the game so much, it practically seems new.But how do you get it to actually run on your Wii? Good question. Thankfully, you don’t have to actually mod the Wii itself to play…

50 Years Of Popular Holiday Toys, All At Once

Every year it’s something. Some colorful construction of cloth or fluff or plastic or silicon, the big holiday toy that no actively loved child can do without. Graphic designer Abby Ryan Bennett tracks the trend for 50 years, from the Easy-Bake Oven to the Wii U. It’s like a map of my life, from Star…