One Thousand Japanese Gamers Polled about the PS4

The PlayStation 4 isn’t out in Japan. The whole world is playing the console, but Japan isn’t. So how enthusiastic are Japanese gamers for the release of Sony’s black monolith next month? Japanese gaming mag Weekly Famitsu put out the call this week, asking 1,000 gamers for their thoughts on the upcoming PlayStation 4 release.…

Mecha Hello Kitty Is Ready To Destroy You All

Hello Kitty is getting a “super robot” toy. Bandai released a trailer for said toy, and it includes a robo Kitty-chan anime. As previously mentioned, the figure is around 4-inches tall and has several different “modes,” like “Underwater Mode” and “Flying Mode.” Kitty-chan even has a “Rocket Punch” that shoots her fist-like missiles. Part of…

Live-Action Kiki’s Delivery Service Getting a Computerized Cat

What’s the point of making a live-action Kiki’s Delivery Service if the cat is going to be CG? No, let me rephrase that. What’s the point of making a live-action Kiki’s Delivery Service? Recently on Japanese television, the first images of the movie version of Jiji, the black cat, were shown. If you have never…

DriveClub Delayed, Won’t Make the PS4 Launch in Japan

Slated to be a PS4 launch title in Japan, DriveClub has been delayed and won’t make its planned February 22 release in Japan. The reason for the delay? Website Inside Games quotes the press release as saying, “Various circumstances.” The game’s release date is now TBA for Japan and will be announced at a later…

Steam Machines Can Support Up To 16 Players In The Same Room

The Steam Machine’s controller – and that’s a prototype shot of its new design up top – isn’t designed to be a loner. Indeed, if developers want to push the limits, it’ll be part of a multiplayer experience not seen in almost a decade. Flying in the face of a rush towards online multiplayer, people…

Forklift Balancer Is More Fun Than Shenmue

This is Forklift Balancer. It’s a game on – wait for it – Geocities. And I’ll be damned if it’s not keeping me from working/eating today. All you’ve got to do is tip a forklift without actually spilling the contents. That’s it. But man, these controls, they’re smooth as butter. Forklift Balancer [Geocities, via @terrycavanagh]

Designing A Brand New Game Boy

Reader Justin wants to bring the Game Boy back. So he’s designed a brand new one. It’s not as rugged as its predecessors, but it sure is glassy Taking as many cues from modern phone design as portable games hardware, Justin’s design has a 5.3″ 1080p screen, two cameras, 16GB of flash memory, 4G connectivity,…

Loads Of Local Currencies Coming To Steam

The days of calculating exchange rates are coming to an end: over the next year Valve is looking to introduce a range of local currencies to its Steam marketplace, including tohse of Australia, Canada and Japan. Other nations listed on a slide smuggledout of the no-press Steam developers conferenceinclude the New Zealand Dollar and Mexican…

Think Of The Most Horrible Chip Flavors Imaginable

Last year Lay’s “Do Us A Flavor” contest awarded the wrong person a million dollars for suggesting potato chips that tastedvaguely like garlic bread. Now the contest returns, and we have a chance for redemption. Flavor showdowns. Wayne Brady singing about potato chip flavors. And most important, a place where your bizarre tastes can shine…

​The True Stories Behind Some Of Your Favorite Songs

Have you ever heard the story behind The Who’s “Tommy” or Deep Purple’s “Smoke on the Water”? Did you know that Caroline of “Sweet Caroline” was actually a young Caroline Kennedy? Or that Michael Jackson wrote “Billie Jean” while (allegedly) driving a car that was on fire? This week on Mental Floss, the musical group…

Four-Person Super Metroid Speedrun May Consume Next Hour Of Your Life

Four people race through the Super Nintendo classic Super Metroid. Who wins? Also, how in the world do they do this stuff? The video above, uploaded by YouTuber Charles English, shows the four-person Super Metroid speedrun that went down last weekend as part of the Awesome Games Done Quick charity event. I started watching and…

Oh No, Square Enix, What Have You Done To Final Fantasy VI?

When we first saw screens of Final Fantasy VI on mobile, I was a little worried. The sprites looked faded, as if they’d been accidentally thrown in a washing machine, and like the FFV port before it, the game had an amateur, RPG Makerish feel. But who knew it would get this bad? Today Square…

​A Game That’s Basically All Of The Games At Once

Have you ever wanted to play a game that quickly switches from Mario-style platformer to Ninja Gaiden-style fighting/platformer to Pac-Man-style dot eating to Final Fantasy-style turn-based combat? If so, the upcoming PC game Concursion may be the thing for you. I like the idea here, as developer Puuba Games seems to be saying, “Hey, we…

Psst: Buzzfeed finds that Whisper, an app where users can post all sorts of confessions, has a ton of women who are unhappy with how much they boyfriends ignore them because of gaming. Uh oh!

​Seriously, Why Doesn’t Gandalf Call In The Eagles All The Time

There’s a lot to like in the latest video from How It Should Have Ended, which tackles The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug. But the best bit is at the very start, since it re-raises a question that’s been lingering for a while now. Why doesn’t Gandalf call in the eagles all the time? I…