Tale of the Tape: How Punch-Out!!‘s Pugilist Performs in Smash Bros.

Super Smash Bros.‘ inclusion of the Slight White Hope—aka Little Mac of Punch-Out!!—raises several interesting questions, from how his natural brawling skills will help him in the game to how his short stature might hinder him. Here to answer it all is GameXplain, with a detailed breakdown of the latest trailer. Seriously, there’s a lot…

This Week in the Business: Steam’s Importance to Independents

QUOTE | “I think Steam is … probably the most important thing that’s happened to indie games in the last 10 years.”—Fullbright Company co-founder Steve Gaynor on reactions to his game Gone Home and how indies must think about sales platforms Elsewhere in the business of video games this week … QUOTE | “We expect…

The Best Gaming Headset

Almost six thousand votes later, you’ve chosen the Astro A50 as the best gaming headset. The Astro, a name synonymous with gaming headsets, took 31% of your votes, which only strengthens the brand’s previous recommendations by Kotaku Editorial and Lifehacker readers. [Amazon] Astro’s win may not surprise a lot of people, but the deep run…

Titanfall Server Problems Keeping Many From Playing, Microsoft Fixing [UPDATE 2]

Some Microsoft-run beta servers for the multiplayer-only, always-online game Titanfall have been down (or not working in some way) for at least three hours and counting on this, the first day of widespread access to the beta for the much-anticipated marquee next-gen first-person shooter. This, perhaps, is what betas are for! We don’t know how…

​’A Game You Can Play Forever’

Threes immediately captivated the people who started playing it, with folks bemoaning the lost hours and tired eyes they got in pursuit of ever-higher scores. But, over the last few days, any buzz surrounding Asher Vollmer’s second mobile game has been but a whisper compared to the roaring whirlwind surrounding Flappy Bird, which doesn’t exist…

Rockstar keeps adding content to Grand Theft Auto Online. Today, fittingly, they’ve added a slew of Valentine’s Day content with a criminal twist. Players are getting a chance to grab new guns, cars, clothes…a lot of it themed to fit the 1929’s notorious Saint Valentine’s Day Massacre. Details about the update are on Rockstar’s site.…

Want to buy Bravely Default, but embarrassed about the “sexy teenage butterfly” cover art? Check out these (hilarious) tips from Dorkly. My favorite: the ol’ Cool Game sandwich.

The Xbox One February system update begins rolling out today, according to Major Nelson. The update adds, among other things, the ability to see and manage your storage space, an on-screen battery power indicator, and USB keyboard support. Not as cool as March’s update, but it’ll do.

Did EA send you a Titanfall beta code for the wrong platform? Helpful tipster Tony points us to the EA Help website, where there are step-by-step instructions that promise to get your code snafu taken care of in two hours.

There’s nothing more romantic than curling up with someone you love and watching Poison kicking ass in Ultra Street Fighter IV. And here I didn’t get Capcom Japan anything. for Valentine’s Day. I feel like such a heel. I should probably be punished.

Circle Stop, a nice reflex-test of a game, is currently free right now on iTunes and the Android marketplace. Go get it. And try to hit the pink parts, not the blue-ish green parts, and definitely not the blank white expanse. Have fun!

​Valve Now Letting Users Flag Steam Tags as “Abusive” and “Spoiler”

The rollout of Steam Tags has been full of highs and lows. It seems like for every funny or useful tag attached to a game, there’s been a lot more that are mean-spirited or judgmental. It’s been called out as a major failing of the system. Now, Valve’s looking to do something about it. In…

Gearbox Says They’re Not Making Borderlands 3 Now, For Good Reasons

Gearbox boss and former Kotaku guest-writer Randy Pitchford knows people would like a Borderlands 3 someday. He would, too. But the time is not right for Borderlands 3. It’s so not the right time for the inevitable mega-sequel that Pitchford’s studio isn’t even making the game. He swears! In a very good interview with our…

It Took Nearly A Year To Get To An Eggman Boss Fight In Sonic Dash

Man, mobile gaming sure has slowed Sonic the Hedgehog down. The blue blur’s endless runner was released in March of last year, and we’re only just now getting to the bit where he jumps on Eggman? I blame the marketing for Sonic: Lost World, doubtlessly the cause for Sonic Dash‘s first boss fight being with…

Valentine’s Day Game Sales, New Titanfall Pre-Order Options [Deals]

Amazon has discounted a slew of PC games in honor of Valentine’s Day, including knocking the excellent Tomb Raider down to a paltry 7 bucks. If you somehow haven’t played this yet, and don’t plan to pony up for the definitive editions, then pull the trigger now. Pre-ordering any PC game at Amazon nets you…