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ReviewsLightning Returns: Final Fantasy XIII: The Kotaku Review
I’ve never been less emotionally invested in a character than I am in Final Fantasy XIII‘s pink-haired powerhouse, so when Square Enix tells me Lightning Returns, my response is “That’s great. What else you got?” She’s gorgeous. She’s powerful. She’s relentless. She’s fiercely dedicated to whichever path she finds herself on. Lightning embodies all the…
By Mike Fahey Published February 11, 2014 - Uncategorized
Flappy Bird Creator Says He Pulled Game Because It was ‘Addictive’
Dong Nguyen, creator of the sensationally popular and excruciatingly difficult mobile game Flappy Bird, removed his game from Apple and Android marketplaces this weekend because he was distressed that people were becoming addicted to it, he told a reporter in his native Vietnam this week. “Flappy Bird was designed to play in a few minutes…
By Stephen Totilo Published February 11, 2014 - Uncategorized
Today’s selection of articles from Kotaku‘s reader-run community: The Best Hot Dogs In Town, Reviewed • How Minecraft Helped Me Teach My Students Roman History • What Are Some Tips To Being A Good Gaming Dad? TAY Classic—TAY Open Forum—Beginner’s Guide To TAY Follow them here.
By Tina Amini Published February 11, 2014 -
UncategorizedHere’s the latest trailer for Dying Light, Techland’s upcoming free-running-slash-zombie-apocalypse simulator. As the accompanying blog post from the game’s producer explains, this one lets us take a closer look at the setting and story behind all the zombie-bashing. Dig in!
By András Neltz Published February 11, 2014 -
UncategorizedNo Army Can Stop The Battlefield 4 Train
Trains are just unstoppable these days. Just think about Grand Theft Auto V, or in this case, Golmud Railway in Battlefield 4. You can line up anything in front of them, they won’t do anything but break the laws of physics. I love how some of the players are just parachuting onto the moving train,…
By Gergo Vas Published February 11, 2014 - Uncategorized
The Xbox One’s February Upgrades Seem Nice, But March’s Are Better
An “early March” system update for the Xbox One will bring some popular multiplayer features from the Xbox 360 with the intention of improving the multiplayer experience in advance of the launch of Respawn’s exclusive, multiplayer-only Titanfall, according to Xbox product chief Marc Whitten. Those updates will be coupled with some improved stereo headphone support.…
By Stephen Totilo Published February 11, 2014 - Uncategorized
Nintendo Characters Are a Perfect Fit for Children’s Books
Concept artist Joey Spiotto has an ongoing series where he mixes video game protagonists with the Little Golden Books children’s literature series, and this time, he went for Nintendo characters. A shame that he only did the covers. Samus playing with an adorable Metroid throughout a fully illustrated book would be fun to read. (Not…
By Gergo Vas Published February 11, 2014 -
UncategorizedFour Players Are Co-Op Heroes. The Fifth Is Their Giant Enemy. Fight!
In a lot of mainstream multiplayer video games, we dress up as a soldier and take on opposing teams of other, similar soldiers. What if there were a game about a team of soldiers taking on one GIANT opponent? Maybe a massive beast that breathes fire? That’d be cool. That’d also be an actual thing:…
By Kirk Hamilton Published February 11, 2014 - Kotaku East
Tiger & Bunny: The Rising Is an Average Epilogue to a Great Series
Tiger & Bunny: The Rising is the newest film in the Tiger & Bunny series, which features a world where superheroes and reality TV have come together to make fighting crime a popular game show. And while the series was unique and enjoyable from start to finish, this theatrical adventure is only marginally above average.…
By Richard Eisenbeis Published February 11, 2014 -
UncategorizedSlugcat Pups Are Adorable
I want one Slugcat pups, of course, come from Rain World, the gorgeously-animated sci-fi survival-platformer. They were shown off properly for the first time in a new trailer which, in turn, was part of the latest update to the game’s Kickstarter project. Take a look: The campaign itself is nearing its end, with some pretty…
By András Neltz Published February 11, 2014 - Kotaku East
Hilarious Korean High School Yearbooks Will Make You Smile
As with anywhere, high school students in South Korea like to have some fun with their yearbooks. Some students, however, have taken fun to a whole new level. Usually, high school or university yearbook photos look, well, like school yearbook photos: benign photos of people smiling for the cameras. Here are samples from over the…
By Brian Ashcraft Published February 11, 2014 - Kotaku East
Pilot Your Favorite Gundam to Victory in Gundam Extreme VS Full Boost
Gundam Extreme VS Full Boost is one of the most popular arcade games in Japan—and that’s not just because of the name brand recognition. It’s also because of its fast-paced fighting engine that’s been tuned and refined with each iteration of the Gundam VS series that makes it insanely fun to play. Good – Co-op…
By Richard Eisenbeis Published February 11, 2014 -
UncategorizedThe Best Way to Beat Chrono Trigger’s Lavos? Epic Rock Music.
An idyllic scene, for sure, but Lavos is sleeping beneath the planet’s crust, gathering energy in this very moment. A couple thousand years, and he will emerge, raining destruction upon our world… luckily, we have Warialasky to save us The YouTuber trio is here with yet another visual-musical guide, this time to the universe of…
By András Neltz Published February 11, 2014 - Kotaku East
Snow Pikachu Evolves into a Macho Hunk
Aw, snow Pikachu is so cute! So small. And now, let’s see what he looks like in his evolved snow type. Yikes! This muscle-bound Pikamacho comes courtesy of Japanese Twitter user Haadoken. So, thank him for that. I guess? Here are some more strapping snow sculptures from Haadoken: ハードケン [HK2899] To contact the author of…
By Brian Ashcraft Published February 11, 2014 - Kotaku East
Let’s Overdose on Plastic Collectibles
Last weekend, the twice yearly Wonder Festival got underway in Chiba, outside Tokyo. There were tons of figurines and statues! You love those, right? Some of these collectibles will be mass produced when they go on sale. Others are super limited edition items. They’re all pretty cool. Have a look (photos courtesy of Senaka Blog,…
By Brian Ashcraft Published February 11, 2014 -
Kotaku EastCat Heads Make Gay Anime Love Scene Hilarious
Late last year, the people over at Manga Entertainment started putting out a series of animated shorts where they take a clip of an anime and replace the characters’ heads (and sometimes bodies) with those of cats. The latest of these “ANIMEOW” videos uses footage from homosexual love story anime Junjo Romantica—and really makes for…
By Richard Eisenbeis Published February 11, 2014 -
UncategorizedArrested Development meets Mass Effect. Simple, but I can’t stop smiling.
By Luke Plunkett Published February 11, 2014 - Uncategorized
Attack On Titan Figures Aren’t Safe For Giant Mouths
Armin, you are a giant wuss. But your Figma is fantastic. Coming after more, ahem, notable characters like Mikasa and Captain Levi, this latest Attack on Titan entry in the best action figure line on the planet captures everything you’d want from Eren’s cry-baby pal: namely the moppish hair and silly faces. He’s available for…
By Luke Plunkett Published February 11, 2014 - Culture
Roman Games Weren’t Built In A Day
Silver Saaremael is a senior concept artist at Crytek, who spent the last two years working on Xbox One launch title Ryse. I don’t know how much more Ryse art we can post, but really, when it’s all this good, who cares. You can see more of Silver’s work at his personal site To see…
By Luke Plunkett Published February 10, 2014 - Uncategorized
RPG Loves Hellboy, And I’m Cool With That
Darkest Dungeon is a 2D RPG that’s looking nice. And I’m not just saying that because those lines and that colour palette are doing a damn fine Hellboy impersonation. That helps, of course, but the premise also sounds interesting: this is a roguelike (Spelunky, FTL, etc) where you’re controlling four grizzled dudes who don’t just…
By Luke Plunkett Published February 10, 2014