Cat Has Developed The Perfect Chess Game

Watching a true chess Grandmaster at work is a thing of beauty — masters like Bobby Fisher, Garry Kasparov, Deep Blue. And now, Simba the Cat enters their hallowed ranks. See how he approaches the game with grace, how he contemplates his moves with careful consideration! Marvel at his unorthodox play style. Truly we are…

Sales Stink: it’s easy to think that sales are good for players, but what if they’re not? What if waiting for sales affected the way players feel about purchases and actually lessened the amount of money devs make? The Castle Doctrine’s Jason Rohrer explores these questions ina fascinating write-up here.

Grand Theft Auto Online will be down for maintenance beginning tonight at 9 p.m. EST. Rockstar Games says it will return “within 24 hours” after then.

Finally, Gone Home Becomes A Real Video Game

Want to play Gone Home but don’t want to deal with nonsense like “exploring” and “reading” and “emotional resonance”? Try Gun Home, the downloadable content devised by the fine folks at Dorkly. Because a video game isn’t a video game unless you’re killing Hitler.

Someone Put Yakety Sax Over Nidhogg, Finally.

Pretty self explanatory.

Apple Has To Pay Back Parents Whose Kids Bought Stuff In iPhone Games

Apple will pay at least $32.5 million and change its billing practices in order to settle complaints over children racking up in-app purchases in iPhone games without their parents consent. The Federal Trade Commission announced the agreement today. The $32.5 million figure is a minimum refund amount to consumers and not a fine. Last summer,…

A pig with a man’s head eating a corpse? Creepy. Coming to the PlayStation 4 and Vita, Kodoku is a self-published horror game from the fine folks at Carnivore Studio, and not the bastard child of a gaming website and popular number puzzles. Until we have more information, I am going to assume the basic…

Take a look at the entries for the Naked Twine Jam—they’re great human (and sometimes animal) stories that prove you don’t need fancy tech to make a game worthwhile or touching.

Project Your Games For $400, Upgrade To 802.11ac, PSN Update [Deals]

We don’t come across a ton of great projector deals, but this Acer 3D Home Projector for just $405 is definitely one of them. Lumen level and lamp life are both great on this Acer, and it also happens to be the Wirecutter’s pick for best sub-$500 projector. [Amazon] It’s not the most customizable router…

Shadows? Check. Falling? Check. Over on the PlayStation Blog, Sony has unveiled two free multiplayer maps coming soon to PlayStation 4 shooter Killzone: Shadow Fall. The Cruiser and Hangar maps should tide players over until the first paid expansion pack DLC arrives.

Meet Kotaku Ken, Our Crash Test Dummy

Turbo Dismount is a glorious excuse for putting polygonal beings into dangerous vehicles and then watching the physics-based carnage gently unfold into something beautiful. And then re-watching it over and over again in lovely slow motion. I thought it’d make for a good video on vehicle safety, so join Kotaku Ken as he attempts to…

Nidhogg Nonsense Tuesday

It was Tuesday, we played Nidhogg.

Offensive Combat Creators Abruptly Close Up Shop

A year ago I raved about Offensive Combat, an old-school, free-to-play, browser-based competitive first-person shooter with a heaping helping of attitude. Today, with very little fanfare, developer U4ia Games closed. The announcement came by way of atweet last night, with a link pointing folks to an post on the company’s website. It is with a…

Don’t Worry, Indie Sensation No Man’s Sky Is Still Coming

After a flood wiped out the offices of Hello Games on Christmas Eve, fans’ first thoughts turned to No Man’s Sky, which wowed viewers of the Spike VGX a month ago. Will that game be delayed? “We won’t let that happen!” The studio writes. Despite high-spirited statements, an update today does paint a grim picture.…

Here’s the latest from Kotaku‘s official reader-written blog, Talk Amongst Yourselves:Tips for Surviving in DayZ • I’m Going to Play a Crap Ton of JRPGs This Year • What WouldYou Put in Your Star Wars Sequel? TAY Classic—TAY Open Forum—Beginner’s Guide To TAY Follow them here.