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2013 is slowly coming to an end, which means video game characters can finally enjoy their holiday feast, thanks to creator AnimatorAR’s vision of it… even if it’s tiny and made of plastic. Bonus points for finding the Portal Turret in the photo. Oh and why isn’t poor Luigi sitting on a throne? It was…
By Gergo Vas Published December 30, 2013 -
UncategorizedColorful Indie Shooter Lets You Play with Yourself
I’m referring, of course, to single-player co-op. What did you think I was talking about? Currently sitting in Greenlight and humbly collecting votes is Time Rifters, a rather unique-looking FPS. Basically, you need to blow something up on every level, usually a big old monster. You get four lives to do so. But therein lies…
By András Neltz Published December 30, 2013 - Kotaku East
China’s Video Game Industry Pulled In Over $13 Billion. Yes, Billion.
As the year comes to an end, year-end statistics are trickling out from every which way. Over the weekend, the China Game Industry Annual Conference’s China Games Party has released info on how much revenue the Chinese game industry has brought in over the course of 2013. Chinese video game companies pulled in over $13…
By Eric Jou Published December 30, 2013 - Kotaku East
Why China Banned Battlefield 4, Modern Warfare 2, and 40 Other Games
Censorship is a pervasive issue all across the world, but nowhere is it more evident than it is in China. Here, media content falls under extreme scrutiny before it can be released to the public, and video games are no different. China’s Ministry of Culture has, over the years, released public notices denouncing certain games…
By Eric Jou Published December 30, 2013 -
Kotaku EastHong Kong’s Government Explains Money Troubles… With Cartoons
In Hong Kong, government-provided public services are considered pretty good. Supposedly, the social welfare net is also pretty good. Technically being part of China but with a passport that is accepted by many western countries, Hong Kong is overall a pretty good place to live. However, in recent years, the local government’s pockets have been…
By Eric Jou Published December 30, 2013 - Kotaku East
More 2014 Resolutions From Japanese Game Developers
2013 was a great year for gaming. After what was accomplished this year, let’s see what Japanese game developers hope to do in 2014. We’ve seen a sample of what some Japanese game developers have in mind when looking towards the year to come. Japanese gaming magazine Weekly Famitsu, however, asked 100 developers in their…
By Toshi Nakamura Published December 30, 2013 - Uncategorized
Movies & TV Get More Viral With Upworthy Headlines
We’ve seen what happens when video games get Upworthy-style headlines. What happens when sci-fi and fantasy movies get them will amaze you. SFFWorthyslaps the low-hanging fruit by giving your favourite movies and TV shows headlines in the style of the infamous viral site. This joke will get old very quickly. So let’s enjoy it while…
By Luke Plunkett Published December 30, 2013 - Culture
Wreck-It-Ralph Looks A Lot Meaner In This Early Art
Disney’s video game movie Wreck-it-Ralph was, at even its darkest and most violent points, a pretty bubbly and colourful movie. Which you probably couldn’t tell if you only looked at this concept art for the “Hero’s Duty” sections, which is a lot closer to the grim tone of the film’s Aliens/Gears of War/Halo inspiration than…
By Luke Plunkett Published December 30, 2013 - Uncategorized
Kid Stays Up Late Gaming, Saves Family From Burning House
If you’re still young enough to have someone telling you when to go to bed, remember this story the next time your mother tries to tell you enough’s enough for one day. 12-year-old Jaxxyn Wood, from Kentucky, was up at 3:30am playing video games when he “smelled something really bad, like Legos on fire”. What…
By Luke Plunkett Published December 29, 2013 - Uncategorized
Batman Figures Look Like Real, Tiny Batman Actors
Just when you thought Hot Toys couldn’t make a better Batman action figure, along comes a better Batman action figure. Sorry, figures I don’t know what to get more excited about with this new “Dark Knight Armory” piece by the Hong Kong-based toysmiths. Maybe it’s the fact it comes with Bruce Wayne, who is looking…
By Luke Plunkett Published December 29, 2013 - Uncategorized
Call of Duty, BioShock Infinite More Enjoyable As Text Adventures
As they did lastyear, the team at PC Gamer are ringing in the new year by celebrating the biggest games of the old year. And by celebrating, I mean re-doing them as text adventures. There are two of them so far, both of them shooters, one which was fairly terrible, the other which, well, let’s…
By Luke Plunkett Published December 29, 2013 - Uncategorized
NSA Accused Of Hijacking Laptop Shipments, Spying On Undersea Cables
In case you weren’t scared enough of the reach of the US National Security Agency, reports coming out of Germany are accusing the intelligence agency of literally seizing shipments of computers, installing malware and sometimes even hardware bugs on them. The allegations have been published by German news site Der Spiegel, and are reportedly based…
By Luke Plunkett Published December 29, 2013 - Uncategorized
Sports Video Games in 2013: A Year in Decline
To a video gamer, the pairing was so natural that I didn’t recognize how unusual it really was. On Oct. 12, ESPN broke up its top two announcing teams to put Brad Nessler and Kirk Herbstreit in the booth for the network’s Texas A&M-Ole Miss nightcap. The two have, virtually anyway, worked millions of games…
By Owen Good Published December 29, 2013 -
UncategorizedThey Put a Racing Game in a Race Car So They Could Race While They Race
This is so stupid it’s awesome. Viagame pit one of the world’s top racing video game drivers against a real-life professional to see who was better. But the best part is Frederik Brolin, the video gamer, is driving the course, virtually, inside a car that is driving the course in real life. The real-life driver…
By Owen Good Published December 29, 2013 - Uncategorized
Resident Evil Fanbase Also Old, Decaying, Capcom Tells Investors
Resident Evil is old enough to vote as of March. (That means its 18 years old). Its fanbase also has aged commensurately, Capcom said in a recent investor guide. This is not really a good thing, the company delicately points out. “The longevity of the Resident Evil title also comes with problems,” Capcom said in…
By Owen Good Published December 29, 2013 - Uncategorized
He’s Played 57 Straight Hours of Missile Command. His Goal is 100.
If you want to watch a Swedish guy tear Missile Command a new one, tune in to this. Around 11 a.m. EST, he beat his world record of 81,795,035, but that’s not the goal now. He’s trying to play the game for 100 hours, on a single credit. That would be a record across all…
By Owen Good Published December 29, 2013 - Uncategorized
Nintendo eShop Back, Online Problems Fixed, Pokémon Apps Still On Hold
Nintendo’s eShop is back online for all systems following repairs to many online services that had failed over Christmas. Nintendo gave the all-clear moments ago. The eShop had been on-and-offline for some platforms and regions since Dec. 25 as the company worked to resolve the problem. On Facebook yesterday evening, Nintendo said the outage had…
By Owen Good Published December 29, 2013 - Uncategorized
Kotaku ‘Shop Contest: The 2013 Year-End All-Star Extravaganza
We’ve had 48 ‘Shop Contests this year, and now comes your 49th—our annual roundup of the best exploitables to kick off the new year with a buttload of callbacks to the old one. The 10 source images for this roundup were chosen because they fit a number of criteria, including how many entries we got…
By Owen Good Published December 29, 2013 -
UncategorizedLive-Action Minecraft Brings the World Into Higher Resolution
Here’s another way to look at the world of Minecraft—through the eyes of its protagonist, “Steve,” if he were a real person. The video is by Ben Combes, who delivered an earlier two-part series on the creepers. Combes’ creeper/enderman series began with a guy waking up in a strange world, fighting for survival. This one…
By Owen Good Published December 29, 2013 -
CultureSunday Comics: The Magic Word
Welcome to Kotaku‘s Sunday Comics, your weekly roundup of the best gaming-themed webcomics. The images enlarge if you click on the magnifying glass icon. Nerf NOW!! by Josué Pereira. Published Dec. 26. Read more of Nerf NOW!! Awkward Zombie by Katie Tiedrich. Published Dec. 23. Read more of Awkward Zombie Penny Arcade by Jerry Holkins…
By Owen Good Published December 29, 2013