Will Paying For Video Games Become a Weird Thing To Do?

I happily pay for video games. You might, too. But so many people enjoy the increasingly popular free-to-play model of video games. So many people don’t pay to play. Is gaming going to be reaching a moment when many, many potential gamers just don’t want to pay. I tossed this idea into a conversation I’ve…

Cards Against Humanity is sold out again. This time, they have a good explanation for how it happened. Designer Max Temkin wrote about the process of trying to predict Christmas sales, and why marketing reports aren’t very helpful.

Here’s what’s going on Talk Amongst Yourselves, our reader-written blog: Barely a creature is stirring in the post-Christmas TAY-verse, but we’ll soldier through. We’ve got Tommy Pickles’ look at A New Beginning, the adventure game about how horrible we are. Dexomega reviews Mobile Suit Gundam 00, and Habboi shows off the lovely gifts sent to…

Nintendo Online Services Broken Now, Continuing Christmas Malfunctions [UPDATE]

Nintendo’s online store isn’t working for many gamers at the moment—not on Wii U or 3DS—making it essentially impossible to use many of the systems’ core online services. So this is why I couldn’t update the Netflix app on my parents’ Wii yesterday! And it’s why a lot of Nintendo gamers are pulling their hair…

We Must Never Forget The Horror Of Dragonball Evolution

“America’s worst insult to Japanese culture since Hiroshima” might be going a bit far, but otherwise Screen Junkies‘ Honest Trailer treatment of the abysmal Dragonball Evolution is spot-on. I guess the idea was to take the basic premise of the manga and anime series and convert them into material that would appeal to a broader…

You Can’t Have A New Smash Bros. Game Without Zelda

A staple of the series since Melee, Princess Zelda returns for her third consecutive Super Smash Bros. appearance on the Wii U and 3DS. High-definition has been very, very kind to our princess. Zelda[Official Super Smash Bros. Site]

See What These Japanese Game Developers Resolve for 2014

As 2013 draws to an end, we look forward to 2014. And with a new year, comes new resolutions – even for game developers. Japanese gaming magazine, Weekly Famitsu, asked 100 game developers what their key phrases resolutions for 2014 were. Take a look at what some of them had to say. Daisuke Ishiwatari –…

That Lightning Returns Aerith Costume Wasn’t Meant for Everyone

One of the highlights of Lightning Returns: Final Fantasy XIII is all the costumes you can play around with. Aside from the costumes included in the game and the DLC costumes, Square Enix also has a limited Aerith from Final Fantasy VII costume and weapons. Well, it was supposed to be limited. The Aerith costume…

Kingdom Hearts Director Addresses the Remaining HD Remake Left to Do

With Kingdom Hearts I.5 HD Remix out and II.5 HD Remix on the way next year, there’s nothing left to re-tell as we prepare for the eventual release of Kingdom Hearts III. Oh wait, yes there is. The HD collections of the Kingdom Hearts saga currently cover every previously released console game in the series…

Use A Mouse + Keyboard On Your Xbox One

The latest XIM peripheral – a line which has longallowed console gamers to use PC accessories – is now out, and for the first time includes the Xbox One. The XIM4 won’t be out until well into next year, but it’s already being teased, shown here running Call of Duty: Ghosts on an Xbox One…

Borderlands’ Handsome Jack Gets His Own Live-Action Series

Machinima says there’s a “full film” coming on January 3, with a series to follow. If this teaser was supposed to get people excited, well…OK. I mean, if you really love Borderlands, it might be cool! For the rest of us, like most of these live-action attempts, it might be a little too low-rent (though…

Playstation Plus In January Will Make You Merry And Bright

Don’t Starve for your Playstation 4. DMC, Bioshock: Infinite, and Brothers for your PS3. Smart As… and Worms: Battle Islands for your Vita. Guess Christmas is coming late this year. Sure, Vita is getting the short end of the stick this time around, but I just had a great time playing free Sonic Racing on…

Dreamcast Prototype Back From The Dead, Free To Download

ToeJam & Earl 3 was once in development for, among other consoles, the Sega Dreamcast. Thanks to that console’s demise it was never released, the code eventually finding its way – like so many other Sega series – to Microsoft’s Xbox. That game was awful, but if you ever wanted a taste of what the…

PokeBank Hilariously Fails to Stop Hacked Pokemon

Update: The Infernape listed in the article below is actually considered legal. There is a way to use the US Walmart code for the HA Chimchar to obtain the Pokemon in other regions. Dream World Pokemon can also be caught in any ball. The Torterra is still completely illegal. Secondly, it has been confirmed that…

Does Grand Theft Auto’s Logo Need A Facelift?

Grand Theft Auto is in at least one way a victim of its own success. It’s so popular now that some aspects of it have become entrenched, and may never be able to be changed. Like the game’s title font, which in 1997 might have been cool, but which today could be seen as a…

Left 4 Dead 2 Is Free, So You Might Want To Get On That

Valve wants to say “Merry Christmas”. So everyone gets a copy of Left 4 Dead 2. You get a copy, you get a copy, you get a copy, you get a copy. If you jump on Steam before 10am PT on December 26, you can download the multiplayer shooter for free. The only catch is…

Merry Christmas! (In Slow Motion)

I think FinalCutKing might secretly have some problem with Christmas since his idea of a holiday video was gingerbread men destroying decorations. It’s okay with me though, because the result is awful pretty in slow motion.

Last Chance To Nominate For Our GOTY And Reader’s Choice Awards

We’re in the midst of evaluating and voting for Kotaku‘s Game of the Year for 2013. This year, plenty of readers have made their own nominations, and we hope you will as well. Below if our collection of nominations for Game of the Year 2013. All this week and next, our staff members are playing…