Kojima: Waterboarding, Torture “Needs to Be Done” In Games Like MGS

While Metal Gear Solid is a franchise that has included torture in the past, not only are more and more games including it recently—GTA and Splinter Cell, for example—it’s still a sensitive subject that’s hard to pull off tastefully. So naturally, it’s always a thing that people like to discuss—particularly, how to handle it properly,…

Let’s Analyze This Week’s Weirdest Nintendo News In a Positive Way

Two days ago, Nintendo revealed how two of their biggest Wii franchises, Wii Fit U and Wii Sports, would be returning on Wii U. They are both arriving on the Wii U in very unusual ways. And there’s one very telling catch. Let’s go glass half-full on this one, shall we? Wii Sports is coming…

Your Xbox One And PS4 Can Hook Up

This is it, guys. The console wars are over. Your PS4 and Xbox One don’t need to fight—they can hook up instead. See, the next Xbox has an HDMI-in port, so you can plug in an HDMI cord and output video from another device, like your TV cable box, and run it through the Xbox…

A New Jaws Game With A Text Adventure Twist

You’ve probably seen Steven Spielberg’s epoch-shifting 1975 blockbuster Jaws, and if you grew up playing games, you’ve probably played a video game based on the film. But you probably haven’t played a video game version quite like this. The new, free browser game Jaws: The Text Adventure takes classic scenes from the film and cleverly…

Awesome Breaking Bad Mini Episodes You Might’ve Missed

Hey there. Newest episodes of Breaking Bad got you down? It’s OK. Let’s take a minute to look back on happier times earlier in the show. Not just any moments, mind: let’s talk about the mini-episodes that you may never have watched at all. Not only are they often hilarious—which we might need, given how…

It’s Friday. Let’s Talk About JRPGs.

So. Thanks to a whole lot of unfortunate timing, I haven’t been able to put together Random Encounters for the past few weeks. Next week we’ll be back for real. This week, I’ve got two requests for you: 1) Send me some questions! Shoot an e-mail to [email protected] with the subject “Random Encounters.” The best…

Riddick: Merc Files Is A Bad Game For A Bad Man

Vin Diesel’s signature character is a brutal killing machine; a predator pouncing from the shadows to take down his terrified prey. Riddick is not a guy standing patiently in the shadows for extended periods of time, waiting for patrolling guards to pass. Or is he? I suppose there is a lot of prep work that…

Moneysaver: Metro 2033 And Last Light $20, EVGA GTX 770, Galactica

No question that the best deals today are the Bioshock and Metro bundles, but don’t miss the opportunity to pick up the Battlestar Galactica series, get a killer price on the Audio-Technica ATH-M50’s, or grab that sweet EVGA GTX 770. Life is banquet, and most poor suckers are starving to death. Introducing the new Dealhacker…

So Stylish When They Stab: Here’s a music-video look at the multiplayer for the upcoming Assassin’s Creed IV: Black Flag. Looks like a grudge match between a bunch of Joker’s clown-gang, if you ask me. But if past AC games are anything to go by, it’ll be a fun, stabby grudge match.

PayPal is causing crowdfunded game developers all kinds of woes, Giant Bomb‘s Patrick Klepek reports. Read the whole story. An excerpt: “I had pulled out like $700,000 and dumped it into our bank,” said Lab Zero founder Peter Bartholow. “I get a call from a [PayPal] guy who’s like ‘yeah, I can’t believe they let…

Okay, That Chipotle Ad Is Amazing…But It’s Also Not Honest

Last week, atrailer/ad for a Chipotle game went viral—and if you’ve watched it, it’s easy to see why. The ad creates a Pixar-esque world where one brave Scarecrow decides to stop participating in a culture of processed, genetically altered food. It’s good…but also kind of weird to think about, when you consider Chipotle is a…

The New Strider Game is a Classic Reborn

In recent years, there have been many classic game-inspired re-imaginings—from Bionic Commando to DuckTales. At TGS 2013 today, I was able to get my hands on the newest one: Strider As it’s been nearly 15 years since the release of the last Strider game, many of you may only know about the character from his…

Valve Teases Big Hardware Announcement For Monday

Here we go. It’s almost Steam Box time. Valve has just launched a teaser site for what seems to be their big hardware initiative, with a countdown clock ending on Monday at 1pm Eastern. Earlier this week, Valve boss Gabe Newell teased a hardware announcement for next week. The pieces are starting to fit! Here’s…

Louis C.K. Explains Why Smartphones Are Awful, And It’s Heartbreaking

Jabs about how we can’t stop checking our phones are incredibly common, but that doesn’t stop comedian Louis C.K. from having some hilarious, if not sad insight as to why we do it. Hint: it’s not because we’re happy and fulfilled. Put that way, it’s easy to see, as Louis C.K. points out on Conan,…

Why Rockstar Released GTA V For Current-Gen Consoles

Can’t do this with a next gen-only game in 2013 (probably not in 2014, either), because there just won’t be enough next-gen consoles out there for quite some time… Grand Theft Auto V® Worldwide Sales Surpass $1 Billion In First Three Days Fastest entertainment property in history to reach significant milestone* NEW YORK—(BUSINESS WIRE)—Sep. 20,…

Okay, Wolfenstein: The New Order, You Now Have My Attention

You know when things do what they are supposed to do well? They might not be the best or the most groundbreaking, but they do what they’re supposed to and, most importantly, are enjoyable. That’s Wolfenstein: New Order When Wolfenstein: The New Order was originally announced, it didn’t really register on my radar. I’m not…

How To Upgrade PS3 Games To PS4 Games

Want to turn your PS3 games into PS4 games? It’s not hard. You just have to follow these steps. Today PlayStation Access released a cute video about the upgrade process, which might not be available for every cross-gen game, but has been confirmed for some, like Watch Dogs and Assassin’s Creed IV, both announced for…

Most confusing Infinity Blade III user review. But, hey, we think the new iOS game’s pretty good!

Game industry figures share their thoughts on Hiroshi Yamauchi: We’ve collected statements from ex-Nintendo marketing boss Perrin Kaplan, EA’s Peter Moore, and designer Giles Goddard. Yamauchi, the former president of Nintendo who turned the company into what it is today, passed away yesterday.

See The Next Tales Game In English For The First Time

Here’s your first English trailer for Tales of Xillia 2, the Xillia sequel that’s coming to North America and Europe next year for PS3. Fans who have played the game in Japanese report that Xillia 2 is darker and more interesting than its predecessor, which I’m starting to believe. This trailer is pretty intense.