Kingdom Hearts χ Is More Than I Expected from a Browser Game

After seeing the Kingdom Hearts III gameplay trailer last week, I was reminded that there was still one Kingdom Hearts title I had yet to play: the browser game Kingdom Hearts χ. I was wary going in but, surprisingly, it managed to exceed my (admittedly low) expectations. Kingdom Hearts χ is built on the same…

Rhythm Master Is a Peek into Chinese Pop

While games like Guitar Hero and Rock Band might be going to the way of last gen, rhythm music games are ever popular in Asia, especially when the games are made for mobile. Tencent’s Rhythm Master game is especially popular in China, where the game has been consistently topping the charts in app rankings since…

It’s officially over. The Wii is no longer in production. Nintendo’s Japanese website for the Wii reads “生産終了” (“seisan shuuryou”) or “production ended.” Thanks for the memories and the waggles, Nintendo Wii!

Attack on Titan‘s Opening Recreated with Cats (Yes, Cats!)

The opening credits of popular anime Attack on Titan has been reworked with feline friends. Courtesy of IT Media, this is madness. Purrfectly wonderful madness. Compare with the anime’s original opening credits. 進撃のねこ OPパロディ [jamuomii@YouTube via IT Media] To contact the author of this post, write to bashcraftATkotaku.com or find him on Twitter @Brian_Ashcraft Kotaku…

Terrifying Soldiers Look Like Comic Book Villains

Ballistic facemasks aren’t new. We’ve seen them in movies, comic books, video games like Army of Two. And we’ve seen them in real life, where they are utterly intimidating. Recently, website site DDN Japan and Tumblr site You’re Not Bulletproof pointed to these photos of Taiwanese Special Forces troops. The pics are from a military…

Track: Dawn Rising | Album: Whales And Leeches | Artist: Red Fang Kotaku Soundtrack is a selection of the stuff we’re listening to—and gaming to—at the moment.

LEGO Optimus Prime Lights Our Darkest Hour

One of the great crimes of the modern era is that Kre-o has the license for Transformers “building block” toys, and not LEGO. Never mind. We’ve always got fans stepping in where companies fail, and in this case, it’s Alex Jones, who’s made an Optimus Prime so good that it doesn’t even really look like…

It’s Windows XP. For The…Nintendo Famicom.

If you’re the type to fear Windows 8 and seek solace in the arms of something older, you can always go left field and not only step back to Windows XP, but do it on a Nintendo console from the 1980s. This wonderful bootleg does nothing more than emulate the Windows XP. The splash screen,…

First-Person Firefighting Looks Intense

For the past few days, some of the worst bushfires in Australian history have been burning across the state of New South Wales. Hundreds of homes have been lost, and the fires are so big that my hometown of Canberra, 300km away, was blanketed in smoke for much of the weekend. This is what it…

Studio Accused Of Blocking YouTube Vid Over Criticism [UPDATE]

TotalBiscuit, a YouTube gaming critic, is one of the most popular “personalities” on the service. When he says a game is rubbish, people notice. And when the company behind that game tries to get his criticism taken offline, more people notice. Earlier this month, he posted a look at a game called Day One: Garry’s…

Oh hi, PlayStation Vita version of Fez.

Search Engine Update Turns Your iPad into a Pokédex

Yes, there’s a Pokedex app for iOS—two actually, one official, another (better) one fan made. But you don’t need to download either to turn an iPhone or an iPad into a Pokédex. Just ask Siri. That’s because, as VentureBeat points out, the Wolfram Alpha database just added data for all Pokémon through their first five…

Bungie will post beta codes for Destiny this week on the game’s Facebook page, if you’re trying to get into it but haven’t preordered. The studio says the codes will be given out randomly each day. The beta should begin in early 2014. [via StrategyInformer]

Creepy Suspect Blamed for Electronics Going Haywire

Crime is a constant feature of video games writing. Somewhere, someone is doing something illicit with them—sometimes comically stupid, sometimes tragic. Kotaku‘s Police Blotter is here to round up the latest in games crime. All suspects are innocent until proven guilty in a court of law. leads Slender in suspicious Man sighting MASON, Mich.—Cops responding…

The Week in Games: The Heroes We Need

Batman: Arkham Origins launches globally on one day—Friday. There must be a ton of spoilers in it that Warner Bros. doesn’t want to go on the Internet in the three days between then and Tuesday, the typical US drop day. If you can’t wait to the end of the week for your superhero fix, LEGO:…

Space Invaders‘ Creator Says He Would Have Made It ‘Far Easier’

At 69, Tomohiro Nishikado readily admits he’s bad at video games. That’s not unusual for a man his age, but he was bad at them when he was making them, specifically Space Invaders. “Had it been left up to me, Space Invaders would have been a far easier game,” he told The New Yorker Nishikado…