Here’s what’s going on Talk Among Yourselves, our reader-written blog: Stormborn isn’t just doing great Pokemon drawings. You should check out the Smash Bros. wish list artwork he’s been doing, too. Nach shares some great photos of Paris in a new PhoTAYgraphy Club post. And Aestevalis runs down some of the new anime series that…

I’d Forgotten This All-Girl Fighting Game Was A Thing

Man, what was that game again? The one where the women are all kidnapped and forced to fight, with the Nobel Peace Prize winner in the fishnet top and cut-offs with electrical tape over her chest? Man, good thing Kung Fu Factory decided to get rid of… oh wait, they’re still making Girl Fight? And…

The Wii U grows exponentially more interesting, with the addition of outstanding modern platformer Giana Sisters: Twisted Dreams and classic role-playing game Breath of Fire II in today’s Nintendo Download. What other wonders lurk in this week’s selection of digital downloads? Behold!

Now That’s A Lot Of Mass Effect Cosplayers!

We’ve already seen brilliant costumes from this year’s Dragon Con, but we simply couldn’t resist this absolutely packed Mass Effect group shot, photographed by one of the attendants, Pam Marotte It’s really hard to pick a favorite, with all the costumes being so well-made and varied (and not just a dozen Shepards and Talis). Maybe…

Watch The First 12 Minutes Of Call Of Duty: Strike Team

Activision droppeda surprise mobile Call of Duty on iOS today, and it’s two, two, two games in one. Call of Duty: Strike Team gives players the ability to switch between first-person shooter and top-down tactical strategy with the press of a button. Want to see how it works? Keeping in mind that the video recording…

Earlier today, a new multiplayer map was introduced for StarCraft II during the GSTL tournament in South Korea. The map is called Fruitland, and it’s a little bit different from other maps. Perhaps it’s a tribute to Fruitdealer, one of the earliest StarCraft II pros? Dayshot is an image-based feature that runs every morning, showcasing…

Here’s What Some Developers Think Of the PlayStation 4

Those who have had a chance to play around with Sony’s latest console, the PS4, have been sharing their experiences and what they think about Sony’s latest big black box with those of us who have not. But what about the developers? Those who are involved in making the software for us to enjoy —…

Activison Just Released A New Mobile Call of Duty

Today, Activision is rolling out Call of Duty: Strike Team, a $7 mobile-exclusive Call of Duty title for iOS devices. The game offers a full-fledged story campaign taking place in 2020, and a survival game mode with leaderboards. Both game modes can be played in either the usual run and gun first-person mode, or in…

Freaky GIF Heads You Will Never Forget

This is the GIF art of 28 year-old Serbian artist Milos “Sholim” Rajkovic. His work takes seemingly bland, but ubiquitous individuals and packs their heads with mechanical parts. The result is surreal. “[The] models for my GIFs are politicians, corporate people, or just pretty faces from the commercials that we watched hundreds of times during…

A deeply unsettling horror-adventure game makes a return. I Have No Mouth and I Must Scream, the ’95 point-and-click adventure based on the sci-fi short story of the same name, is once again available via GOG. It’s one of Kotaku’s must-play classic PC games, so you might wanna take a look—but prepare to be depressed.

The Updated Bravely Default isn’t Just ‘For the Sequel’

You have to give Square Enix points for honesty; Bravely Default: For the Sequel wears its primary intentions right on its sleeve. I mean, it’s right in the title: “For the Sequel.” The new updated version of the original Bravely Default: Flying Fairy is currently being developed in parallel to the game’s upcoming as-of-yet untitled…

Rumor: First Look at the Attack on Titan 3DS In-Game Graphics

There’s a Japanese magazine pic that’s rumored to be the first look at the upcoming Attack on Titan 3DS game. According to Japanese site Amaebi, the image is from an upcoming issue of Bessatsu Shonen Magazine In all fairness, this is a blurry magazine snap and often 3DS games look better in person. While this…

Vladimir Putin Is An Artist

While visiting a school in Russia’s Kurgan region, President Putin drew this. It’s not what you probably think it is. Apparently. When a student asked him what he drew, Putin replied that it was a cat from behind. Oh. I thought it was a vagina. Or a penis. Or a vagina penis. Just think of…

Farming Simulator graces European and Japanese consoles today. If you’re in either of these two regions, you can now officially head out and grab the game for Xbox 360 or PS3 Those in North America will have to wait a bit longer for their copies, which will be here “shortly.” Until then, here’s the launch…

Sales of The Wonderful 101 in Japan are not very wonderful. According to 4Gamer, Platinum Games’ latest sold only a little over 5,000 copies on its first day out in Japan, not even making the top 20, one week later. The Wonderful 101 arrives in the US on the 15th of this month. Hopefully it…

Banished Is A City Builder That’s All About Choices

We’ve talked about Shining Rock’s hardcore medieval city builder before, and yes, the game’s still around! In fact, in a recent interview, the creator yet again confirmed that Banished would definitely be out before the end of the year. Talking to PC Gamer, Luke Hodorowicz, the sole developer working on Banished, also discussed the importance…

Oh the Ways Anime Changes

Just because your favorite anime finally aired on television, that doesn’t mean you’ve seen the final product. There’s still room to get better. When anime get DVD or Blu-ray releases, certain scenes or characters are tweaked—or even completely redrawn. There’s a variety of reasons for this, such as having more time to get everything just…

How Korea Is Making eSports More Inclusive to All Kids

In South Korea, eSports is big—big enough for large tournaments and endorsements. But it’s also big enough for the country’s government to sponsor a tourney for disabled students. Now in its ninth year, the Students With Disabilities Nationwide eSports Tournament recently wrapped up in Seoul, with 394 students competing in games such as Wii Sports…

You Sure Hayao Miyazaki Doesn’t Sign Autographs in Japan?

Here’s a whole room of people with autographs Hayao Miyazaki signed earlier this year in Japan. Fancy that! Late last month, there was an article on Japanese site R25 detailing how beloved anime director Hayao Miyazaki doesn’t sign autographs. (Kotaku reached out to Studio Ghibli regarding the R25 autograph story; however, the studio declined to…

Small Studio Wants To Make Its Own Mass Effect

AMBROV: X is an upcoming RPG that, while set in an established sci-fi universe (it’s based on the Sime-Gen books), sure looks like an indie Mass Effect. Not that there’s anything wrong with that. Given how that series ended, and people’s love for sci-fi, RPGs and decision-making (this has all three!), this might be able…