Quick Q&A: ‘We have to stop underestimating gamers.’

Since she stepped away from producing Assassin’s Creed games at Ubisoft Montreal, Jade Raymond has had a lower profile in the gaming scene. This week, Raymond is back, having overseen development of the new Splinter Cell: Blacklist, the first major game from her new Ubisoft Toronto studio. She’s got four answers for us today…and one…

Xbox One Sizzle Trailer Gives Us Another Look At Next-Gen

Sizzle trailers sure are fun to watch, don’t you think? Often more fun than actually playing video games. Well, okay, that’s a stretch. Sometimes. To kick off this week’s huge GamesCom conference in Germany, here’s a look at Microsoft’s latest Xbox One sizzle trailer, which shows off games like Battlefield 4 and Dead Rising 3.…

I propose a new rule: no releasing “launch” trailers until the game has actually launched. Now I have to watch this over and over again until The Bureau: XCOM Declassified actually launches, which is tomorrow. Hmph.

There’s A Beavis & Butt-Head Mod For Civilization V. It’s Brilliant.

Sid Meier’s Civilization V and its expansions now include almost all the major civilizations, nations and cultures in one way or another, meaning it’s okay to go wild when it comes to modding. So why not make a playable nation based on two of the greatest minds of our time: Beavis & Butt-head? What are…

About That Disney Infinity Review…

In a perfect world, this image would have a little yellow circle in the top left corner, and this article would be titled: Disney Infinity: The Kotaku Review. Unfortunately, this is not the case. First off, shipping issues kept the proper version of Disney’s ambitious toys meets video games project from arriving until Friday morning.…

I’d ten times rather play a Pacific Rim game that looks like this than the forgettable mobile adaptation. Too bad this Photoshopped crossover between Pacific Rim and Minecraft (and Sim City 2000!) is just one man’s imagination Dayshot is an image-based feature that runs every morning, showcasing some of the prettiest, funniest game-related screenshots and…

Voice Actor Is Sorry for Crushing Your Half-Life 3 Dreams

Last week, Half-Life 2 voice actor John Patrick Lowrie said that Half-Life 3 wasn’t being worked on. Since Lowrie has appeared in many Valve games over the years, his comments were taken seriously. Now, Lowrie says he misspoke. “My comments just seemed to cause a whole bunch of confusion and when I tried to minimize…

These Anti-Cheating Hats Make Me Sad

A university in Thailand offered a novel way to prevent students from sneaking peeks at classmates’ tests: Anti-cheating hats. Depressingly humiliating anti-cheating hats. They’re not only ridiculous, but they’re so depressing! Students at Kasetsart University’s agriculture school were photographed wearing the hats, and the photo was uploaded to the university’s Facebook page. That’s… embarrassing! According…

China’s Top Cosplayer Talks About The Meaning of Cosplay

Standing at about 5 foot 11″ and wearing a black t-shirt with sweatpants, A. Xiu Lan takes a long draw from his cigarette. Looking at A from afar, one would see a skinny young Chinese man with disheveled hair and deep sunken eyes standing aimlessly while smoking. However, beneath A’s simple exterior is a beast…

Missed the Pokémon Game Show? Well, here are two clips that might show you what the experience was like. Looks as though kids had a great time.

Nice Legs! Or Are These Actually Hot Dogs?

We’ve probably all seen dozens of similar pictures on social media sites, with someone on the beach showing their legs and annoying the hell out of others. So the hilarious Tumblr site Hot-Dog Legs is doing a big favor for us all by replacing these legs with hot dogs. Or lets hope these are all…

Cliff Bleszinski project sneak peek number three. At this rate, we should have a pretty good idea of what the game’s like in, what… five years? Anyway, this here is the latest cropped piece of concept art from Cliffy B’s new project, as shared on Twitter

McDonald’s Chinese Black and White Burgers Are… Okay, I Guess

Around this time last year we brought you images of McDonald’s Black and White Burgers—two small “half burgers” that come in a tiny box. Originally a limited one-time deal (like so many of McDonald’s China’s usual offerings), these tiny round bi-colored sandwiches of weird meat, flavourings, sauce and veggies are back again. The verdict on…

There’s a new Dragon Quest browser game. It’s a “Real Time Adventure Parade” title (your guess is as good as mine) called Dragon Quest Monster Parade. Powered by Yahoo Games, DQMP is launching in Japan later this week. There’s also a trailer which you can check out over here

Sure, Eat Ice Cream from a Toilet

This might be the least appetizing ice cream I’ve ever seen. And if the toilet wasn’t enough, there’s a bug hovering above the soft, brown swirl. But it’s a paper bug, you say! And that’s not real poop. This is “Ku-Sofuto”, a word play on the Japanese for “soft serve ice cream” (ソフト or sofuto)…

007? Spider-Pig? Nope, it’s GG Bond, China’s Super Pig

Pigs are god’s gift to earth. There, I said it. In terms of food, nearly every part of the pig is delicious porky goodness, and nowhere else in the world is the pig held in higher esteem than in China. It’s no wonder that one of China’s longest-running 3D animated television shows is a show…

The New Yakuza Game Takes You Back in Time

Sega unveiled a new Yakuza game. It’s called Ryu Ga Gotoku: Ishin. Here’s a first look. “Ryu Ga Gotoku,” of course, is the original Japanese title for the Yakuza games. “Ishin” (維新) means “restoration” as in the Meiji Restoration. This led into the Meiji Period, an era of rapid modernization and industrialization in Japan. It…

China’s Illegal Rooftop Lairs Trade Safety for Spectacle

Why stop at the penthouse when you can put something on the penthouse? Something like a traditional Chinese pagoda, an American style suburb, or even a mountain? Time to scale China’s unusual—and often illegal—high rise structures. Building on buildings is not a new thing in China—or in many cities with tall buildings. For years now,…

Ubisoft’s Child of Light is a Sidescroller With Turn-Based Battles

In a series of tweets, worldwide GDC overseer Simon Carless gave away a few details regarding Ubisoft’s upcoming downloadable title, Child of Light Announced today by Ubisoft’s Patrick Plourde during a presentation at GDC Europe, Child of Light is a “painterly” 2D sidescroller with turn-based battles powered by the engine behind Rayman Origins, and inspired…

New Studio Ghibli anime dated! Kaguya-hime no Monogatari (The Tale of Princess Kaguya) was originally supposed to be out this summer, but it was delayed to fall because the storyboards weren’t finished. Now, according to IT Media, the anime finally has a release date in Japan: November 23.