GTA Online, Log #3: In Search of a Big Score

Getting into the game? Finally, no longer a problem. Hooking up with friends for jobs and random open-world hijinks? Happening on a regular basis. But, now that the yearning for GTA Online to fulfill a basic set of expectations has been met, I find myself craving something else. Something bigger, made up of unpredictable randomness…

Sonic: Lost World: The Kotaku Review x2

There are two new games called Sonic: Lost World coming this month. I’d like to refer them as “the good one” and “the bad one,” if you don’t mind. The good one is on the Nintendo 3DS and is co-developed, apparently, by Sonic Team and Dimps. It’s a mostly-3D, occasionally 2D Sonic game that slows…

New PC Game’s Joke Achievements Are Also The Best Achievements

Video-game achievements are funny things. We want to unlock them, and we’re willing to shoot the 1,000 zombies or speed-run the 10 levels to do so. But… they’re kind of silly, ya know? It’d be nice if more games took their achievements a little less seriously. Recently, Tom Francis’ excellent stealth game Gunpoint experimented with…

Dang Does The Persona 3 Movie Look Gorgeous

Sure, Persona 3, the JRPG by Atlus where you shoot yourself in the head to summon demons, wasn’t all about the visuals. You play it because going back to high school and being best friends with your pals is the best. But man oh man, that doesn’t mean I can’t appreciate seeing the game animated…

Why I Can’t Get Into Pokémon

I’ve tried. Oh believe me, I’ve tried. I’ve tried my hardest to get into the rhythm of Pokémon, to fall into the groove of critter collecting and trainer battling and all the other activities that Pokémon fans love so much. But I just can’t do it. It’s been 15 years since Pokémon Red/Blue—the only one…

Sweet New Tech Makes Video-Game Fire Look Real Enough To Burn You

Today I got a look at some of the graphics tech we’ll see in next year’s games. That came in the form of new Nvidia GameWorks tools, which I saw during a press event in Montreal, Canada. What’s new: advances for in-game fire, smoke, physics and lighting effects. The briefing took place at an editor’s…

BatDad Returns, Is Still The Best (And Maybe Worst) Dad Around

I don’t know much about parenting, but I am continually impressed by BatDad’s commitment to making parenting fun and ridiculous. I mean, wearing a Batman mask and using the gritty Batman voice to parent your kids? It’s kind of the best. And maybe the worst, too. A little. I’m glad his family seems to have…

Need for Speed Rivals Looks Amazing Whether You Play It on PC or PS4

For one moment, the gap between playing a game on PC and on console seemed razor-thin. I played Need for Speed Rivals on both PC and PS4 and the two versions of EA’s upcoming racing game were virtually indistinguishable. What I saw was impressive no matter what machine it was running on. There are caveats,…

New Humble Weekly Bundle, Infinite $10, Pixeljunk Shooter Hits Steam

The latest Humble Weekly Bundle includes the DeathSpank games along with episodes 1 and 2 of the Penny Arcade series, and you can grab it all for a typically humble price. The main Humble Bundle is also still available. The time is now, go vote on the best gaming keyboard Staples is offering $15 off…

It’s Not Counter-Strike. Actually, It’s Better.

Leo and I decided to try out this free-to-play game called Tactical Intervention as a fallback when another game wasn’t working. We didn’t have very high hopes for it, but we gave it a try. Now it might be my new favorite multiplayer game. The video above might be a little confusing, but that’s because…

The Thrill–Yes, The Thrill–Of A Game Called Train Simulator

As a developer on Train Simulator 2014, I spend somewhere between 40 to 9,000 hours a week trying to solve one simple question. It’s a question that informs every element of our design process and every aspect of our community outreach efforts. It’s the question I had when I first started working in the rail…

The Troubled Story Behind Mafia II

PLUS MORE GAMING SECRETS AND RUMORS: Possible information on the new Deus Ex game, including its protagonist | Namco Bandai’s plans for the Western gaming world | Something new from Rockstar…could it be GTA V DLC? A relatively unnoticed 2012 GDC Europe postmortem presentation on 2K Czech’s Mafia II by designer Jarek Kolar provides some…

New GTA V Patch Claims to Fix Missing Vehicles, Many Other Problems

The latest title update for Grand Theft Auto V goes up today and it’s supposed to do away with one of the game’s most annoying bugs. Hopefully, players won’t have to worry about cars and other vehicles disappearing from garages. Here’s the list of issues that Rockstar says should be resolved with the new update:…

You Can Play Batman: Arkham Origins Right Now For Free. Sort of.

While we’re still a week out from the October 25 release of Batman: Arkham Origins for consoles and PC, the free-to-play mobile game is alive and kicking. Also punching. Watch. Obviously not the same as the console experience, the iOS version of Batman: Arkham Origins does have thugs to punch and assassins to wrestle with,…

Here’s what’s going on Talk Among Yourselves, our reader-written blog: The great Last-Gen Heroes/Zeroes postsjust keep coming. Zarnyx talks about the odd love triangle between Catherine and the conflicting aspects of human nature. YourMotherIsAClassyLady rejoices in the return of the side-scrolling platformer. Also, DocSeuss offers his opinions on what goes into making a good video…

Apparent GameStop Leak Shows Zelda 3DS XL For North America

Congratulations, Nintendo—you just got my $219.99. A leak of GameStop’s Black Friday deals confirms that the super-slick Zelda: Link Between Worlds 3DS XL, announced earlier this week for Europe, is indeed coming to North America.

GameStop’s 2013 Black Friday Deals Appear To Have Leaked

It’s October, which means it’s already time to start thinking about how much money you’ll throw around for the annual holiday Buy Things extravaganza. And thanks to an early leak, we already know what GameStop has to offer. GottaDeal.com has the full list, which is 12 pages long and slightly underwhelming. Some of the highlights:…

63 of DotA 2‘s 102 heroes, transformed into the angriest and cutest possible creatures by digital artist LS It’s really hard to pick a favorite. Maybe the trio of Traxex, Tiny and Pudge in the second row. Dayshot is an image-based feature that runs every morning, showcasing some of the prettiest,funniest game-related screenshots and art…

Cute Martial Arts Kids Made Cuter with “Guile’s Theme”

There’s this idea that everything goes with Guile‘s theme. But sometimes, the Street Fighter character’s music doesn’t just make things better, but also makes them more adorable. Perhaps you’ve seen this classic? It’s even cuter with Guile’s theme. But, you know, there’s some instances when you don’t need to add Guile’s theme. Take the above,…

Of Course, Danganronpa Looks Much Better on the Vita

Back in August, I played Danganronpa on the PSP and loved it. And after playing a bit of it on the Vita TV at TGS, I was more than a little excited to spend some quality time with its updated graphics. But even I was surprised at just how much better the game looks on…