Half-Life Conspiracy Theorists, You’re The Best Kind Of Crazy

Patricia had this image tucked away inside a story from earlier today, but I thought it was too magnificent not to showcase on the front page. It’s by artist Ivan Bakula. It is my new desktop wallpaper.

Gamers, You Rely On YouTube

Google has released a report on how gamers use YouTube, and it’s pretty interesting! Looking at the viewing statistics behind every single video game-related clip on the service, they’ve found that, well, pretty much all of you use it. All the time. For all kinds of stuff. Here are the important bits from the study:…

Steam Offering A “Low Violence Version” Of Saints Row IV

In the wake of Saints Row IV’s “ban” in Australia, a “Low Violence Version” of the game has appeared on Steam. Available for Australian customers, there’s no explanation as to what this version actually changes, leading to the suspicion it’s simply being offered in expectation that publishers Deep Silver will resubmit a modified copy of…

Microsoft’s New Control Pad For Flashy Rappers, Russian Oil Tycoons

I can’t think of anyone else who would consider owning one of these ostentatious fingerprint magnets. Announced earlier today, its full product name is the “Xbox 360 Special Edition Chrome Series Gold Wireless Controller”. It’s out next month and will retail for $55 “at GameStop and Microsoft Store locations in addition to select regions worldwide”.

Artist’s Battle With Disease Has Inspired Others To Push Their Limits

The story of Francis Tsai is an inspirational one. An accomplished games, comic and film artist, a few years ago he was diagnosed with Lou Gehrig’s Disease, a condition which has gradually robbed him of his ability to draw with his hands. Yet through sheer perseverance, and some help from his friends, Tsai has been…

One Of The World’s Best Modders Is Making His Own Game

In the Total War community, Darthmod occupies a place behind only developers Creative Assembly themselves. For years, his comprehensive (and easy to use) mod packs have transformed the flagship strategy series from “great games with whiffy AI” to “amazing games oh God where is my life going”. Last year, though, he all but walked away…

The San Francisco Fog Never Looked So Gorgeous

For going on a decade now, I’ve had a love-hate relationship with the San Francisco fog. It’s our city’s defining characteristic; so beautiful from afar, so smothering and depressing up close. But there’s no denying that beauty, captured here in a gorgeous new video from photographer Simon Christen called “Adrift.” He describes his project thusly.…

Snacktaku Drive-Thru: Wendy’s Pretzel Bacon Cheeseburger Is Gorgeous

As my proper Monday Snacktaku review got pushed to tomorrow, I figured I’d at least slip in a little public service announcement for the hungry masses. Wendy’s has a pretzel bacon cheeseburger. It’s the opposite of horrible. I am a huge fan of pretzels and pretzel bread, so when a friend called me to tell…

This Dude Does NOT Want To Pause His Game

The I CAN’T JUST PAUSE MY GAME, MOM AND DAD is such a cliche, I know. MachinimaPrime doesn’t do much to dispel stereotypes about gamers in this video where a gross man refuses to stop playing a game, but damn if they didn’t do a good job of showing how that situation can get extremely…

Two great essays about Animal Crossing: New Leaf: In this smart analysis by Gamasutra‘s Christian Nutt, he looks at why this entry in particular has been such a sensation. Meanwhile, USGamer’s Jeremy Parish talks about how summer arrived today and caused him to finally fall for the game. I haven’t seen a game this broadly…

Hell Yes, It’s OC Remix’s Mondo Musical Tribute To Final Fantasy VI

Yesssss. The madmen and women at OC Remix have pulled together a massive group of musicians to pay tribute to one of the most beloved video game soundtracks of all time: Square Enix’s 1994 classic Final Fantasy VI The album, titled Final Fantasy VI: Balance and Ruin, is out today. It’s the result of a…

Ragdoll Physics: Better With Kinect

Ragdolls are fun on their own, but watching Criken2’sfriend mess around in Garry’s Mod using a Kinect looks like a blast. Something about knowing the ragdoll is acting a certain way because there’s an actual person doing the same thing on the other end, I think. It’s extra playful. The fact that Criken’s is naturally…

Man On Unicycle Plays Game of Thrones Theme on Flaming Bagpipes

Also, he’s wearing a dragon mask and there’s a Daenarys look-alike just kind of standing there awkwardly in this video by squiddkidd …uh, yeah. I have no idea, although it dawns on me that flaming bagpipes are a thing. Game of Thrones Theme on Flaming Bagpipes and Unicycle – The Unipiper [squiddkidd via The Mary…

How ‘GLaDOS’ is GLaDOS In Pacific Rim? Pretty GLaDOS.

Among the questions video-game fans may have about Guillermo Del Toro’s upcoming robots vs. monsters blockbuster Pacific Rim—how are the robots? How are the monsters?—one question stands apart: Is GLaDOS really in it? There has been some confusion on this issue. The first big trailer for the movie featured voice-actor Ellen McLain reprising her famous…

The New Kinect Means You Won’t Have To Enter Codes On A Control Pad

The Kinect is mandatory on the Xbox One—which means that one of gaming’s most annoying facets, entering a million codes every time you buy a new game, doesn’t have to exist according to Microsoft’s Marc Whitten. Why? Because you’d just be able to scan a QR code in! Easy. We’ve contacted Microsoft to ask if…

Show Us The Games You’re Playing To Survive The Summer Doldrums

Every summer there’s a video game dead zone, a break between the games of spring and the deluge of the fall. Lately it’s seemed as though that dead zone is getting shorter and shorter. But it arrives each year nonetheless. As we ease our way into July, it’s clear that we’re about to enter 2013’s…

Police Blotter: Caught Sleeping With a DS

Crime is a constant feature of video games writing. Somewhere, someone is doing something illicit with them—sometimes comically stupid, sometimes tragic. Games and consoles are currency, objects of dispute, sometimes even weapons themselves. Kotaku‘s Police Blotter is here to round up the latest in games crime. Cops Find Robber in Bed with the Evidence LANESVILLE,…

The Many Ways You Can Pay To Be “Good” At A Game

How badly do you want to win? Enough that you’d pay to strap on a gaming headset that shocks your brain? Maybe that sounds insane, but then again, many of the things people do to gain an edge in multiplayer games are ridiculous. You might be familiar with more ‘tame’ practices. I for instance have…

EA Says They’re Actually Still Going To “Support” Darkspore [UPDATE]

Earlier today we linked to a report from GameTrailers noting that EA would not be supporting their 2011-released RPG Darkspore in the face of persistent errors. The moderator on the forum in question where this alleged announcement took place, however, is not an EA employee, EA said in an email to Kotaku today. Here’s the…

Last Of Us Renders One Of The Loudest YouTube Personalities Speechless

That ending, huh? It was certainly an…interesting one. To the point that it left one of the louder-known YouTube personalities in the gaming community—PewDiePie—speechless. Just for a moment, of course. Spoilers, obviously. Skip to 10:05 for the good parts. Regardless of your feelings towards PewDiePie, he’s well-known and well-liked by many on the Internet, and…