Breaking—apparently! Japanese site Famitsu busted out a “sokuhou” (速報) or “news flash,” because Microsoft just announced the Xbox One would be launching in Japan in 2014. Online in Japan, people seemed amused by this, joking, “That’s sooner than I thought” and “Wasn’t it going to be 2015?” Previously, Microsoft stated the console would be out…

Getting Close and Personal With The Hard-Working People of Your Town

Upcoming medieval-esque city builder Banished will have a “follow mode.” Here’s a video of what it looks like. Basically, follow mode allows you to get rid of the user interface and zoom in on and follow the day-to-day activities of one of your colonists, whether they’re working, getting something to eat, heading home, or, say,…

2010’s Raunchiest Strategy RPG Is Returning Soon on PC

Three years ago, a rather… naughty Japanese-made console SRPG turned quite a few heads when it arrived in North America. Now, Record of Agarest War is back and headed for the PC. The port, named Agarest: Generations of War after the European version, will be released on the third of October and can be pre-ordered…

Apparently Rabbits Are Ridiculously Good At Spear-Throwing

And spear-stabbing. And martial arts too, of course. Wolfire Games is here with another installment of their calmly-narrated humanoid animal violence-themed videos, showcasing the absolutely phenomenal combat system behind Overgrowth, their upcoming PC third-person brawler. If you’d like to play around with Overgrowth’s alpha yourself, you can do so by pre-ordering the game here. $30…

You’ve Never Seen Sushi Like This

Sushi rolls that look like great works of art. Or video game characters. Or dookie or dicks. Meet Takayo Kiyota, a makizushi (“rolled sushi”) artist. Makizushi is sushi wrapped in rice and seaweed. The cylindrical roll is cut, revealing the roll’s contents. It’s not easy to make good makizushi, let alone makizushi that looks like…

The Long Dark, an indie game being made by an all-star cast of former big-game developers, is up on Kickstarter. You can back it here. Since its devs have worked on Mass Effect, League of Legends, Saints Row, God of War, LA Noire, Borderlands and Far Cry 3, it might be worth a look.

Jackie Chan’s Theme Park Sure Sounds Sappy

You’d think if an action star like Jackie Chan opened a theme park, it would be an exciting, rock’em sock’em experience. Well, then you’d be wrong. According to The Malaysian Times (via USA Today), Jackie Chan plans to build a theme park in Beijing called JC World. The two square kilometer park will house personal…

Mionix Avior 8200: The Kotaku Review

I’m left-handed. Yet when it comes to computers, like most other lefties I know, I use a mouse with my right hand. It’s just…how I was taught. So I’ve never seen the need for a mouse that tries to somehow accommodate both normal humans and sinister mutants. I mean, let’s look at the situation here.…

Rise of the Triad Thanks Players For The Feedback With Five Free Maps

And a kick-ass trailer, too. Of course. Above’s a two-minute video description of the 1.1 patch for retro-styled FPS Rise of the Triad, which contains five free multiplayer maps in addition to “hundreds” of fixes and tweaks, some of which were suggested by the community. If you’ve been holding off on checking the game out…

The Glory Of a 90’s Video Store, Resurrected In A Video Game

Streaming and downloads have practically killed it off, but once was a time Saturday night was spent heading to your local video store, rummaging around the shelves and picking out a bad action/horror VHS because it had a rad cover. Or, if had a local store/guy you could trust, you’d ask for a recommendation. Which…

Rockstar Will (Try To) Rip GTA V Spoilers Clean Off YouTube

One of the perils of not finishing a big game the day it comes out is having plot details spoiled on the internet. Outside of comments section ambushes, YouTube is maybe the worst offender. Which might be why Rockstar has, amongst some standard legalese regarding video uploads, slipped in some surprisingly drastic measures regarding spoilers…

Track: I AM | Album: I AM | Artist: Nicholas Cheung Download I AM here Kotaku Soundtrack is a selection of the stuff we’re listening to – and gaming to – at the moment.

Future Cop Loses Skittles, Faces Certain Death

Marek Okon was one of the first artists I ever showcased here on Fine Art. So it’s about time to circle back and see what he’s been up to since. Having previously worked on stuff like Crysis 2, Star Wars: Old Republic, Uncharted 3 and Napoleon Total War, he’s since been involved with The Last…

A Rap About Grand Theft Auto V? You Knew This Was Coming.

British rapper Dan Bull was readier for the GTAV launch than you were, having put together this fantastic track in honour of Rockstar’s big game. A warning, though: it’s NSFW, so if you’re at the office, grab some headphones. If you’re home, and your kids are around, send ’em to bed already. GTA V EPIC…

Build Your Own Xbox One (Case) With These Chinese Parts

Why wait for November? Chinese manufacturers are already selling external casings for Microsoft’s Xbox One console. So you could buy some now, build yourself a PC from similar parts and pretend What’s interesting about these is that, aside from the replacement value, it shows how damn fast the grey market on this type of thing…

Battlefield 4’s Beta Starts In October (Also: Rad New Trailer)

EA confirmed today that Battlefield 4’s beta will begin on October 1 for some, and October 4 for the rest. Which also gave them an excuse to release a fantastic multiplayer trailer. Those getting in on October 1 will be anyone who preordered the digital deluxe version of Battlefield 4, Battlefield 3 premium members and…

Turn Your Current-Gen Games Into Next-Gen Games For Just $10

Torn between buying a big game now or holding out for the next-gen version? Publishers like EA, Activision, Ubisoft and 2K want to take the hassle out of the decision by offering a pretty reasonable way for you to get both Over the past month, some of the biggest publishers in the world have revealed…

Congratulations Breaking Bad, You Broke Us

Good lord. Last week, I asked you guys to make some predictions about what would happen in this week’s episode of Breaking Bad. While the specific predictions were all over the map, one thing remained constant: We were all pretty sure that this week’s episode was going to be bonkers. We were right. SPOILERS FOLLOW,…

All’s Well That’s Haswell In Origin PC’s Millennium Gaming PC

Origin PC makes a damn fine $3,500 gaming system, even when the CPU isn’t exactly geared towards the high-end PC gamer. Well, that was an easy review. Who’s for dessert? It happens every time Intel introduces a new processor line — a barrage of announcements from the boutique PC industry mainstays, announcing that they’ve got…

How To Install GTA V On Xbox 360 Without Hurting Performance

Today, Rockstar support advised Xbox 360 players not to install Grand Theft Auto V‘s second “play disc” to their hard drives. Doing so, they suggested, would affect performance. The 360 version of GTA V comes on two DVDs. One is an 8GB “install disc” that you must install, and a second one is a “play…