Inside EA Sports, Why Madden Must Be Called ‘American Football’

Once upon a time there wasn’t much of a dispute over the word “football.” Over here, it meant cheerleaders, instant replay, and concussions. Over there, it meant relegation, riots, and flopping. Then came the Internet, and commenters stomping around in one another’s mud puddles. Football. Soccer. Handegg. Communist Kickball. Whatever you call your version or…

LEGO Figures Not as Happy as They Were 25 Years Ago, Says Research

Years ago, all LEGO minifigures had a placid, happy expression and a pointedly non-ethnic skintone that fit their role in the larger LEGO universe: They were props, the same as a tree or a fire hydrant. But as LEGO has made more movie tie-ins—and video games—its minifigs have become more brooding. Darker. Angrier. Christopher Bartneck,…

Are These Real Answers, or Fake Questions, in This Xbox One Document?

This past week a 100-question internal FAQ on the Xbox One, purportedly official communications guidance from Microsoft, landed on Pastebin. It’s not the usual laundry list of wishful thinking you get in most video game fakes. That said, there’s no way to know if this is true or total B.S. Oh, we’ve asked Microsoft. Their…

Microsoft: We Won’t Render Your Xbox One Games Unplayable Long-Term

The very first question in this r/games interview with Xbox Live director of programming Major Nelson elicits an encouraging answer, one that Microsoft should be trumpeting, not whispering. The question: After the Xbox One servers are shut down at the end of the new generation, will Xbox One games still be playable? The question is…

World of Tanks is coming free-to-play to Xbox 360 later this summer. If you want to get in on the beta preceding it, developer Wargaming.net is taking applications right now.

NBA Live‘s E3 Demo Doesn’t Sound Much Better than NBA Elite‘s

In 2010, EA Sports brought NBA Elite 11 to E3 as a shootaround demo only. I remember this vividly. You played as one player in a practice setting, learning the timing of the new stick-shooting controls. If you still have the ill-fated NBA Elite 11 demo, go to its practice mode, that’s what we saw…

Forty-Five Mods Were Needed to Bring Man of Steel to Skyrim

Melding story elements of the first four Superman films—except the one where Richard Pryor recreates Kryptonite out of cigarettes—here is Skyrim at the Movies: Man of Steel, featuring Supes, Throthgar Luthor, Terence Stamp Zod, and Nuclear Man. It’s got Eve Teschmacher, too, just not as hot as Valerie Perrine. “Oh shit, it’s Zod.” Why it…

What Will It Take to Get EA on the Wii U Again? ‘Sell More Boxes.’

The most glaring indictment of the Wii U’s poor performance to date is the fact that FIFA—one of the biggest-selling franchises worldwide, in any genre—is publishing for everything but Wii U. FIFA 14 will come out on the PSP. It will publish on the original Wii. There’ll be a version on the PS Vita, for…

This Week in the Business: ‘One of Microsoft’s Best E3 Conferences’

What’s happened in the business of video games this past week … QUOTE | “One of Microsoft’s best E3 press conferences to date.”—Analyst Jesse Divnich, talking about Microsoft’s press event at E3, which has been widely panned QUOTE | “[Xbox One has] the computational power of more than 10 Xbox 360 consoles.”—Xbox One engineering manager…

Moneysaver Day One: The Last Of Us For $45 [GONE]

Don’t call it “that Ellen Page game.” Thanks to our intrepid commenters, we’ve got today’s new release, game of the year contender, and all around awesome title The Last of Us for $45, a full $15 bucks off its MSRP. You’ll be getting it through eBay, but the seller is actually Newegg, so buy with…

If The Chocobo Song Had Lyrics, They’d Be Sung In A Fake Irish Accent?

Prolific as he’s been over the past few years, video game lyricist Brentalfloss has never topped his rendition of “Crazy Duck In Space.” Now he’s finally given the Chocobo song from Final Fantasy the lyrics treatment, and he still hasn’t topped his DuckTales jam. I think it might be, quite possibly, the really odd Irish…

This LSD-Inspired Oculus Game is The Most Intense Thing I Saw at E3

I’ve seen things inside the Oculus Rift you people wouldn’t believe. And, for the most part, it involved the strange LSD-inspired indie game SoundSelf In the video above, SoundSelf’s designer Robin Arnott shows you the ins-and-outs of his LSD-trip inspired VR game, which he was showing off at the IndieCade booth at E3. SoundSelf is…

Podcast: The Best (And Worst) Of E3

E3 has come and gone. As we head into the weekend, ready to digest all the glitz, glamour, and awful convention center food, Kirk and I have recorded a podcast for your ear-listening pleasure. You can listen below or right on SoundCloud: (Half-time music written by Kirk Hamilton himself.) Articles mentioned: Gameological Society: Who Do…

Microsoft Can’t Tell Us If The Xbox One Is Region-Free Or Not

Microsoft has this week released some confusing statements and policies regarding how the Xbox One will work around the world. We’ve tried to get to the bottom of them, with no avail. Earlier in the week, a guide on pre-ordering the Xbox One was published by Microsoft. Saying that the console is only launching in…

DuckTales Has Changed. Here’s How.

For many, DuckTales is a beloved game—and I imagine that the mere idea of messing with it isn’t an appealing one. But after a chat at E3 with Matt Bozon, dreative director at WayForward, and Austin Ivansmith, director, it seems that many of the changes in the remastered version of DuckTales are things that fans…

Batman in the Sunshine Is My Favorite Panel from This Week’s Comics

Batman #21: The last thing comics readers need is more material looking at the years before Bruce Wayne put on a Batsuit or his first year as the Dark Knight. It’s territory that’s well-trod by some of the best creators to ever handle the character. Yet, it’s also the most tantalizing time period for someone…

The PS3 Had 12 Games At Launch. Here’s What They Looked Like.

We finally saw the actual PlayStation 4 during Sony’s E3 press conference on Monday, and we got sneak peaks at the console’s upcoming games, some of which will be launch titles. But how do those games compare with the PS3’s launch titles? Let’s take a look. Time to do a flashback and see what the…

Xbox One’s Reputation System Sounds Crazy But It Just Might Work

Placing the responsibility for policing a community into the hands of the members of said community is a lovely idea that rarely works as expected. The new Xbox Live reputation system launching with the Xbox One gives players the power to promote the polite over the pestiferous, with (hopefully) enough safeguards in place to prevent…

Microsoft To Sell Next-Gen Games for $60, Price of Gaming May Not Rise

Every new console generation brings new anxieties that the price of gaming going up. Right now, many of the big players won’t officially say what their next-gen games will cost. Microsoft will, at least. A company spokesperson confirmed to Kotaku that Microsoft’s own first-party Xbox One games will cost $59,99, the same price top Xbox…

Tips For Playing The Last of Us

Naughty Dog’s much-anticipated (andexcellent) action/horror game The Last of Us is fairly straightforward: Keep moving and try not to die. But between the various upgrade trees, the open-ended combat and the crafting system, we thought it would be helpful to offer some tips. So, here are some tips for playing The Last of Us. These…