The level of camouflage technology Snake from Metal Gear Solid 3 uses to blend in his surrounding environment—in this case, a brick wall—is truly impressive. Dayshot is an image-based feature that runs every morning, showcasing some of the prettiest, funniest game-related screenshots and art that we can find. Send us suggestions if you’ve got them.

“Weird Paranoia” at Valve, Says Former Employee

Valve is an iconic game company. It has a unique corporate structure. One former employee, however, said it “felt a lot like high school”, complete with popular kids, troublemakers, and everyone in between. Then, there’s the alleged “weird paranoia”. “Now we’ve all seen the Valve handbook, which offers a very idealized view,” former Valve employee…

Civilization V: Brave New World: The Kotaku Review

There are those who feel that Civilization V, as it was first released, was a little thin. The game’s first expansion, Gods & Kings, addressed some of that criticism. Its second, Brave New World, transforms the game into one of the best the PC has ever seen. It does the things you’d expect from a…

Chinese Military Police’s Secret Training Involves Video Games

Normally, playing video games at work in China is frowned upon. Unless you’re working in the games industry or covering the games industry, gaming at work can lead to trouble. However, for one branch of China’s military, video games are just a part of their daily training regimen. Much like the armed forces in the…

Video Games Almost Blamed As Anti-Japanese Vandal Gets Just Deserts

Last year, Sin0-Japanese relations hit an all-time low. Protests that bordered on the brink of riots broke out in China over China and Japan’s tug-o-war over a little speckle of islands, called Diaoyu in China and Senkaku in Japan. During the worst of these protests, vandals and misguided people took advantage of the situation to…

The Bikini Isn’t the Only Thing Wrong with This Gaming PC Video

MSi, the Taipei PC gaming company, released a new video that shows how to build a MSi Z87-GD64 Gaming PC. Or something. Apparently, all you need is a Philips screwdriver, a bikini, and a bad English language dub. Oh, don’t forget the cheese ball pop music! Because that’s how you build a gaming PC, right?…

On Twitter, upon being asked whether the light bar on the PS4’s DualShock 4 controller can be turned off to conserve battery power, Sony worldwide studios president Shuhei Yoshida confirmed that the light bar, in fact, cannot be turned off. [Thank you, ThatVGBlog.]

In Japan, McDonald’s Just Released a $10 Quarter Pounder

This is the “Gold Ring” Quarter Pounder. Priced at 1,000 yen, it was only available for one day, this past Saturday. The burger was inspired by jewelry. Because jewelry tastes delicious? McDonald’s always had yummy-looking hamburgers in its promotional images—and less delicious-looking ones in real life. But if you are paying ten bucks for a…

Starbound, AKA The Best “Performing ‘Still Alive’ in Space” Simulator

Yeah, let’s go with that. Since we last saw it, Starbound, indie group Chucklefish’s upcoming 2D sci-fi sandbox title, made leaps and bounds in development. And being a good, feature-rich sandbox, the game will have, alongside the usual spelunking, exploring, mining, and building, a full-scale music system. Here’s Chucklefish: You’ll be able to craft musical…

As spotted by NeoGAF member Dantis, Atlus registered a domain name for Persona 5 in Japan. Hopefully, that will further help to abate concerns over the future of Atlus. And hopefully, it means Persona 5 info is around the corner.

Asiana Airlines Headline Called “Racist” and “In Bad Taste”

This weekend, tragedy struck. Asiana Airlines Flight 214 crashed in San Francisco. Over 180 people are injured, and two are dead. Nineteen passengers are still hospitalized, with six still in critical condition. Two thirds of the passengers were Asian, which is why the Chicago Sun-Times‘s headline is angering some online. As pointed out by AsAmNews,…

Don’t Play As A Space Marine. Play As A Vacuum Cleaner.

Finally. Just as every calendar year sees a new FIFA and new Madden, 2013 sees the release of Robot Vacuum Simulator 2013, which follows…Robot Vacuum Simulator 2012. You can download and play it right now. Which I’m assuming you already are, since that’s one of the best trailers I’ve ever seen. Even if you don’t…

Some Of The Best iPhone Games Ever Made Are Now Free

Apple’s App Store turns five this week (it first opened on July 10, 2008), and to celebrate, many of the biggest and best apps – including games – seem to be going on sale for, well, nothing. Among the games currently available for free (the sale isn’t official yet, so people are finding more games…

Moneysaver One-Shot: Borderlands 2+Season Pass $13.50, GMG Encore Sale

You have ten hours. Green Man Gaming’s “666 Sale” that just finished up took their servers straight to hell. Lucky for you, for the next ten hours all of their deals are available again. Most of what’s on offer will be Steam activated, and code GMG10-VTTCS-VYH18 takes an additional 10% off. Click here and go…

These Guys Can Finish Half-Life 2 In Under 90 Minutes

Over the weekend, the SourceRuns Team, comprised of fourteen players, got together and finished Half-Life 2, from beginning to end, in 1:27:51.09. Which, as you’ll see in the video above, is madness. It’s also a new world record. Apparently it took “over 600 days of hard work”, which means they deserve the title they gave…

No Dragon Can Steal This Cosplay Gold

You know it’s a good week for cosplay when you can see outfits from Persona, The Hobbit and Final Fantasy XII, all in the one place. Other highlights? That BioShock Splicer mask wasn’t just made as a one-off by the wearer, he sells them fromhis Etsy store. And that Korra shot…phew. To see the larger…

The Art Of Game Of Thrones

Karakter design studio in Germany were brought on by HBO to do the concept art for pretty much every VFX shot in the show’s second season. Including the epic Battle of Blackwater. Having made a name for themselves doing video game work, on series like Killzone and The Settlers, they won themselves an Emmy last…

Skyrim’s People Will Die At The Hands Of Animal Crossing’s Villager

The Animal Crossing psycho gag runs about as far as it can run in this mod, which turns your Skyrim character into the star of Nintendo’s mortgage simulator. Then gives him a giant sword. It…might be a bit much. Some Smash Bros. fisticuffs are one thing, but throat-cutting and disembowelling? Even Resetti would get upset.…

I Can’t Believe There Is A Video Game That Looks This Good

I mean, I know it’s a driving game, a genre that’s long had the luxury of looking better than other games, thanks to the fact they only have to render a track and some cars. But still. Look at this This isn’t some fancy cinematic trailer. The game, which is playable right now for its…

Six Champions Emerge from Pokémon U.S. Nationals

Six champions were crowned in Indianapolis this weekend at the largest ever Pokémon U.S. Nationals ever staged. The winners, and the next three finalists, will all travel to Vancouver, in August, for the 2013 Pokémon World Championships. The winners, by division. (By the way, it’s weird to me that someone born between 1998 and 2001…