Wikipedia Writers Sure Know Their Hentai

Outside of Japan, the word “hentai” is used to refer to a certain type of Japanese anime, manga, or video games. It’s a genre. In Japan, it’s not. Recently on 2ch, Japan’s largest forum, people discovered the Chinese language Wikipedia entry for “hentai”. Many thought it was hilarious how long the entry was. It’s really,…

Sure Seems Like Jaleco Is Either AWOL, Or Worse, Dead

Remember Bases Loaded? And Wii role-playing game Ougon no Kizuna (above)? Or that Japanese truck driving game? The company known for those titles, Jaleco, seems to have fallen off the map. This afternoon, Kotaku phoned Jaleco’s Tokyo office. There was no answer, and a recording said the number was “no longer in service”. As noted…

I May Have Misjudged Freedom Wars

My good friend Martin has a saying whenever we talk about upcoming movies: “Trailers lie.” Rarely will what we see in a trailer accurately encapsulate what the actual finished movie or game will be like. A trailer is designed specifically to garner interest, and not necessarily to truthfully describe what it’s selling. And yet, even…

Amazon Is Selling Licensed Fan-Fiction, Let’s Hope Games Follow

Well, this is bizarre. Amazon has announced Kindle Worlds, which it calls a “place for you to publish fan fiction inspired by popular books, shows, movies, comics, music, and games”. You might be thinking, well, there already is a place, and that place is the internet, but they key here is that Amazon has signed…

Star Wars Meets Mass Effect In A Crossover Dream Come True

It’s not the firsttime we’ve seen an artist combine the two sci-fi universes, but it is the best time. These pieces by artist Zarnala aren’t the only amazing works in her portfolio, either. There are dogs and cats in there that’ll make your day. Zarnala [DeviantArt, via Uastis Again]

It’s A Half-Life 2 Gravity Gun. In A Bathroom.

Last December, reader Michelle decided to take a swing at building her own replica gravity gun from Half-Life 2. It’s done now, and it looks fantastic. It looks like it was a ton of hard work, from re-modelling the gun’s 3D wireframe to laser-cutting to a ton of painting and fiddly construction, but the results…

Explaining Frames-Per-Second (And Motion Blur)

Frames-per-second. Motion blur. They’re terms you’re probably familiar with if you’ve ever tinkered with game settings or even casually followed games hardware, but just what do those terms actually mean, and how do the laws that govern them actually work? This is how Frames-per-second [Site, via Josh Sawyer]

I For One Welcome The Return Of Our Cyberpunk Overlords

Today’s Fine Art is all about the work of Robin Chyo. An artist who’s mostly worked in the games business, Chyo has either worked for or contracted with clients such as Activision, Fantasy Flight, Microsoft and Universal Pictures. If you remember we actually featured his Modern Warfare 3 work a few years ago. You can…

Please, Let This Be Call Of Duty Dog’s First DLC

Map packs? Please. The future of Call of Duty DLC must surely be new dogs. Hopefully the first will be this Corgi, done by French artist Diana Da Costa, that is so cuddly I am about to die. Collar of Duty [Rated R]

Here Are The Rules For What You Can (And Can’t) Call The Xbox One

The “brand guidelines” for the new Xbox One have been published by Microsoft, and while they’re intended for use by people like advertisers and partners, there’s still some good stuff in there for people like you and me. For starters, there’s information on logos and fonts, in case your ideas for photoshop jokes must be…

Halo’s Forerunner Architecture Is Some Heavy S**t

Their name alone speaks volumes about what their architecture embodies: the way they see themselves, the image they want to present to others. Forerunners. A group of individuals that comes along before others, setting the stage for their existence. They named themselves this, with all the vanity in the world. Forerunners. This seems like a…

When Xbox Jokes Accidentally Become Xbox Marketing

Yesterday, GameSpot’s Carolyn Petit was one of countless people online having a little fun at Microsoft’s expense duringits woeful Xbox One reveal Something one of the employees manning the company’s marketing machine didn’t take into account when using one of Petit’s tweets as a piece of marketing hype (above). Whoops. I understand sarcasm isn’t always…

Arrested Development‘s Best Running Gags

If you’re anything like me, you’re pretty psyched about the ever-nearing premiere of Netflix’s new season of Arrested Development. That said, it’s been a little while since the last episode aired, and the show is a complex web of in-jokes and callbacks, tricky for newcomers (or rusty oldcomers) to decipher. Of course, Arrested Development‘s tightly…

The One Thing All Three Consoles Could Really Learn From The PC

The PS4, Xbox One and Wii U are all very different consoles, but there’s one thing I wish all three had in common: their digital pricing. Something they could learn from the PC. Steam gets a lot of credit for rejuvenating the PC gaming market, and there’s one area it deserves more praise than anywhere…

Jimmy Fallon Shares Some Xbox One Joke Features

I enjoyed this short clip from last night’s Jimmy Fallon. Parental Disappointment Mode! Finally.

Curious what a Call of Duty game might be like if it actually starred Call of Duty Dog? Check out Brandon Sheffield’s interactive-fiction game Call of Doggie: Ghosts. Oorah.

That Game Where You Play As A Momma Badger Looks Gorgeous

I can’t say I’ve ever wanted to play as a badger, but the more I see of Shelter—the game where you play as a mother badger protecting her litter—the more I want to. Here’s some early footage, which shows gameplay elements like food hunting, as well as showcase some of the dangers players can expect…

All-Star Dad Builds Incredible Basement Arcade With His Son

When I was growing up, I was barely allowed to own any video games. Contrast that with Redditor Mertzlufft, whose father teamed up with him to construct this bananas-looking underground compound, stuffed with more games than any single human could hope to handle. Mertzlufft, now in college, says that the project has been in the…

EA Sports Has No 1st Amendment Right to College Players, Judges Say

A federal appeals court has revived a lawsuit brought by a college quarterback against EA Sports, on grounds the video game publisher used his likeness without permission in their popular NCAA Football series. Ryan Hart (pictured), who played for Rutgers University from 2002 to 2005, sued years ago on grounds that the Rutgers quarterback in…

So, What Are We Going To Call The Xbox One?

Well, here we are. We now know the names of the three consoles that’ll be competing come this holiday season. PlayStation 4. Wii U. And now, Xbox One. But every console needs a shorthand name; the Xbox 360 was just the “360,” the PlayStation 4 is the “PS4.” But what to call the Xbox One?…