Why Nintendo Fans Are Called “Pigs” (and Other Things) in Japan

Not everyone in Japan loves Nintendo. Some people hate Nintendo. Like, really, really hate Nintendo. And online, those folks have nicknames for Nintendo diehards. Online in Japan, mean nicknames aren’t unique to Nintendo fans! Previously, Kotaku covered the mocking monikers given to Sony and Xbox fans on Japanese gaming forums and in blog comment sections.…

Captain Olimar, possibly the most inscrutable Smash character, is now confirmed to return in the upcoming Super Smash Bros for the Wii U and 3DS. You can see more screenshots of the Pikmin hero here. And now to await the rest of the Smash Bros dripfeed—if the last game is any indication, Nintendo has a…

This Teaser Goes From Beautiful to Terrifying In The Space Of Seconds

When they posted it, Random Seed, creators of upcoming Mars-based survival-exploration title Lacuna Passage, called this video a “soundtrack spotlight.” And that’s what it is: a demonstration of the game’s somber and beautiful soundtrack—accompanied by a deeply unsettling sneak-peek at… something

Bow Before Your Japanese Boy Band Overlords!

Have you ever heard of Arashi? It’s a Japanese boy band that’s so popular, that a poster of the group is drawing crowds, cameras, and grovelling. You might not know Arashi, but perhaps you’ve seen Letters from Iwo Jima? One of the stars, Kazunari Ninomiya, is a member of Arashi. The group has also appeared…

Only Total War Could Make A Hill Look This Exciting

Rather than let the unwashed masses make “Let’s Play” videos of the upcoming Total War: Rome II, Creative Assembly and Sega have cut out the middle man and made one themselves. The chit-chat must be tolerated, because every chance to see this game in action is a chance you’ve got to take. I was initially…

Epic has officially cancelled Infinity Blade: Dungeons, though most had already kinda figured it was done when its developers were closed in February

Let’s Put This “Mobile Gaming Is Killing Consoles” Argument To Bed

Epic’s Tim Sweeney gets to the point, and shows the inherent problem in giving two shits about “market share”. Epic’s Sweeney: Studios need to react to the changing industry to survive [Gamasutra]

Let’s Imagine Mos Eisley Was A Little Bit Prettier

Neil Maccormack is one of the most talented artists out there. He’s a constant feature and award-winner on digital art websites, has been published several times in Ballistic’s awesome EXPOSÉ series of art books and has also done work in games, movies and advertising. His most recent work in games was for Japanese dev Applibot…

OK, Gran Turismo 6, You’re Lookin’ Good

God, I have such a love-hate relationship with this series. On the one hand, it’s boring, like a car brochure when it should be like a car. But then, I love car brochures. So glossy, and aspirational… The good thing about this clip is that so much of it is gameplay, reminding us that, hey,…

Wow, This New Wonder Woman Cartoon Looks Awesome

This weekend, Cartoon Network will be showing an animated short based on Wonder Woman. Both she and her invisible vehicle are…different. If this preview clip had gone on for 10 seconds more, and ended with a Black Dynamite cameo (or a Fu Manchu soundtrack), I wouldn’t have blinked an eye. Images, Clip From Upcoming DC…

Ezio, Your next Target Is…Tyrion Lannister

This snap, taken at the London Film and Comic Con last week, is just…well, it’s just the best. The whole show sounds like it was the best, actually. For a convention that’s not the San Diego Comic Con, that’s one hell of a lineup For further proof of how awesome Tyrion’s actor Peter Dinklage is,…

3DS Update Adds Rabbit Who Sells You Stuff In the Most Nintendo Way [UPDATE]

A new 3DS update in America (the rest of North America, too?) is triggering a major overhaul to the system’s Mii StreetPass Plaza. And, in the process, Nintendo adds a rabbit to the system who wants to sell you stuff. The video above shows you this rabbit salesman (salesrabbit) in action. It’s quite a sight…

The (Many) Things The Godzilla Remake Got Wrong

It’s certainly no coincidence that on the week Pacific Rim comes out, Cinema Sins chose to turn their Spotlight of Pedantry upon Godzilla, Roland Emmerich’s 1998 remake of the classic Japanese monster movie. I haven’t seen this movie since it came out in ’98, but man, I remember disliking it even then. Now I’m asking…

Tarantula Versus Scorpion. Bets On Who Wins?

With Animal Crossing: New Leaf, it’s all in the little details. You can blow a dandelion, for example….or, you can watch a tarantula and a scorpion duke it out. Amazingly, when you donate both a tarantula and a scorpion to your museum, this happens. Who wins? Since this is Animal Crossing, it’s a tie. Maybe…

Right Now You Might Be Able To Buy Metro: Last Light For One Penny [UPDATE]

UPDATE: the site now says it’s “sold out online.” Original article: Looks like someone might’ve made a mistake…but here’sMetro: Last Light for a single penny on Best Buy. By the time you read this it might be gone, so get on that! Looks like it’s legit, though—here’s a picture from an anonymous tipster: Hopefully they…

Amazing Human Slingshot ‘Game’ Will Help You Injure Your Friends, Puke

I don’t even know where to begin. Here’s “The Human Slingshot,” a game from Vat19 that looks like a lawsuit waiting to happen. Or at least, a chipped tooth or twelve. It involves standing inside a giant rubber band with your friends, then hurling yourselves past one another. That’s it! That’s the game! I’ll stick…

This Hilarious Show Is Like Adventure Time Meets Studio Ghibli

This cartoon by Natasha Allegri—character designer and storyboard artist for Adventure Time—is truly something else. In fact, I’m having a hard time saying anything about this that isn’t just “amazing” and “OH MY GOSH CUTE.” Here’s a description from YouTube, although it’s like trying to explain an episode of Adventure Time…words kind of fail. Bee,…

The Coolest Exclusive Goodies Of Comic-Con 2013

Completely arbitrary headline alert! This is a list of what I think are the hottest, mostly video game-themed toys and books of next week’s San Diego Comic-Con, based on years spent developing tastes and whims specifically geared towards making me spend entirely too much money on colorful pieces of plastic. There are so many excellent…

This great article over at Tested goes on an epic journey to find the best CRT monitor for playing retro games.

This Mom Has 60 Seconds To Hug Her Child, But She’s Trapped In A Mech

Where Is The Button For Love? gives you a very simple goal: Hug your daughter. The only problem is that while you were working on your mech, the retro-turboencabulator malfunctioned, and now you’re trapped inside. This MechaMom adventure was an an entry to this year’s Molyjam, the game jam originally based on the tweets of…