SimCity 2.0 Update Brings A Rash Of New Bugs

This week, hopeful eyes turned to SimCity as the troubled city-building game received its first major patch. Maxis has promised that SimCity 2.0 would fix a number of problems in the game, but it sounds like the 2.0 patch has also brought with it a raft of new, equally annoying bugs. Over at the SimCity…

Continuing the streamlining of its web-based social game business, Zynga has announced that it will be closing Empires & Allies, Dream Zoo and Zynga City, the Chinese version of CityVille on Tencent. That’s in addition to The Ville, confirmed for closure earlier this week.

No Sales Projections From Nintendo Hint at the DS Going Into Sunset

The long-lived and long-loved Nintendo DS, the thing that’s sold more than 150 million devices (in four formats) and damn near a billion games, received no projected sales in financial statements the company filed today. Is this the end of the world’s most successful gaming handheld? If it is, Nintendo probably won’t announce or formalize…

Minecraft Builders Re-Create MC Hammer’s Hometown for Museum Exhibit

Oakland. The town. Birthplace of Luke Skywalker and MC Hammer. The city of champions and the Golden State Warriors. An enterprising group of Minecraft enthusiasts sought to recreate it over the past 10 days in the game, and their work goes into a museum this weekend. The kicker is that most of the team building…

Nintendo Lawyers Leave Yoshi’s Rip-Off Android Game Feeling Blue

In February I speculated that perhaps a sex and name change would be enough to throw Nintendo’s legal team off the scent of Era’s Adventures, an Android game starring a female dinosaur that bore a striking resemblance to — okay, it was Yoshi. I was being silly. Nothing throws off Nintendo’s legal team, and so…

Gamasutra’s got a very technical look at the PS4’s specs, courtesy designer Mark Cerny. “The launch lineup for PlayStation 4 — though I unfortunately can’t give the title count — is going to be stronger than any prior PlayStation hardware,” Cerny says.

This Is What You’ll Want To Wear To Your Next Ugly Sweater Party

Technically, these clothes by pixel artist Drew Wise aren’t ugly sweaters. They’re sweatshirts—there’s a difference. But, if you were to show up at an ugly sweater party wearing any of these, I don’t think anyone would fight you on your attire: these have the same spirit as ugly sweaters, no? Or you might just be…

This new trailer for the upcoming Crusader Kings II: The Old Gods gives a taste of how you’ll build a pagan empire, beginning in 867 AD. The base game was one of Kotaku’s 2012 Game of the Year nominations; the expansion will be out at the end of May.

The Moneysaver: Great Gaming Headphones For The Price Of A Game

We’ve got your new gaming headset right here, your wallet won’t even break a sweat. The Corsair Vengeance 1500 USB Dolby 7.1 Gaming Headset was the “biggest surprise” in Kotaku’s gaming headset roundup, but the discount on it was today’s biggest surprise. Grab it from Amazon today for $60 with free shipping- the lowest this…

Give Me 30 Minutes. I’ll Show You Why You Should Play Monaco.

Monaco is out now. It’s a co-op heist game. It’s great …so far! I’m halfway through it. You should get it now on PC (or later on Xbox Live Arcade.) Not sure? Then watch this video. I’ll play the game for you. Ok? If you have questions, fire away. I’ll answer as many as I…

This Guy Can Pilot A Helicopter And Snipe Enemies At The Same Time

Sure, you could opt to use an aircraft’s weapons when in an aircraft. Or, you can use the altitude to your advantage as a sniper, as sSantzuu does here in Battlefield 3. One of these options is more impressive, if not more dangerous than the other! I wonder which is more difficult—sniping while falling from…

The Next Xbox Will Be Revealed On May 21

The next Xbox will be unveiled in late May, Microsoft has just confirmed. This is the first time the company has officially acknowledged their next-generation gaming console, which has been rumored for years now. We just got our invite to the event, which will take place in Redmond, Washington on May 21 at 10am Pacific.…

This Guy Draws People’s Weirdest Tweets

One of my favorite Tumblrs—next to Sports Balls Replaced With Cats, of course—is this one where Mike Rosenthal draws people’s silliest, funniest, downright weirdest tweets. The tweets themselves are pretty great, but Rosenthal really emphasizes how uniquely strange and funny they are through his drawings and (sometimes) animated pictures. There are even a few video…

Digital Storm’s Latest Gaming PCs Are Almost As Cheap As DIY

Every time I post a review of a boutique gaming PC, someone in the comments has to mention that they could build a similar machine themselves for less money. That’s still true for Digital Storm’s newly-launched Vanquish line of gaming PCs, but it’s a narrow truth — we’re talking $20 to $60 narrow. Digital Storm’s…

I Hate Poker, But I Love GLaDOS’ Cheerful Mortality Reminders

Telltale Games’ Poker Night 2 hit the Xbox 360 today, leaving PC players two days and PlayStation 3 gamers until next week to figure out if they’re all-in or not. I’m torn. On the one hand, I’m not good with card games that don’t have fantasy art and statistics on them. I know there’s deep…

Rumor: The Next Call of Duty Is Called ‘Ghosts’

So, this is interesting. Rumors about a game called Call of Duty: Ghosts have been floating around for a month or so, but there hasn’t been much concrete info out there. Today, leaked retail listings and box art suggest that Ghosts could actually be a thing. Above you can see box art posted by the…

A Board Game Piece Is More Than A Mere Chunk Of Plastic

Two years ago, I began transitioning from video games to table games. But I always thought that one day, I’d come back. I kept one eye on my cards, the other on the door, which was actually very impractical but did give me a spooky Forest Whitaker look that would unsettle my opponents. Not any…

Here’s what’s going on Talk Among Yourselves, our reader-written blog: contributor GiantBoyDetective wants you to discuss your Best Rhythm Game of All Time. Me? I agree with GBD and say Elite Beat Agents. Sorry, Parappa… And you can always go join the voices talking about video games and life in TAY Classic and in the…

Real-World Team Executives in Madden Signal the Return of Owner Mode

Monday, Madden‘s publicity operation notified writers that its “playbooks”—the weeks in which they discuss features of the upcoming game—begin this week. In it, “Connected Careers,” the mode introduced last year, was rebranded as “Connected Franchise.” A GameStop listing sheds a little more light on what that could mean. It means, I think, that in addition…

Watch A Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle Kick a Bad Guy in the Nuts

I was there from the beginning of the TMNT phenomenon, back when Kevin Eastman and Peter Laird were riffing off of Frank Miller’s Ronin and Dave Sim’s Cereberus comics. I don’t remember Mike, Don, Raph and Leo having junk punts as part of their martial arts repertoires. Granted, they very well could have. Like most…