Nintendo: Saying Next-Gen is Only Sony vs. Microsoft Is So 2006

Reggie Fils-Aime, president of Nintendo of America, is aware of all the Wii U skepticism. He’s certainly aware of mine and the fact that there’s a $400 PlayStation 4 bearing down on his $350 32GB Wii U this fall. Plus an Xbox. What, him worry? The storyline told throughout the halls of E3 was that…

I skipped a week of Ask Kotaku! I’m the worst ever, I know. Send me questions (email info is in this post) and I’ll make it up to you this week with more excellent, top-notch advice. It’s like you don’t even need to pay that therapist. To contact the author of this post, write to…

Usually, Vanity Fair’s features are all about Hollywood movers and shakers, glitzy heiresses, and intrigues at famous fashion houses. But this month, the magazine’s website has a big, in-depth article on the lawsuit between Activision and Jason West and Vince Zampella, the men who re-invigorated the Call of Duty franchise with the first Modern Warfare…

Shigeru Miyamoto’s ‘Bad’ Game

Shigeru Miyamoto, Nintendo’s lead creator of Mario, Zelda and Donkey Kong, was recently showing me Pikmin 3, but there was something he’d just said that I had to follow up on. “I have to ask, Mr. Miyamoto, you said you have made a bad game. What was the bad game you made?” To back up…

Sega Still Says Phantasy Star Online 2 Is ‘Delayed’

Yesterday, we got an e-mail from a Kotaku reader named Jacob. He said he was bummed out. See, he really wants to play Phantasy Star Online 2, the free-to-play online RPG that was released in Japan last year, but he can’t, because it’s not out in the West, and publisher Sega hasn’t told anyone what’s…

Here’s what’s going on Talk Among Yourselves, our reader-written blog: Little Sparowe talks about how an infamous line of trash talk from Microsoft’s E3 presentation made her feel. GiantBoyDetective asks what kind of time investment you expect from a game purchase. And go jump into the conversations happening in Cimeas’ post about this generation’s console…

If You Liked the Text-Only Flash Game Candy Box, Check Out A Dark Room

Candy Box, the quirky, text-only flash game that got a lot of attention last month, now has a rival: A Dark Room, which begins just as simply before unfolding into a much larger game of commerce and intrigue. A Dark Room is made by a one-man outfit called Doublespeak Games, which registered its domain around…

One Developer Sums Up Game Design in a Vulgar Six Seconds

Lots of moving parts and distinct disciplines go into making a single video game. There’s level design and AI programming and physics simulation and art direction and writing and on and on. Messing any one of those things up could turn a game into just another big pile of crap. So, it makes sense that…

So, The Games of E3 2013. When Are They Coming Out Again?

This year, E3 had so many games. So many. But watching demos and reading impressions is one thing; we want to play these games. Sadly, a lot of them won’t be coming out just yet. Lots of E3 games will land this year, no doubt. In fact, one of them is already here—Naughty Dog’s The…

Shadowrun Returns Slips From The Shadows July 25

A shadowrun rarely goes exactly according to plan. Originally planned for release this month, Harebrained Schemes’ Kickstarter-backed Shadowrun Returns is bringing its classic single-player isometric role-playing action to PC and tablets on July 25. It barely feels like over a year has passed since Shadowrun pen-and-paper RPG creator Jordan Weisman launched the Kickstarter that promised…

Shin Megami Tensei IV had its English demo on display at last week’s E3, and, as this screenshot proves, it has some funny moments. This tends to happen in some localized games. UPDATE: We’re told this is actually intentionally broken animal-speak. Amusing, nonetheless!

Playing Portal 2 on Oculus Rift is Almost a Religious Experience

When I was eleven years old, I convinced my mom to drive me to Blockbuster store and, despite it costing far more than my meager allowance, rent a brand new Nintendo Virtual Boy with two games: Mario Tennis and Mario Clash As I took it out of the giant padded plastic case and set it…

Earlier tonight, chiptune-rock band Anamanaguchi performed their hit song Endless Fantasy on Late Night with Jimmy Fallon. And now I’ve got a sudden hankering for some space pizza

Can You Name All The Games In Late Night’s Video Games Week Intro?

For their Video Games Week, the crew of Late Night with Jimmy Fallon created a custom game reference-packed intro for the show. They managed to fit in quite a lot, for a thirty-three second clip—including the obligatory chiptune soundtrack. Neat! Check it out above.

How the iPad Made Me a Starship Captain

Since I was a child in the early 90s watching Star Trek: The Next Generation on TV, I have always dreamed of being the captain of my own starship with a crew at my command. Last weekend, I finally got my chance. Late last year, thanks to a post on i09, I learned about Artemis.…

Jimmy Fallon Doesn’t Want You To Play These Games. With Good Reason.

Courtesy of Late Night’s Video Game Week, here we have a list of games Jimmy Fallon wants us to avoid. Personally, I’m convinced. Then again, it’s true you wouldn’t expect stellar quality from a Hooters game, and E.T. is pretty much a no-brainer, but I think something like Captain Novolin could have worked had they…

This Anime Adaptation Comes Complete With Breast Guns

Later this year, Japan will get a live action adaptation of 009-1, a cyborg-filled manga created by Shotaro Ishinomori (Cyborg 009, Kamen Rider). But while it shares many themes, its creator, and a “009” in the title with popular anime and manga Cyborg 009 (which had a brand new anime film released this past year),…

The Apocalyptic Art Of The Last Of Us [Update]

A collection of concept art and illustrations from the game's development

Blood Dragon Action Figures Don’t Need A Tutorial

There weren’t any official Blood Dragon action figures. Shame. Ah well. At least there’s this unofficial one, of the game’s star Rex Colt, which is probably better than anything we’d have officially got anyways. Made by Danny Hughes, it’s cannibalising parts – including the face – from a Hicks/Michael Biehn figure, a helpful thing since…

Mario Levels Made Out Of Real Animal Skulls. Creepy.

Made by artist and designer Tobias Wüstefeldfor the We Love 8 Bit show in Austria this month, these two pieces are…animal skulls. Turned into floating Super Mario Bros. levels. Right. It should be macabre as hell, but really, you barely notice the fact they’re the skulls of dead animals. Maybe. Just think of them as…