SimCity Fanfic: The College Years

To celebrate today’s release of the newest SimCity, fantasy writer Kaila Hale-Stern cooked up some juicy fanfic. So enjoy her tale of multiplayer planetary population, dorm-room politics, and, well, a set of Sims making their way in their respective worlds. Ben gets back from class in time to see that Nina has built up the…

Penumbear Looks Like a Casual Platformer. Then It Tears Out Your Throat.

Aw, look at the little bear. Isn’t he cute? Oh my god he’s got a little scarf. And look, he’s followed around by colorful fireflies. I bet his game is as light and fluffy as his widdle ears. Wait, what’s this? These jumps are timed? I’ve got to do what? Dammit, I’m dead. Again. This…

Rumors of Dead Space‘s Demise Are False, Says Studio and EA

A report earlier this morning, citing unidentified sources, suggested that Electronic Arts had terminated its Dead Space franchise—including work on an unannounced Dead Space 4—in light of poor sales of Dead Space 3. The game’s studio says the rumors are false, and EA itself disputes the portrayal of Dead Space as a troubled brand. “The…

Razer’s League of Legends Collector’s Edition Peripherals Did Not Help Me Win

When they aren’t busy making tablet gaming computers, Razer has been known to toss out the odd gaming peripheral. Today the company assembles a team of official collector’s edition League of Legends peripherals that, despite my hopes, did nothing to improve my in-game performance. A big part of the problem is the League of Legends…

DmC: Vergil’s Downfall: The Kotaku Review

To my mind, the best kind of downloadable content expands on the experience that you’ve grown familiar with while also offering an alternative point-of-view. The add-ons for Mass Effect 2 are exemplars, letting you take Shepard on a snarky James Bond/heist adventure or a chilling experience tinged with sci-fi horror flavor. And Undead Nightmare did…

Thief Reboot Coming To PC And Next-Gen Consoles In 2014 [UPDATE]

UPDATE: Game Informer‘s next cover is Thief, a reboot for the series by Eidos Montreal that will be out next year for PC, PS4, and whatever the next Xbox is called. The game is no longer called Thief 4 The April issue of Game Informer has more details on the new stealth game, which looks…

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Out of the Shadows Brings Turtle Power Back to Video Games This Summer

Ready to feel like a teenager again? No? Me neither. But one part of gamers’ youths will coming back in the form of four mutated reptiles who wield deadly martial arts weapons. After a report surfaced yesterday of a new TMNT game, Activision has released info on Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Out of the Shadows:…

Tomb Raider‘s Film Reboot Will Mirror the New Game, Studio Says

Tomb Raider‘s reboot as a video game seems to have worked out well, so Crystal Dynamics is comfortable talking about their reboot plans for the film, too. Speaking to Variety, Darrell Gallagher said his studio is working with GK Films, producers of “Rango” and “The Departed.” Gallagher’s remarks stress that whatever the next Tomb Raider…

SimCity Launch Plagued by Locked Games, Download Issues and Server Queues

This morning at 12:01 AM Eastern time, my copy of the SimCity digital deluxe version unlocked in EA’s Origin service. For the next 20 minutes I experienced download failures, until finally the game began to come down the pipes. While it updated I napped, and when I woke at 3:30 AM the game was ready…

Castlevania: Lords of Shadow – Mirror of Fate: The Kotaku Review

Castlevania has a serious identity crisis. Ever since we first watched Simon Belmont whip Dracula and whip him good back in the NES days, our adventures into Castlevania‘s gloomy world have been strange and inconsistent. Some Castlevania games are linear action-platformers. Others are open, item-centric RPGs. Some helped form a whole new genre Castlevania: Lords…

Hey, SimCity, Fix Your Servers so Francis Can Get His Free Disaster

SimCity launched overnight, if by “launched,” one means “was as inaccessible as it was the day before.” For some, anyway. Here to give voice to their rage is Francis, who’s upset that billions of simoleons in vital public infrastructure is needlessly delayed by EA’s inability to offer preloading. Sit back, take a pull on a…

50,000 People Used To Live Here. Now It’s a Minecraft Town.

Minecraft aficionado Tsarcorp is the one responsible for this gigantic, 42 square mile map of the Chernobyl Exclusion Zone. It incorporates an almost 1:1 replica of the Pripyat area, just as we’ve seen in the latest S.T.A.L.K.E.R. The signature locations (Modern Warfare anyone?) of the abandoned city are all shown in the video, as well…

No Japan, These Are Not America’s Latest Killing Machines (Sorry!)

A steel, robotic killing machine that’s ready to take orders. It’s like something out of science fiction. Or, rather, an artist’s online portfolio. Yesterday, a different image of the above mecha was tweeted out in Japanese, with a note that this was “America’s latest model of an unmanned machine.” The tweet also noted the mecha…

…And Then There Was That One Time When Luke Peeped on Layton in the Shower

While it has been in print for just over five years, it was only recently that I learned of the existence of the Japan-only Professor Layton manga, Professor Layton and the Cheerful Mystery. At first I was excited to get it and dive into another original puzzle-filled Layton adventure. Then my anticipation plummeted when I…

Here, Enjoy the World’s Hottest Spin Kick

If you haven’t seen the 2003 Thai action flick Ong-Bak: Muay Thai Warrior, you really, really need to. Here’s one of the film’s most memorable scenes, which just might be the closest we’ll ever get to Fei Long’s shienkyaku Ong-Bak went on to spawn two sequels, Ong-Bak 2 and Ong-Bak 3. The films’ mastermind, Tony…

Layton’s Final Game is Exactly What You’ve Come to Expect From the Series

I love brain teasers and have ever since I was a kid. Whether they came from books or classic adventure games, I fondly remember spending hours thinking about them. And no series of games cashes in on my brain teaser nostalgia quite like the Professor Layton series. Thus I was first in line this last…

In the two weeks since the PS Vita’s Japanese price cut, Sony says sales have quadrupled (via Game Revelation)

In China, Faking Pregnancy Is One Way To Get a Seat on the Subway

Snagging a seat on the subway or crosstown bus ain’t always easy, especially in China’s crowded cities. That’s why, according to The Beijing News, “pregnancy pads” are supposedly hot sellers. People with good manners give up their seats for elderly people and pregnant women. Hence why some Chinese women (apparently!) are shelling out between the…

If it Weren’t for This Book, Professor Layton Wouldn’t Exist

The Professor Layton series is one of the staples of the Nintendo DS and its successor, the 3DS. The series has sold over 13 million copies across the world and has spawned spinoff games, novels, a manga, and a feature film. And what is the inspiration for all this? A book series that series creator…

This Miss Universe Contestant Is a Giant Comic Book Nerd

Meet Yukimi Matsuo. She is representing Japan in the Miss Universe competition. And she not only loves manga, she also draws it. Yesterday, Matsuo was named Miss Universe Japan and will represent the country in the upcoming Miss Universe Pageant. The 25 year-old’s desire to compete is perhaps different from other contestants: “The reason why…