My Love-Hate Relationship With JRPGs

I have a confession to make: I hate JRPGs. I also love them. Then I hate them. And I love them. And so on and so forth for 40 hours or so. I’ve been thinking a lot, over the past week, about the ambivalent relationship we have with video games. This was triggered by Star…

Watch Zelda Draw Her Life

Princess Zelda heard about all those “draw my life” videos on YouTube and decided to try her artistic hand at a similar one for herself. She’s certainly had a…unique enough life to warrant one. These kind of videos can be a really emotional or fascinating look into someone’s personal life, but I think doing them…

The Moneysaver: Halo 4 For $18, Tomb Raider $14, The West Wing

Everybody’s savin’ for the weekend. You’re gonna need some games to play with all this Memorial Day downtime you have, and lucky for you we’ve got Halo 4 for $18, it’s lowest price ever. Green Man Gaming also has Tomb Raider for it’s lowest price ever, under $14, once you apply coupon code GMG20-LLASD-D8WBQ. I’m…

DayZ Creator Summits Everest, No Zombies In Sight

Dean Hall, the lead designer of the multiplayer zombie sensation DayZ, has achieved his goal after setting off for the Himalayas last month: He has summited Mount Everest. Must feel pretty good. Probably at least like, half as good as stumbling across a wrecked helicopter full of supplies and weaponry. In all seriousness, good show,…

He Got A Video Game Tattoo To Remind Him To Be A Good Dad

As far as video games that would inspire a video game tattoo, Papo & Yo seems like an unlikely one, right? As moving as it is, Minority Media’s digital release is built on one man’s childhood, specifically the abuse he suffered at the hands of his alcoholic dad. It is an undeniably sad game. But,…

I Took This Amazing Tour Inside the Space Shuttle. So Should You.

During a trip to Seattle last week, I spent a Sunday afternoon checking out the inside of a space shuttle cockpit. This was one of the coolest things I’ve done in a while. I took the tour at Seattle’s Museum of Flight, a Boeing-backed museum that’s just extremely cool. I mean, look, they have a…

Fighting Sickness. Nailing Your Dream Job. Your Questions Answered.

Life is pretty damn unfair. Sometimes that means you’ll find yourself in a situation with no solutions. Sometimes the best you can do is cope. In today’s Ask Kotaku advice column, I have to answer some tough questions. And it hurts my heart to not have a quick fix for you all. If you’ve got…

A Lifetime Of Memories In Puzzle Game Form

When the explosions fade and the last echoes of gunfire die, as the bruises and broken bones from the roundhouse kicks and dazzling special attacks slowly heal, there comes time for calm, peaceful reflection. That’s the domain of Quell Memento. The third in a series of zen-like puzzlers from Fallen Tree Games, Quell Memento builds…

Video Game Rumors So Bad You Want Them To Be True

“Infinity Ward are combining Zelda with Professor Layton. The twist? It’s going to feature Bayonetta as an unlockable character.” “Sega are combining Forza with Minesweeper. The twist? It’s being written by JJ Abrams.” Ok, I’d play those. And you? You’d want such things to exist, wouldn’t you? If only to see how bad they might…

Here’s what’s going on Talk Among Yourselves, our reader-written blog: E1 Salvador runs down the games that’s he finished so far this year. And AstroKid248 offers up a TAY Snacktaku review of Sonic’s corndogs. There’s a video coming, so check back later. And you can always go join the voices talking about video games and…

What Sort Of Man Builds Westeros In MineCraft? This Sort Of Man.

That crazy, epic 1:100 blocky replica of the continent of Westeros from Game of Thrones is so glorious it managed to catch even Time Magazine’s attention. They scored an interview with the project head Jacob Granberry, aka pizzainacup, giving us a glimpse at the man behind the madness. We’ve talked to folks working on the…

The Xbox One Uncertainty Principle

At the start of a cocktail party that was to end an exciting, bewildering and altogether odd day at Microsoft’s Redmond campus, I approached Microsoft v.i.p. Aaron Greenberg. Hell of a debut day for the Xbox One, I told him. Some impressive stuff, some confusing stuff. Some fierce reaction online. Greenberg nodded and told me…

The Folks Behind DMC And Enslaved Are Making a Mobile Game

I love Ninja Theory. Not only was it my favorite elective in college, they make some pretty wonderful action adventure titles, filled with expressive characters, quirky humor and Dante fan hate. Now they’ve partnered with Chillingo for Fightback, an 80s-style action game for Android and iOS. Boasting a “revolutionary touch-based combat system” as many mobile…

This Year’s Most Embarrassing Japanese Game Magazine Article

You might know Japanese celebrity Mari Yaguchi from her appearance in Yakuza 4. Or maybe you remember her days in pop group Morning Musume. Or you might have recently heard Yaguchi’s husband caught her screwing another man. On May 21, Japanese magazine Josei Seven published an article, claiming that Yaguchi’s husband, 27 year-old actor Masaya…

This Might Be the Most Expensive Pre-Order Ever

Codemasters’ racing game Grid 2 has a fairly expensive special edition that you can pre-order. How much is it? £125,000, or $189,016. What do you get for that kind of money, you ask? Well, Grid 2, for one. Also, a PlayStation 3. And a car. Yep! Grid 2: Mono Edition, freshly announced by Codemasters, is…

Japanese Media Seems to Want Otaku to be More “Otaku-ish”

For the longest time in Japan, to be an otaku was to be an outcast. To be labeled an “otaku” was to be branded with the staple of being an awkward, obsessive social outcast, and/or potential sexual predator/criminal. While the times have changed, it appears that Japanese mass media’s preconception of the “otaku stereotype” has…

This July, the manga version of Neon Genesis Evangelion is ending its long run. The final entry in Yoshiyuki Sadamoto‘s manga version will appear in an upcoming issue of Young Ace. The manga began in December 1994. To contact the author of this post, write to bashcraftATkotaku.com or find him on Twitter @Brian_Ashcraft Kotaku East…

Scavenging Is Tense and Dangerous in Sir, You Are Being Hunted

Looking for supplies is all fun and games until the robots spot you. From then on, it’s all about running for your life. The above gameplay video for Big Robot’s tweedpunk survival game Sir, You Are Being Hunted shows what that looks like. (Spoilers: really exciting.)

Behold, Japan’s Geekiest Taxi Cabs

In Japan, taxis are typically black. Sometimes, they’re white or even yellow, but generally, people think of them as being dark-colored and dull looking. These taxis, however, are anything but. You are looking at “itataku” (痛タク). “Ita” (痛) literally refers to “pain”, but it’s now slang for things covered with geeky stickers, whether that’s cars,…

How Empathy Takes the Fear Out of Horror

After playing Saya no Uta – The Song of Saya this past week, I’ve been thinking a lot about horror games. And when it comes to me personally, I have to accept that all my life I have been a complete wuss when it comes to the horror genre. While watching a horror movie or…