Solving The Ultimate Professor Layton Mystery: When, Exactly, Do the Games Take Place?

With the release of Professor Layton and the Azran Legacies this past Thursday in Japan, I’ve found myself thinking a lot about this series—perhaps too much. The Professor Layton games follow the titular Professor Hershel Layton, a professor of archaeology based in London who—like famed Dr. Henry Jones, Jr.—spends far more time solving ancient mysteries…

This Japanese Schoolgirl Trend Is Messy, Wasteful, and Maybe Delicious

Over the years, Japanese schoolgirls have spearheaded an array of trends. They’ve set the agenda. From tech to fashion, they’ve been innovators, dictating to the nation what’s cool and what’s not. This latest trend is anything but cool. Disgusting? Perhaps. Wasteful? Definitely. Yummy? Well, it does involve cream puffs. In Japanese, cream puffs are called…

You Had One Job, and You Screwed Up “Naruto”

It’s “Naruto”. Not “Nartuo”. N-A-R-U-T-O. Naruto This was noticed earlier this week by Rich at IGN, and as far as embarrassing box art misspellings go, “Nartuo” tops Resident Evil: Revelaitons Revelations Someone at Namco Bandai had one job to do! Only one! At least they got “Shippuden” right. And “Powerful,” for that matter. Namco is…

If You Like Ikaruga, Try RefleX

When it comes to shooters (and their bullet-hell cousins) I am hardly an expert, but I do enjoy a good SHMUP from time to time. Though I tend toward the side-scrolling variety like Gradius or Macross: Do You Remember Love, I did play more than a little 1942 back in the day. But hands-down my…

Man Accidentally Bumps Dude Playing a Video Game, Leads to Argument and Slashing

Tokyo seems super safe. For the most part, it is. But be careful, there are some dangerous folks out there: NHK is reporting that this week in Tokyo, a 39 year-old man accidentally bumped the arm of a fellow portable game-playing passenger while riding the Sobu train line. That escalated into an argument, and when…

Cloud from Final Fantasy VII Sure Looks Pretty with Makeup

Cloud Strife is one good looking video game character. He really is. Dude’s got spiky hair, piercing eyes, and nice threads. But what if he wore cosmetics? What would he look like? On Twitter, a FFVII diehard answered that question by applying makeup to the swordsman’s face, noting that the character looked very feminine. Male…

Why Kids Keep Crapping in Public in China

Every week, it seems like photos of someone, often little kids, crapping in public appear online in China. This usually creates all kinds of havoc, often with people criticizing the parents (or grandparents) for letting the kids do their business in a public place. But why does it keep happening? Note: this story contains a…

Batman and The Pope: sister site Jalopnik makes a comparison

Today’s Best “Gameplay” Trailer Comes Courtesy Of Total War: Rome II

It’s not actual gameplay. There’s no HUD, no mouse cursor. But at least give Creative Assembly credit for releasing a cutscene for Total War: Rome II that’s made up entirely of in-game assets, something they did to good effect in Shogun 2 As this series evolves, I get the feeling Creative Assembly are some of…

A Portal Bathroom Would Probably Call You Fat

Cartoonist Stephen Lester is “currently on a mission to fill his home with vintage video games and video game memorabilia”. Part of that involves his guest bathroom, which is becoming a themed shrine to Valve’s Portal series. Colour-coded and filled with merch, it’s… certainly… something. Especially since I’m pretty sure that’s a talking Cave Johnson…

Sweet Dark Souls Posters Look Suitably Satisfying

Crowsmack has the walls of Dark Souls fans in mind with these two vintage-inspired posters based on the game, which are available as prints here

Concept Art That Goes From Halo 4 To Guild Wars 2 And Back Again

Dave Bolton is a concept artist who has worked for 343 Studios, ArenaNet and Hourglass Studios. So we’re about to get a look at some fantastic art from, among other things, Halo 4 and Guild Wars If you like what you see, you can check out loads more at Dave’s personal site and CGHub page…

Zelda X Pokémon, If It Looked Like This, Would Probably Shift A Unit Or Two

Artist Finni Chang does what Nintendon’t. Pairing the pocket monsters with Nobunaga’s Ambition was a total waste when they could have been combined with Zelda instead. These sweet-as-pie illustrations are, if you’re that into them, also available as prints. $15 will get you one, while $25 will get you all three. Legend of Zelda x…

Amazing Camera Footage From John Carmack’s Latest Rocket Launch

id Software legend John Carmack doesn’t just work technical wonders and make great games. He also spends a lot of time (and money) on Armadillo Aerospace, an amateur outfit that is trying to make a space rocket that, instead of flying into space never to be seen again, can be re-used. Last month, Armadillo’s latest…

You Can Take One Game With You To A Desert Island. What Is It?

My wife asked me this the other day, and what I thought was a pretty inane question actually turned into an absolute mind-tearer. Why? Because I wouldn’t take my favourite game. That game is Wind Waker. I love it with every ounce of my heart, but faced with the prospect of playing only one game…

Avengers… Assemble! And Play With Your Fancy Custom Xbox 360s.

Zachariah Cruse, the same guy responsible for that awesome replica Zelda chest from a few years back, has built plenty more cool nerd props, from working Pip-Boy 3000s to custom Game Boys. My favourites, though, might be these Avengers Xbox 360 mods, turning Microsoft’s console into something Captain America and Iron Man could enjoy. Not…

A 24-Hour Movie Made Of 24 Hours’ Worth Of Movie Clocks

Yep, there have been enough movies to do something like this. In 2010, Multimedia artist Christian Marclay created “The Clock,” a 24-hour long film installation cut together from clips of time passing in movies. This clip, via Boing Boing, was shot HLF Films at an exhibit of the piece. They make this suggestion: In order…

Getting Fired From Groupon Is A Bit Like Playing Battletoads. Wait, What?

Andrew Mason is the CEO and founder of Groupon, a deal-of-the-day website. Or well, he was—he was fired recently. Notifying the Groupon staff about his departure in an email, he made a ridiculously specific video game reference to Battletoads, which Wired breaks down for us. Mason wrote: I’m OK with having failed at this part…

These Aren’t Photos Of Cars. They Are, Believe It Or Not, Screenshots.

Below, you will find six images. As eyeballs on the internet, you may not believe it at first, but these are indeed screenshots from upcoming racer Project Cars I’ve been playing the game for a week or so, with an in-construction build (the game is constantly being added to and refined by the developers, with…

The Most Beautiful Opening Stages In Video Games

A video game’s opening stage or starter zone has an extremely important role: it sets the tone for the rest of the game. Getting it right is essential. Below, we’ve collected some of the best-looking and most iconic starting zones, first stages and opening missions. Green Hill Zone in Sonic Central Highway in Mega Man…