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…

This Remote-Controlled Mako Is A Smooth Ride, Unlike The One From Mass Effect

Remember the Mako in the first Mass Effect? It could brave insane terrain, sure, but that also meant it was far from a smooth ride. This remote controlled Mako by Laura Ducros, though? Smooth as butter. To be fair, it’s also just traversing flat terrain. Who knows what would happen if it was rocky alien…

The Tomb Raider Reboot Was Going To Be A Lot More Like Shadow of the Colossus

Plenty of game developers profess their love for Team Ico’s beautiful PlayStation 2 games Ico and Shadow of the Colossus. But few of them have made games that bear the traits of those quiet, lovely adventures. The folks behind the new Tomb Raider tried to do that. And then shifted course. That’s revealed in a…

The Critics Mostly Love The New Tomb Raider

Tombs! Puzzles! Guns! Jumping! More guns! The setpieces are all there, but does Tomb Raider manage to scratch that treasure-plundering-and-adventuring itch? Reviewers say it does. Survival horror-esque hiding and sniping goes hand in hand with mountain climbing and cover shooting in the franchise reboot. But what was it, in particular, that sent critics over the…

The World Deserves A Great Calvin & Hobbes Documentary. Maybe This One.

If you’ve got a heart beating somewhere in that bruised, battered chest of yours, you probably love Calvin & Hobbes. A couple of weeks ago while perusing a bookstore, I walked past the new complete collection of Bill Watterson’s famous comics. I saw Calvin on the cover, balancing on a fallen tree alongside his faithful…

This Nervous Guy’s Interview With Mila Kunis Went Incredibly Well

Actress Mila Kunis was supposed to be answering questions from BBC Radio 1’s Chris Stark about her new movie, Oz the Great and Powerful. But he was really, really nervous. And she was—is—a great sport. A few minutes into this most unusual interview it seems that, off-camera, someone in a position of authority starts thinking…

Scientific American has taken a look at the science of time-travel in Ocarina of Time

Here’s the official statement from IGN about the IPL6 tournament cancellation—including how to get your money back.

The Dramatic Palm-Slice: A Fantasy Trope I’ve Never Understood

We all know the scene: It starts when a character in a fantasy story swears an oath. An oath… in blood. He dramatically unsheathes a knife, places it across his palm, and makes a fist before running the blade through his hand. Yowch. If you’re anything like me, that’s probably your first thought every time…

Unofficial Mock-Up Shows What Wind Waker Could Look Like On The Wii U

The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker is coming to the Wii U this fall, but some people just can’t wait that long. The folks at cubed3tv have devised this mock-up to show how the cartoony Zelda game could play on the Wii U GamePad. The real version is a total graphical remake, so it…