Six Critics Are Enthralled with the Mysteries of BioShock Infinite’s Columbia

With BioShock Infinite, Irrational Games’ franchise has finally made the leap from sea to sky — skipping land on the way. It’s quite the leap to make and, as these people seem to think, the results are quite spectacular. Columbia, Infinite’s floating city is not only the world’s greatest cultist hotspot; it’s also a place…

Tiger Woods PGA Tour 14: The Kotaku Review

The Mashie. The Brassie. The Cleek. Why, oh why, did golf abandon these delightful club names for bland old 5 iron, No. 2 wood, and 2 iron, or, worse, driver names like that sound like energy drinks. When I whipped out my baffing spoon and eagled No. 4 on Augusta National’s 1934 layout, I could…

Smitten as we are here at Kotaku with the amazing iOS game Ridiculous Fishing, we had to get some tips from the people who made the game. They know how to ridiculously fish. A hearty thank you to Rami Ismail of the game’s superb development studio Vlambeer. He provided these tips while I played his…

It’s a new day—and a new TAY—for Kotaku. Go join the voices talking about video games and life in Talk Amongst Yourselves, our reader-written blog.

Divekick Is The Smartest, Most Absurd Two-Button Fighting Game I’ve Ever Played

A fighting game that has only two buttons—and that only has one-hit kills. A fighting game dreamed up as a joke but now targeted for the pro fighting scene. A game that will be playable on PC, PS3 or, most ridiculously, by two players on one PlayStation Vita. The is Divekick. It’s no joke. Except…

You Don’t Have to Beat BioShock Infinite to Unlock the Ultra-Hard 1999 Mode. Just Use the Konami Code.

Back in January of last year, Irrational Games announced that BioShock Infinite would have a hardcore 1999 Mode, which would make players pick a specialization that locks them into a set framework of powers and skills. There’d be no going back on those choices and death would be permanent. Back then, Irrational said that the…

Because My Children Can Never Have Too Many Alice: Madness Returns Toys

More than a year and a half since the game’s release, Diamond Select Toys prepares to unleash action figure based on American McGee’s Alice: Madness Returns. Royal Suit Alice is going in the kids’ room when she arrives next month, and not just for the trauma factor. I’m not a bad parent — well, not…

Here’s Legend of Grimrock 2’s very first official screenshot. A nice change from the dark tunnels of the first game

Robotics;Notes‘ Second Half is Tons of Fun (If You Don’t Stop and Think About It)

Robotics;Notes is a near future tale of a high school robotics club trying to build a giant robot and save their club from getting axed. It is also a story with A.I. ghosts, super powers, an apocalyptic prophecy, mysterious murders, and an international conspiracy. In other words, it is a ton of fun. Of course,…

Ecco the Dolphin Follow-Up The Big Blue Looks to Kickstarter for Funding

Recently launched on Kickstarter, from the people behind the somewhat difficult 1992 Sega Genesis game Ecco the Dolphin comes The Big Blue, a spiritual sequel of sorts. Ecco designer Ed Annunziata is helming the project, promising to deliver a game which “will be strikingly beautiful and at the same time mysterious and terrifying.” Described as…

Currently doing the internet rounds in Japan, this video shows a karate bout in Russia that ends with one swift finish. Have a look. Epic karate knockout of the 2013 Shinkyokushinkai karate [klasavec@YouTube] Kotaku East is your slice of Asian internet culture, bringing you the latest talking points from Japan, Korea, China and beyond. Tune…

Western Earthbound Fans Spam the Japanese Mother 2 MiiVerse Demanding a Western Release

This Sunday, I spent about an hour delving through the past 24 hours of messages on the Mother 2 MiiVerse page that went live last week as part of the Mother 2 (Earthbound) re-release on the Japanese Wii U virtual console. And what surprised me as I looked through the message board was the amount…

Kaze Tachinu (The Wind Rises), the latest Studio Ghibli film, will be out July 20 in Japan, it was announced today. [IT Media]

It’s Face-Off For Real, And Goodness, It’s So Creepy

“The RealFace” (yes, the) is a highly realistic mask. Its maker, Japan-based Real-f, says the mask can be a “memorial portrait” for friends and family. What do I say? It’s creepy. It’s creepy because The RealFace is so damn realistic-looking. The mask is made by taking facial impressions and photos. From that, Real-f can reproduce…

Earthbound Invades the Japanese Wii U with Tons of Little Extras

As part of the Famicon’s (Nintendo Entertainment System’s) 30th anniversary in Japan, Nintendo has been releasing various retro titles on the Wii U for the insanely low price of 30 yen ($0.32) The first title released this way was the NES classic Balloon Fighter. The following game was Fire Emblem: Monsho no Nazo, the first…

Square Enix’s Yoichi Wada Is Stepping Down [Update]

Today, it was announced that Square Enix president Yoichi Wada is stepping down. He will no longer be serving as Square Enix’s Representative Director. Yousuke Matsuda, who joined Square in 2001, will take over Wada’s role in running the company. The reason given for Wada’s demotion was “a management reorganization”. According to Japanese website 4Gamer,…

Japanese Schoolgirls Bring Manga Style Martial Arts To Life for Fun

What looks like a Japanese manga come to life is really a bunch of schoolgirls having fun with friends. Or is it? Dun dun dun. These photos recently appeared on 2ch, Japan’s largest bulletin board, under the heading, “Schoolgirls Nowadays lol”. While some 2ch users humorously pointed out that this was the martial art technique…

Songstress Donna Burke, who has an array of game and anime themes on her resume, is holding a concert in Tokyo on April 13. More info here.

All the Final Fantasy XIII Digital Cuddling You Can Handle

Final Fantasy XIII has sexual tension. Ditto for its sequel, Final Fantasy XIII-2. Some apparently thought the tension wasn’t palpable enough. So they took things into their own hands. Digitally. Over on DeviantArt, several talented digital artists have their visions of Final Fantasy XIII pairings—some of which you might agree with and some of which…