The Vikings Are Coming. Hide Your Wife, Hide Your Kids.

Niche PC publishers Paradox held a big event earlier today, unveiling a range of new titles and DLC for existing ones. The one I’m most excited for is The Old Gods, a Viking expansion for my 2012 GOTY nominee Crusader Kings II In the game, until now, the Pagan and Zoroastrianism religions had been denied…

This Must Be What A “Flock” Of Jetliners Would Look Like

Have you ever watched a plane fly overhead and wondered what it would look like if there were dozens more of them flying at the same time? You have? Well, photographer Cy Kuckenbaker has got you covered, with this awesome montage film he made of six hours’ worth of San Diego International Airport departures condensed…

Watch Gabe Newell Talk For An Hour About Making Video Games

Earlier this week, Valve co-founder Gabe Newell gave a talk at University of Texas at Austin about the business and art of making video games. Today, the school has posted a full video of one of the talks. Sit back, relax, and watch one of gaming’s visionaries talk about how he does what he does,…

Someone’s Made A J.J. Abrams Star Wars Trailer. It Is Perfect.

It’ll be years until we see what Star Trek director J.J. Abrams can do with Star Wars, but in the meantime, artist Gavin Chin has made this fake trailer, cutting the original films into a clip that’s so full of Abrams’ style—and lens flare—that you’d think it was the real thing. Star Wars Trailer by…

Inside A Nintendo Power Line Game Guide

When you used to call the Nintendo Power Line as a kid, you’d have been excused for thinking you were talking to some kind of gaming master, a person with such an innate knowledge of the game in question they could tell you anything you needed to know. Sometimes, they might have been, but for…

Splinter Cell Has Changed. Just Look At The Box Art.

Last week, while I was checking out Splinter Cell: Blacklist, I had a long, interesting talk with the game’s creative director Maxime Béland. Béland, who also worked on the first Assassin’s Creed and was creative director on Rainbow Six: Vegas and Splinter Cell: Conviction, is an interesting guy to chat with. He’s sharp, and was…

This Team Fortress 2 Re-Creation Of Monkey Island‘s Three Trials Scene Is Remarkably Well Done

Fans of Secret of Monkey Island, the 1990 point-n-click adventure game, will undoubtedly remember the infamous “three trials” scene, in which protagonist Guybrush Threepwood proclaims to Mêlée Island’s pirate leaders that he, too, would like to be a pirate. Here’s the iconic scene, Team Fortress 2 style. And it’s extremely well done. Enjoy. [SFM] I…

They Patrol Our Streets In Search For The Notorious Not-A-Game: It’s Your Friendly Neighborhood Game Police

Some people act as if gaming as we know it is in danger, and all of these new experimental titles—Proteus, Dear Esther, Dys4ria, Twine games, amongst others—are to blame. Usually, it’s what people designate as ‘art games.’ Sometimes, if you’re in the middle of a “but is it a game” discussion, you can almost imagine…

Now We Can All Pretend Our 3DS Is A Pokédex

I’ve never used the Pokémon compendium known as the Pokédex much in the Pokémon games, but the idea of having a physical Pokédex is still really cool. Sure, you could buy a toy Pokédex, or, you can put a decal on your red 3DS to make it look like one instead! If you think the…

These Games Let You Play As Cats

Probably every animal species you can think of is playable or can be found in some form in video games, but today we decided to find those games where you can play as a cat. Any cat. Domestic cats or any one of the wild cats: tigers, lions, cheetahs, all included. Cait Sith, a remote-controlled…

Facebook updated the game categories of its App Center, making it easier to find stuff to play instead of working.

Killzone: Mercenary Keeps Dreams Of A Decent Vita FPS Alive

Given that the promise of delivering a console-quality first-person shooter on the PlayStation Vita has been broken by every studio that’s released one so far, you’d think developers might be more careful about potentially painting themselves into that same corner. Not Guerrilla Games Cambridge, the team charged with shrinking the big-budget Killzone series into a…

The kickass Time Surfer soundtrack is now available on Bandcamp

Looks Like Sony Will Reveal The Next PlayStation On February 20 [Update]

Sony just posted this video on the PlayStation blog. Looks like a teaser for the next PlayStation (code-named Orbis), don’t you think? It ends with a date: February 20, 2013. Will Sony announce their next console then? We’ve heard bits and pieces about the next PlayStation for quite some time now, and rumors have been…

At Last, Tiger Woods PGA Tour 14 Brings Sudden Death to Life

For the longest time, a tie was as good as a win in the final round of a Tiger Woods PGA Tour event. The game’s career mode did not simulate playoff holes if your golfer finished in a deadlock with one or more others. The tournament simply ended and you still got credit for a…

Oh Lord, I Must Own All of Peanuts’ Sunday Strips

Thing you probably don’t know about me: I can’t look at Peanuts without tears welling up in my eyes, especially the older stuff. Sure, everybody knows Snoopy now. But, it’s really the entire mix of characters—Charlie Brown, Lucy, Peppermint Patty et al—and their mix of adult prickliness and childlike naiveté that made Charles Schulz’s iconic…

Fire Emblem: Awakening: The Kotaku Review

There are games that I like. And then there are games that I like that I become obsessed with. Fire Emblem: Awakening falls into the second category. What follows, therefore, isn’t just a review. It’s a warning. Play the new Fire Emblem on Nintendo’s 3DS, and all of this could happen to you… Some basics…

You Can Play Minecraft With Heavy Metal Lords Lich King Tonight

Sure, it’s fun to play Minecraft with your friends. But what if you could play with your favorite metal band? Even better. Tonight, the metal band Lich King will be playing Minecraft along with their fans, according to a post on their Facebook wall. Want to get in on the fun? They’ll be sharing server…

Gameloft Gears Up for Gaming on Blackberry 10

Now that everybody’s buzzing about the sexy new BlackBerry Z10, mobile gaming giant Gameloft steps up to the plate to ensure gamers considering a switch that they’ll be at least 11 games for them to play on their shiny new handset, including The Amazing Spider-Man, The Dark Knight Rises and Modern Combat 4. Does this…

Pissed-Off Jonathan Coulton Fans Review-Bomb Glee‘s ‘Baby Got Back’

If you head on over to iTunes and check out Glee’s version of Baby Got Back, you’ll find a swarm of unhappy reviews from Jonathan Coulton fans. That’s what happens when you rip a song off, I guess. To quickly recap, for those of you not in the loop: earlier this month we wrote about…