What Final Fantasy VII Would Look Like If It Was Made In France.

TBT: The Black Tower is an unashamed tribute to the late-1990s, when Final Fantasy games weren’t afraid to toss polygonal characters on static backgrounds and your text backgrounds were a very rich blue Imagine Final Fantasy VII, then – or, on second look, maybe Final Fantasy VIII – made for the PC and developed in…

Someone Now Owns Homeworld. But Who?

Last week, the rights to Homeworld, a beloved old RTS series by Relic, went under the hammer as part of an auction following the closure of former publisher THQ. A winner was found. They now have the opportunity to create new entries in a series that’s lain dormant for a decade. It’s just…we don’t know…

The Circle Pad Pro, the second analog gamepad making Monster Hunter 3 and other titles more accessible on the 3DS, is now shipping in a 3DS XL configuration. But Nintendo has no plans to offer it at retail

NCAA 14 Brings Back the Halftime Show—Yes, They Know NFL 2K5 Had It

Last year, in a visit to Electronic Arts Tiburon, the NCAA Football development staff told me about plans to introduce more lifelike broadcast presentation to the game. It was going to be a tiered thing all along. NCAA 13 got the studio cut-ins, where ESPN’s Rece Davis—in voice only—updated you on scores from around the…

Still Traveling the Road to the Show, Even After Flunking Out of It

Ten years ago I was demoted in my job at the now-dead Rocky Mountain News. The subject is not something I talk about much, but it happened, and I worked with plenty of people who knew the score. The situation wasn’t handled well, by either me or my bosses. Ultimately, it ended my newspaper career.…

The Week in Games: Boldly Gone

Star Trek, the co-operative action title from Digital Extremes (and Namco and Paramount) graces the top of the lineup for the week, followed by some downloadable content and digital releases. Dragon’s Dogma: Dark Arisen is a re-release of the 2012 game featuring new content. Today • LEGO City Undercover: The Chase Begins (3DS) Tuesday •…

Matt Bai of The New York Times has authored a lively, comprehensive deconstruction of the downfall of 38 Studios, makers of Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning and a planned MMO. The story weaves in Rhode Island’s political and cultural forces in explaining the debacle. It’s a superb Sunday read.

Twin Galaxies is Taking High Scores Again—for a Fee

Twin Galaxies, the arbiter of video game records for more than three decades, and the authority Guinness World Records uses to certify video game high scores, changed hands last fall. It’s now owned by two arcades, one in Denver and the other in New Jersey. In a six-month transition period since, Twin Galaxies wasn’t accepting…

Kotaku ‘Shop Contest: Ding

This week, the premiere date for the final season of Breaking Bad was announced (it’s Aug. 11), and that’s timely enough to for a mashup I’ve always wanted to see: Héctor Salamanca and video games. For those not in the know, (no spoilers) Héctor is a paralyzed, mute former cartel don who communicates by ringing…

Only two Sega Plutos ever were made—it was a prototype console made in the late 1990s—and the owner of this one just put it up for auction on GameGavel. High bid is currently $7,600.

Sunday Comics: Pull My Finger

Welcome to Kotaku‘s Sunday Comics, your weekly roundup of the best features, chosen by our readership. The features enlarge if you click on the magnifying glass icon in the lower right corner of each image Brentalfloss the Comic by Brent Black, Andrew Dobson and Dan Roth. Published April 18. Read more of Brentalfloss the Comic…

Kotaku ‘Shop Contest: Le Chateau What-If, the Winners

My attempt at crowd-sourcing an image for this ridiculous crime story netted a dozen worthy candidates, led by overall No. 1 Abrahim Ladha. A cliffhanger awaits you, for The ‘Shop is the Cemetery of the Chateau d’If! 3Diego_Herrera Abrahim Ladha Americao Luke arniejolt arniejolt iceman09 metalliccookies resdog rv88 snufkin snufkin the-bearded-merchant toolsoldier uscg_pa

No, His Mom Isn’t Making Him Apologize to You on Xbox Live

Much as we’d all like to think this is true at face value, it isn’t. It’s a proto-meme, bubbling under the surface of the Internet for a few years. It popped up again this weekend. If you receive this message, you’re being double-victimized. First, some a-hole unfurls a homophobic slur at you in Call of…

Have you voted on Madden‘s cover enough already? Help Tecmo Super Bowl‘s de facto world championship pick its pun name for next year’s tournament. Remember when Chris Berman was funny? These are much better My favorites: The Unbearable Lightness of BJ Tolliver, Schroeders of the Lost Ark, Creedence Atwater Revival, The Mandarich Candidate and Total…

This blatantly obvious viral marketing video from 2K Games means we’ll soon be hearing about ‘The Bureau,” whether that is the title or the subtitle of the “XCOM Shooter.”

Mother 3’s Fan Translators Say Nintendo Can Have Their Script For Free

The people who translated Mother 3 to English say that if Nintendo ever wants to bring the quirky RPG to U.S. shores, the company can use their script. Free of charge. Writing on the Mother 3 fan translation website, translator Clyde Mandelin says that if Nintendo were to ever localize the game, he’d be happy…

After Four Years, an Industry Scourge Loses His Edge

One of the unhappiest stories I’ve ever followed has come to a proper conclusion. When Tim Langdell got a great video game removed from the iTunes store because its title was Edge, I went ballistic. In hindsight, that was rash. But piece by piece, over the past four years his bogus, parasitic operation has been…

IGN‘s “Top Games to Play on 4/20” is pretty damn hilarious. Go check it out.

Goodwill Hunter Who Found Rare Game is Selling It to Pay Student Loans

The woman who purchased from a Goodwill store one of the rarest collectible video games in the world—valued by some at $15,000—says her heart “raced the whole time” as she found it, bought it, and walked out of the store. “I recognized the game immediately but verified the title online before I purchased it,” the…

This Week in the Business: Smells Like No Team Spirit

What’s happened in the business of video games this past week … QUOTE | “At almost all game companies, there’s almost no appreciation at all for the team dynamic. ‘They’re just replaceable meat puppets,’ and that’s never, ever true.”—Gordon Walton, veteran game company executive, talking about the way most game companies view developers and why…