People in China Are Being Buried…to “Gangnam Style”

“Gangnam Style” seems so 2012. It is! But what does that matter when you’re dead and want to oppan funeral style? The song continues to get airplay in China, among the living and the dead, it seems. First noted by a Weibo user (via ShanghaiIst), “Gangnam Style” is being used as dirges at funerals in…

You Don’t Need Combat to Have a Good RPG

When it comes to gaming, RPGs represent the pinnacle of storytelling with games like Final Fantasy VI, Chrono Trigger, Mass Effect, Skyrim, and Earthbound. While many games from many different genres do indeed have compelling stories, storytelling, more than any other facet, is what RPGs are known for. But despite this, RPGs always seem to…

When English Textbooks Are Trolls

English is a hard language, especially for some Japanese people. The grammar is different. The pronunciation is different. And sometimes, the textbooks are strange. Please be aware that I’m not talking about so-called “Engrish”. Often, that’s the result of syntax errors (i.e. using Japanese sentence structure or literal translations in English). Making fun of that…

The Girl Scouts Might Be Getting A Gaming Badge As Well

Only a month after the Boy Scouts brought in a badge for “Games Design”, the Girl Scouts are offering one for “Games Development”. The difference is more than semantics; the guys only have to design a game.The girls, well, they’ll have to use software and actually make one. The badge is currently only available for…

A new version of Modern Combat has been released. It’s a mod that turns WW2 Company of Heroes into 2013 Company of Heroes. It’s really, really good. Get it here

Building You A Retro Adventure, One Level (And Awesome Song) At A Time

This is Rogue Legacy, a game which looks tough as nails, but seems to have a heart of gold. Billed not as rogue-like (which are normally brutal) but as a rogue-lite (there’s still permadeath, but “with each passing your lineage grows and becomes stronger”), it looks great. And sounds great too, courtesy of a soundtrack…

A New Trailer For The Best Star Wars Movie George Lucas Never Made

Star Wars Uncut, the fan-made project that saw scenes from Episode IV recreated however the hell people wanted to then smooshed into a complete film, is back with a sequel. Empire Strikes Back Uncut isn’t done yet, but the trailer above shows good progress is being made. Very good progress. Empire Strikes Back Uncut [Site,…

This League of Legends Artist’s Work Is A…Riot (I’m So Sorry)

Katie De Sousa is a concept artist who currently works at League of Legends developers Riot Games. She’s been there since 2012, and has been responsible for many of the awesome splash images you see for the game’s heroes. She also worked on the very pretty indie game Paper Moon You can see more of…

Dammit, Mario, Can’t You Let Luigi Have His Moment Of Glory?

Japan is getting a very pretty Luigi 3DS XL handheld later this year. It’s got little green Luigis all over it, and a special logo for his 30th anniversary, riffing on the Super Mario Bros. 25th anniversary logo we saw a few years back. But wait, what’s that? In the top-right corner, as spotted by…

A Museum That Looks Like Every First-Person Shooter Game Ever Made

This “cultural centre” in Istanbul is called Sintralİstanbul. It was first opened in 1914 as the city’s sole electric power plant, before its current life as Turkey’s Museum of Energy. I share these photos by a pair of travellers here, and not on my personal travel blog nomorecleanundies.tumblr.com, because just look at these pictures By…

You Can Buy Your Own Life-Sized Iron Man. Tony Stark Not Included.

Iron Man toys are for kids. When you really want to buy Iron Man merch, and you have the money/space to make an impact, you buy this. A life-size replica of Tony Stark’s suit in the upcoming Iron Man 3. Pricing and ordering info are to come, but considering it’s life-sized, covered in automotive paint…

The Luigi Craze In Mario & Luigi: Dream Team Sure Is Ridiculous

It’s the year of Luigi. What better way to celebrate than with an RPG adventure where you drop into Luigi’s dreams? While that’s a weirdly specific way to celebrate a character, it’s exactly what you’ll be doing in the upcoming Mario & Luigi: Dream Team. And when you’re in Luigi’s dreams, the Luigibilities are endless.…

From 10am ET/ 7:00am PT on April 19 until 1p ET/10am PT on April 22, Microsoft will be running a free Xbox Live Gold weekend.

Now Hawken Has a Target Class. I Mean Healer Class.

No, I think I was right the first time. If you see the new Technician mech on the enemy’s team, kill it. If it’s on your team, hug it. If it’s you, then congratulations, you’re a helper. Way to help. Want to see pics of the new map you’ll be dying on? Along with various…

Sometimes, You Just Gotta Break Up With Your (Gaming) Buddies

Compatibility is difficult, that’s why there’s an entire industry behind dating and advising people on how to best find true love. It’s not just romance, though: compatibility is important, yet equally difficult when you’re playing games with your buddies. What if your playstyles don’t match up? Here’s an amusing video by TheWarpZone which looks at…

Real Life Photos Mixed With 16-Bit Video Games Are Amazing

The 16-bit era had unique visuals. Simple yet bright and colorful, we could always get lost in the tiny details. Taking parts of these memorable games and mixing them with a real life environment might sound odd, but if done right the results are beautiful. Two gents, deviantART user Victor Sauron and Glauber Tanaka, played…

Dishonored: The Knife of Dunwall: The Kotaku Review

Perhaps the most exciting part of Dishonored, the triumphant assassin game released last year by Bethesda and Arkane Studios, was the feeling we’d get when entering a new area, a new chunk of Dunwall filled with apartments to loot and guards to terrorize. That’s the best thing about games like that, isn’t it? The feeling…

The MOGA Android Controller is Now Available in Large

Last year, peripheral maker Power A introduced the Android-gaming world to the MOGA controller system with a pocket-sized game pad with a clip for holding your phone. It’s a nifty little device, but the game support wasn’t quite as expansive as I’d like. Today Power A releases the MOGA Pro, a console-sized game pad with…

Show Us What You Love And Hate About the Beyond: Two Souls Box Art

In a world where we’re constantly bombarded with gross, tacky box art, a well designed cover can be a breath of fresh air. To that end, how does the newly revealed, gunless box art for Beyond: Two Souls fit in? It’s time to weigh in, Kotaku readers. Using our image annotation system, show us what…

The Wii U’s Biggest Problem Is The 3DS

Analyzing a company’s position and their marketing strategy with consoles is often of little interest to me: I’m not an investor, and sometimes the conversations feel like a slightly more sophisticated version of people arguing about the CONSOLE WARS™ on forums. Bleh. And yet I walked out of a Nintendo preview event yesterday with one…