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…

The Best of Kotaku, The Week Of April 15th

Man, what a week! Stephen was out this week so things were a little busier than usual. We also introduced a new review sidebar that we’re considering tweaking still (suggestions are always welcome!). All of our best content from this week, and the one previous, can be found at our new Kotaku Selects home. But…

The Final Season of Dexter Sure Looks Intense

This is it, guys and girls. Dexter, the show about a blood spatter analyst who is secretly a serial killer, is on its final season. Last season left off on a hell of a cliffhanger. Season eight starts on June 30th, and Showtime released this two minute sneak peek. Things are getting tense. I’m glad…

Spellirium is an Amazing Game, But The Goggles, They Do Nothing

Untold Entertainment’s Spellirium, described by the legendary Tim Schafer as “if Loom and Boggle had a baby”, is a ridiculously nifty word adventure that I’m proud to say I preordered. It’s also completely wasted on the Oculus Rift VR headset. While I’ve heard it’s pretty cool for games like Team Fortress 2, with a game…

Pokémon With Mustaches Are Classy, Adorable

Everyone has opinions about how Pokémon should be designed, but clearly, the thing that future Pokémon designs must adopt is mustaches. No question. Nicholas Poulos, who created a bunch of ‘stached Pokémon and then posted them on Behance, therefore has the right idea. Here’s some more. He calls them “Gentlemon.” Gentlemon apparently have no eyes!…

Terrible Video Game Gets A “Sequel”, And Not Everyone’s Happy About It

Orion: Dino Beatdown was, according to almost every critic who played it, one of the worst video games of 2012. What sounded great on paper – using fancy weapons to fight waves of giant dinosaurs with your friends – collapsed into a broken mess of a thing that left a lot of paying customers very…

Okay, Phoenix Wright looks amazing in 3D. Check out this new trailer for Ace Attorney 5, which will be out in Japan this July (and in the U.S. at some point in the future). Neat, eh?