In Emotional Video, Chris Taylor Says He’s ‘Fearful’ About Wildman Kickstarter’s Outcome

Just last week we learned that Chris Taylor, the developer behind Dungeon Siege and Supreme Commander, was forced to lay off a significant number of people from his company Gas Powered Games after the Kickstarter campaign for their game Wildman was met with underwhelming funding rates. Yesterday, in an hour long interview posted on YouTube…

Neverwinter Beta Weekends Dated, and For $200 You Can Pretend You’re Drizzt

Perfect World Entertainment is prepared to open a portal to the Forgotten Realms next month with the first of three beta weekend events for its upcoming Dungeons & Dragons MMORPG, Neverwinter, and there’s one sure way to get in—spending $49.99 or $199.99 on a Neverwinter Founder’s Pack. Set in one of the most popular Dungeons…

A Beginner’s Guide To Making Your First Video Game

Game development has exploded over the last few years, and now it seems like everyone is making a video game. You’ve got big studios full of hundreds of people. You’ve got small teams making incredible games. There are more people in independent game development than ever. This is an amazing thing, because everyone brings their…

This Game Awards You Points For Smashing Real World Cameras

Gamification—the use of game mechanics in the real world—remains largely a joke, often relegated to a bullet point in a marketing strategy or manifested as an ineffective experiment. Some might even call it bullshit. Sometimes, though, you see something noteworthy and interesting—and in this case, gamification has found an unlikely outlet: protesting in Germany (or…

And You Thought Platformers Had Run Out Of New Ideas

Take a look at this video of indie platformer Oliver and Spike in action. As it starts, you’re probably thinking that it looks pretty nice, a comfortable modern take on 3D jumping. Then you hit the point where he looks like he’s going to fall short of a jump, and everything changes. I know that…

ChefVille ‘Rock Climbs Rocks’ Catering Order: Everything You Need to Know

The brand new chapter of catering orders in ChefVille continues to expand this week. Players that complete the “Yoga with Pippa!” order can now tackle “Rock Climbs Rocks.” This order is slightly more difficult than the first in this chapter, but neither of these healthy eating catering orders are as difficult as the birthday party…

Final Fantasy Blamed for Brutal Murder

A grisly killing in Munich left a 31 year-old woman dead. Katrin M. (last name withheld) was stabbed 18 times with a katana, and now some members of the German press are pointing the finger at Final Fantasy German press, like Munich tabloid TZ, is running photos of the alleged killer, 18 (or 19, depending…

Gyro Controls? Yes, I Need Gyro Controls to Destroy Castles

For the record, I hate the iPhone’s gyro controls. Hate, hate, hate. Make that, hated, hated, hated. As iOS game Catapolt has made me aware, sometimes times, gyro controls are the way to go. The only way. Catapolt is one of many (many) catapult-based iOS games. As the developer told Kotaku, the game is a…

Ever Seen A PS3 Controller Sticking Out Of Someone’s Eye Socket? Now You Have.

Seriously, I hope you were prepared for OxBloodrayne1989xO’s gross (in a good way) makeup skills. This is certainly rage quitting at its worst. Violent Gaming [deviantART via Obvious Winner]

Before You Start… Tips For Playing Ni no Kuni The Best Way

There’s a lot to love about Ni no Kuni, the wonderful PlayStation 3 role-playing game that came out last Tuesday. There’s also a lot to worry about. Between side quests, creature collecting, and all sorts of tricky boss battles, it can be an overwhelming game for new players. Fortunately, new players have Kotaku. Here are…

What Facebook is Playing This Week: Still Stuck on Candy Crush Saga

Clinging tenaciously to its top spot on the Facebook daily active users list, King.com’s Candy Crush Saga keeps itself a couple hundred thousand players beyond FarmVille 2 by getting everyone stuck on level 86 and then taunting them. Perhaps it’s just me banging my head against the licorice-laced lair of frustration until my face is…

The Wall Street Journal recently ran a Pokémon quiz of sorts. They’re branching out! Test your knowledge

Police Department Accidentally (Helpfully?) Tweets Video Game High Score

Amidst a torrent of official announcements, a very strange tweet appeared on the feed of the Dallas Police Department over the weekend. It had nothing to do with perps, crimes or laws. It had to do with… Fruit Ninja The tweet was soon taken down, but an official apology of sorts remains. Right. Kids. Nice…

Ragnarok Online‘s Little Mobile Friend Launches Next Month

Ragnarok Online, Gravity Co.’s massively multiplayer online role-playing game, has been going strong for more than a decade, driven by the free-to-play model, simple gameplay and adorable 2D anime character sprites. Next month those cute little bastards get even smaller with the release of Ragnarok Online: Valkyrie Uprising for Android and iOS devices. Already released…

The Best Games for Your iPhone and iPad

We’ve promised that Kotaku‘s Bests lists—compliations of the best games for various platforms—will be changing, dynamic entities. So here’s another update where new titles jump onto the rolls for two Apple mobile devices. Curious as to what they are? Click through and see if you guessed what we think are great iPad and iPhone games.…

Madden, Right In 7 of Its Last 9 Picks, Says Baltimore Wins Super Bowl XLVII

Madden NFL 13 says the Baltimore Ravens will claim their second Super Bowl championship on Sunday, 27-24, handing San Francisco its first defeat in six visits to the NFL’s title game. As you can see in this video above, EA Sports’ annual simulation this year came down to a last minute drive. Facing third down…

Remedy’s looking for people to help out with “the next blockbuster on future generation consoles.” What could it be?

New BioShock Infinite Trailer Is A Historian’s Delight

If you went to school in the 1980s, well, you’ll probably find this to be one of the best video game trailers you’ll ever see.

Bringing Chinese Games to the West Is a Lot Harder Than You’d Think

Every time I visit Hong Kong or Taipei, I notice that more and more console games are being translated for the Chinese market. Be it English to Chinese or Japanese to Chinese, it seems much of the focus is now on creating games that the Chinese can play. On the flip side, Chinese game companies…

Gabe Newell To Face J.J. Abrams At D.I.C.E. Keynote Discussion

The Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences has announced that Valve’s Gabe Newell and Star Trek (and now Star Wars) director J. J. Abrams will be opening up 2013’s D.I.C.E. Summit—with a joint discussion about storytelling, no less. Says Martin Rae, president of the Academy of Interactive Arts and Sciences: “From TV to film and…