Tales RPGs Are Like Gumdrops, Says The Guy Who Makes Them

I like to compare the longrunning Tales action-RPG series to fast food: they’re not particularly nutritious and you always know what you’re gonna get, but when you’ve got the craving, they can’t be beat. Hideo Baba, on the other hand, says they’re more like gumdrops. I had asked Baba, the man who directs and produces…

Forget Endless Runners, Here’s an Endless Action RPG

A half-hour with FDG Entertainment’s Slayin has convinced me that the action role-playing games I enjoyed as a much younger man were woefully inefficient. Imagine all the things I might have accomplished if I hadn’t spent hour after hour traveling expansive maps, poking things with my pixel sword in order to gain the power to…

EA’s Peter Moore: ‘We Can Do Better’ (And Aren’t the Worst Company in America)

Video game giant Electronic Arts might not be rumored to be launching an always-online console, but people are pretty mad at them nonetheless. They have been a lot, lately, and now it seems that EA might be about to repeat its standing in a web poll that invites the online public to name the worst…

The Moneysaver: Grand Theft Auto V With $20 Credit And Other Crazy Pre-orders

Ready to get $15-$20 off the year’s biggest releases before they even come out? We’ve got a laundry list of pre-order discounts for everything from Grand Theft Auto V to Metro: Last Light. Regardless of your platform or preferred genre, there’s money to be saved after the jump. Pre-order GTA5 from Microsoft for a quick…

Sega Cancels Aliens: Colonial Marines On Wii U

Sega has just confirmed to Kotaku that Aliens: Colonial Marines is no longer coming out on Wii U. We first heard a few months ago that the Wii U version of the disastrous shooter had been “indefinitely postponed,” but Sega denied that. Since then, the publisher has refused to comment on this version of Aliens:…

There’s One Sure Way to Have Fun in Defiance

The MMO tie-in to SyFy’s upcoming Earth-plus-aliens series Defiance is in full swing, or as full a swing as it can manage, giventhe shaky start. While we’re waiting for Trion Worlds to fix wehat needs fixing, there’s at least one activity that’ll never let you down. Vrooom.

I’m a Game Designer. I’m a Gun Owner. It’s Time To End All This ‘Us vs. Them’

When I originally pitched writing this piece to Kotaku, I was a bit worked up. I had read some of Kotaku’s coverage of the post-Sandy-Hook gun vs. games debate, and I sent some pointed Tweets to Kotaku staff. I felt that the games industry media had not provided balanced coverage. I felt that every story…

We Need to Stop Tweeting Annoying Gaming Updates. Here’s How.

Earlier this week the Prime Minister of Egypt was globally ridiculed for a Twitter update generated from within Beeline Interactive’s popular Smurfs’ Village game. Last year a Spanish politician made headlines when his “son” tweeted a game update from Doodle Jump.When public figures do it, it’s mildly amusing, but when the average Joe’s Twitter feed…

The Xbox Listing For Double Dragon II Looks Like It Came Straight Out Of Google Translate

Does anyone actually read this stuff before it goes live? This is the actual listing for the Double Dragon II remake that hit Xbox Live today. It’s… quirky. Microsoft’s translation robots need some new batteries. “Also, characters are undressed from 80’s style, and recreated with modern sexy and beautiful style that amaze you and feel…

This amusing video shows how Michael Shanks, who has previously revealed to us what happened when Gordon Freeman met Chell, cut and blinked his way through Dishonored. A man after my own heart, for sure—though I did use the crossbow a lot more.

Happy Friday, everyone. Head over to our reader-run Talk Amongst Yourselves forum to talk about all things Friday and video games.

You Can Make This Man Bald, For A Good Cause

Cliff Bleszinski will get his head shaved if he can raise $10,000 to help kids with cancer. He’s asking gamers to donate to make it happen. The currently-unemployed lead designer of Gears of War is doing the fundraiser through the the St. Baldrick’s Foundation, a charity that raises money for kids’ cancer research. “I like…

The Weirdest And Most ExcitingTetris Look-Alikes

The original Tetris, released in 1984, is one of the most well-known and played games in the world. But for those who’ve played the game to death and moved on to a wider variety of games, it could feel like Tetris is missing that extra love it needs to be exciting again. Here we have…

The Most Gorgeous Minimalist Gaming Posters You’ll See Today

Atlanta-based artist Emily Lemay, AKA yamelme, does minimalist posters. She does them really well. She’s done a whole series based on video games, in fact—from the Witcher to Far Cry. This is only a small sampling of her work, so make sure to visit her DeviantArt page to take a look at what else there…

Blizzard’s Boss Shows Everyone How To Watch A Starcraft Tournament Properly

This awkward yet funny moment happened during yesterday’s stream of the Starcraft II WCS series in South Korea, showing Blizzard boss Mike Morhaime making himself at home (well, technically he is). Front row, some pizza and the best pros in front of you—that’s the way to do it. Blizzard just announced its plans for a…

The Second Arc of Jojo’s Bizarre Adventure is Better Than the First

When I looked at the first arc of the 2012 anime Jojo’s Bizarre Adventure earlier this year, I said that it captured the essence of the manga for better and worse. The second arc suffers from the same double-edged sword; but thanks to a far more interesting story and protagonist, it comes off much more…

The San Andreas set is now available in the GTA Kubricks collection, Rockstar tweeted.

Light Novel Fan Translators Build a Centralized Community on the Web

Anime is by far the most popular piece of Japanese popular culture to leave Japan and spread to other parts of the world. But as the vast majority of anime series are adaptations, that leads to the question: From what are these anime adapted? Of course, most are originally manga series that become popular in…

Look at this Dragon’s Crown trailer. Just look at it. It’s like concept art coming to life. Absolutely phenomenal—though the title font is still looking atrocious. Vanillaware’s pretty side-scrolling action-RPG will be landing on the PS3 and the Vita on July 25.

“Dogs Wearing Pantyhose” Is Now a Thing in China

The latest meme to overtake the internet in China? “Gou gou chuan siwa” (狗狗穿丝袜), or in English, “Dogs wearing pantyhose”. Note: This post contains content that some readers might find offensive. Hong Kong news site Sharp Daily (via IT Media) is reporting that on Chinese social networking site Weibo, many users are uploading gag photos…