Zen Pinball‘s Wii U release is delayed “until January.” Sorry. Thirteen tables will be available when it does arrive.

Kotaku ‘Shop Contest: The Year-End All-Star Extravaganza

B.A. Baracus. The Michael McDonald Fight Stick. Some dude taking a 3DS picture of himself smoking pot. We’ve had some ups and downs with the ‘Shop Contest this year, but we still have a ton of good memories—10 of our most popular exploitables, to be specific—to look back on in an All-Star Extravaganza closing out…

Some Germans Said They Want to Burn Video Games in Front of the Bundestag [Update: It’s a Hoax.]

There’s a movement afoot in Germany to hold a mass burning of “killerspiele,”—their word for violent video games—in front of the Reichstag in Berlin on Jan. 27. Leni Riefenstahl died eight years ago, so if this really happens, someone else will have to film it. [Update] As has been pointed out by many, this “movement”…

Sunday Comics: Development Hell

Welcome to your Sunday read of the week’s best in web comics. Make sure to click on the expand button in the bottom right to enlarge each comic. Penny Arcade by Jerry Holkins and Mike Krahulik. Published Dec. 26. Read more of Penny Arcade Awkward Zombie by Katie Tiedrich. Published Dec. 24. Read more of…

How Long Will EA’s CEO Sit on the Hot Seat in 2013?

The company’s share price dropped by a third in the past year, and expensive incursions into mobile and social games development haven’t yet panned out. Adding insult to injury, Electronic Arts was booted out of the NASDAQ-100 Index for poor performance. Figure in the continuing decline of video game sales on traditional platforms, and John…

Throw another yule log on your pile o’ shame: Steam’s giving steep discounts to BioShock The Witcher, GTA and Skyrim

Free, Fan-Made Mega Man Christmas Carol is Back to Wish You a Happy 20XX

If you didn’t take a crack at Mega Man Christmas Carol when it released two years ago, give it a shot now (.zip, 16 MB). The fan-made game reimagines the Ghosts of Christmas (plus miserable old Marley) as boss showdowns in Mega Man. Sprites, Inc. has remade its first game with a new engine, and…

The NFL tracks some players’ data through chips in their shoulderpads. This could help improve the ratings in Madden

DayZ Stalker Wants to Dismember You, Be With You Forever

Only in a game featuring permadeath could this stalker encounter become as macabre and hilarious as it is. “This crazy guy starting following me and threatening to cut my head off during a DayZ live stream,” says the video’s uploader. He really is running for his life, and his stalker really is suicidally obsessed with…

No One Knows How Big Claptrap is, Really, but Let’s Call This a 1:1 Model Anyway

Reader Parrish E. admitted to tooting his own horn by sending this tip to us, but we’ll allow it, because his life-size construction of Claptrap—with a functioning headlamp, mind you—is straight up awesome, and the best part, it’s a gift for a friend. Parrish and his wife were introduced to Borderlands by a friend shortly…

This Week Year in the Business: ‘Someday We’ll Be Living in the Matrix’

A look back at what happened in the business of video games in 2012. QUOTE | “Someday we’ll be living in the Matrix.” – Gearbox boss Randy Pitchford talking about the huge aspirations some game developers still have and why today’s games “suck” by comparison to where they should be QUOTE | “No sex please,…

Corporal Hicks Cameos in the Latest Aliens: Colonial Marines Story Trailer

We’ve known for a while that fan favorite Cpl. Hicks was going to be in Aliens: Colonial Marines—the story fits in between Aliens and Alien3. But, for old time’s sake, here he is in Sega and Gearbox’s latest story trailer for the game, along with a very grim setup of the job that lies ahead…

Running Out, With Steam

Steam and Amazon are back to finish off your bank account, or whatever’s left of it after the holidays, anyway. There are 12 deals on Steam right now, six of which expire in three hours, among them the Left 4 Dead series, FTL and L.A. Noire. Amazon is running its “Better Than Steam Sale, involving…

The Best Of Kotaku, This Week

Welcome to the Best of Kotaku, where I round up all of this week’s best content. Above is proof that if there’s anything to do with Portal and cats, you know I’m going to post it. And I have the creator, JustynaDorsz, to thank for supplying me with one. Moving on to our Best Of…

Wow, This Rom-Com Where A Zombie Falls For A Human Looks Surprisingly Good

Love in the time of rotting flesh, I tells ya. Here is footage of the first four minutes of the movie ‘Warm Bodies,’ (courtesy of Fangando’s YouTube account) which is loosely based on the book by the same name. The premise is that ‘R,’ the zombie protagonist, eats a young man’s brain and is then…

You Won’t Believe This Crazy Tomahawk Kill In Black Ops II

At first I was like ‘oh boy, this shit again. Someone lobs something across the map and it manages to connect.’ But then I saw what it connected with and how, and damn. That shit cray. Kudos, YouTube user orickjamez.

This Portable SNES Looks Like It’d Fit Right In at an Emergency Command Post

Modder robotairz of Reddit today shared a gallery of this portable Super Nintendo, which he says he made last year but just got around to uploading today. The emergency-management-services yellow of the toolbox and the super snug, shock-proof interior make this thing an awesome addition to someone’s disaster preparedness kit. robotairz was offered $900 for…

When Is Cheating In A Game Okay?

I can tell you exactly when I ruined Pokemon for myself. It was when I enlisted the help of an Action Replay and an obscure program that let me do just about anything in the game. It was like playing god. Pokemon god. And having this powerful ability completely changed how I see cheating. I…

How To Sneak Behind The Wheel Of A Pelican Dropship In Halo 4

Ever since I crash-landed in one in Halo: Combat Evolved, I’ve had a soft spot for those big ol’ UNSC Pelican dropships. As it turns out, it’s possible for three players to team up in the campaign level “Reclaimer” and hop behind the wheel of one, despite the fact that the story doesn’t call for…

Retro City Rampage arrives on Xbox Live and WiiWare on Wednesday. It’ll be $15.