You Can Never Really Have Enough Zelda-Like Indie Games

This is Anodyne, a top-down 16-bit Zelda-like game created by two guys: Sean Hogan and Jonathan Kittaka. On one hand, we’ve seen a lot of action-adventure indies that try to clone that addictive, delightful, swipe-solve formula that makes the Zelda games so good. On the other hand, can you really have enough Zelda clones? I…

Yep, Bungie’s Still Answering Halo Fan Mail

Though Bungie no longer is the steward of the Halo franchise, after five games and a dozen years, it’s hard for some to let go. Or, well, if your Halo gaming career begins with ODST, perhaps you’re not that plugged-in to begin with. But the guy did draw an awesome picture, and Bungie does promise…

These Fans Want $75,000 To Make A Half-Life Short Film Series

You might remember “Enter The Freeman,” a very cool short Half-Life film we featured a few months ago The fan-film’s creators are crowd-funding $75,000 to turn it into a whole series, which may or may not be welcome news to Valve, considering that CEO Gabe Newell just announced he’d like to make movies with director…

Return to the Airbender Universe with Two New Comics Projects

You could make a pretty good case for Avatar: The Last Airbender being one of the best new pop culture mythologies to debut in the last decade or so. Creators Michael Dante DiMartino and Bryan Konietzko made a world where young people embodied hope, even as they were thrust into a war that tore their…

It’s Stupid How Excited I Am About the Tamagotchi App

The toy that taught an entire generation to care for something that didn’t exist is returning soon, and I’ve never been so excited about the prospect of cleaning up poop. Bandai Co. and Sync Beatz Entertainment are breathing new life and love into the Tamagotchi on Android and iOS. Mobile phones are the perfect place…

Half-Life, Portal Movies Are In Early Development Stages, J.J. Abrams Says

Appearing with the director J.J. Abrams at D.I.C.E. Summit today, Valve’s Gabe Newell said the company would “find out if there’s a way we can work with you on a Portal and Half-Life movie.” Polygon reports that things may be a little further along than that. Speaking after the panel, Abrams told Polygon “We are…

They’re Attractive, They’re Women, And They Play Games Live On The Internet. But They’re Not ‘Camwhores.’

Back when Kotaku wrote about a troll that targeted women, there was one critical word that kept popping up in responses: camwhore. Also curious: the women in the videos streamed themselves casually playing video games, and they took donations. It was as if some folks were saying, no, the harassment these women face is actually…

Check Out Remember Me‘s Combat, Memory Wiping, And More

The upcoming sci-fi action/adventure game Remember Me has caught a lot of eyes around Kotaku way. Developed by Dontnod and published by Capcom, it’s a dystopian sci-fi stealth-brawler staring an amnesiac woman is remarkable enough, but the fact that the game lets you actually climb into someone’s memory and re-arrange it to affect the present…

Nine Ways Video Games Need to Grow Up, From the Guy Who Made Heavy Rain

“These are exciting times for the gaming industry,” game designer David Cage of Quantic Dream (Heavy Rain, Beyond: Two Souls) said as he began a talk here in Las Vegas that seemed set to criticize the modern state of gaming. After all, the talk was called: “The Peter Pan Syndrome: The Industry That Refused to…

FarmVille 2 Gothic Revival Kitchen Recipes: Everything You Need to Know

If you’re ready to really dive into the Gothic Revival theme in FarmVille 2, you can now purchase some of the theme’s limited edition trees and put their fruits to good use in the game’s Crafting Kitchen. There are three new recipes available to cook in this theme, and all three of them require Beautyberry…

Sounds Like Young Han Solo And Boba Fett Will Get Their Own Star Wars Movies

“Boba Fett? BOBA Fett?? Where?” Yesterday, Disney’s CEO confirmed that in addition to the upcoming Star Wars trilogy, there will be all kinds of single-character spin-off films Today, Entertainment Weekly is reporting that one of those films will feature young Han Solo, and another will star Boba Fett. According to EW, the Han story will…

If you want a physical copy of upcoming dungeon-crawler Class of Heroes 2, you can pre-order for $35 on the website

Sony’s Potential Indie Game Movie, A Marvel-Themed Puzzle Quest, And Other Gaming Secrets

The LinkedIn profile of Avalanche Studios cofounder and CEO Christofer Sundberg provides some compelling insight into some of the company’s former and current projects. Sundberg details two unannounced Avalanche open-world action-adventure projects that were cancelled in 2008, contracts that he said were worth upwards of $35 million. The first, a title for THQ called Arcadia…

Gabe Newell and J.J. Abrams Say They Want to Make Movies and Games Together

Today at the game industry’s DICE conference, the guy in charge of Valve and the man directing both Star Wars and Star Trek said that they want to make Portal and Half-Life movies. And games, too. Gabe Newell and J.J. Abrams spoke about storytelling in each of their mediums. When the panel ended, this exchange…

Ninja Gaiden 3: Razor’s Edge is leaving behind Wii U exclusivity and coming to Xbox 360 and PS3 on April 2nd.

Assassin’s Creed III‘s Three-Part Evil Washington DLC Will Be Out In February, March, April

We already knew that part one of Assassin’s Creed III‘s three-part downloadable content pack, The Tyranny of King Washington, will be out on February 19. Now we know about the next two. Part two launches March 19. Part three is out April 23. That’s for Xbox 360, PS3, and PC. Each part of the trilogy…

We’re Liveblogging Gabe Newell and J.J. Abrams’ Talk at D.I.C.E. Summit

Gabe Newell, the president and cofounder of Valve Corporation, and J.J. Abrams, the newly minted director of the next Star Wars film, are together for a keynote talk kicking off the D.I.C.E. Summit in Las Vegas. The talk isn’t being livestreamed, but Kotaku editor-in-chief Stephen Totilo is in the room, and will be liveblogging what…

This Is How To Avoid Paying Microtransactions In Dead Space 3 [UPDATE]

Via GameFront, here’s how to take advantage of an exploit to farm unlimited resources in horror-survival game Dead Space 3, which came out yesterday for Xbox 360 and PS3. This, of course, means you won’t have to pay for microtransactions in the new EA-published game, which allows you to pay real money in exchange for…

The People Who Made Bulletstorm Are Making A ‘Weird Fiction Horror’ Game

The high-ranking members who left Bulletstorm studio People Can Fly last August have just announced their first game, The Vanishing of Ethan Carter. The studio—called The Astronauts—was founded by Adrian Chmielarz (former People Can Fly creative director), Andrzej Poznanski and Michal Kosieradzki, and they plan to release the “weird fiction horror” PC game later this…

Table Top Racing Just Isn’t Fast Enough to Meet My Toy Car Driving Needs

Sure, the venerable kart racing genre revolves around wacky track designs and a rotation of goofy-lethal power-ups. But, no matter how fun the chaos is, I still need to feel like I’m going really fast. Table Top Racing denies me that rush. And, worse, it doesn’t offer up a satisfying option for blowing away the…