If Video Games Are Going to Grow Up, Then the Bullying Needs to Stop

Disclaimer: I was a key creative in what is often considered one of the more “dudebro” franchises out there, Gears of War. I’d also like to remind everyone out there that I went out of my way in working with our team, the writers, and Epic’s artists to make sure that female characters are represented…

For Men Who Play as Women, Tiger Woods Will Present a Difficult Choice

For several years now, golf fans have been able to create a female professional and play the men’s PGA Tour with her. The creation of an LPGA Tour mode in this year’s game is another step forward. It’s the tour’s first appearance ever in a console video game, and the first time gamers may play…

God of War Ascension: The Kotaku Review

For the first four and a half hours of the new God of War, you’d be forgiven for thinking that the game was made by malfunctioning robots. They were given the God of War formula and with swiveling clamp-hands, they made what is technically a God of War game. Kratos is angry! Chain-blades must be…

If Monty Python Made a GTA V Trailer, It Would Look Exactly Like This

You know how Rockstar Games rolls, right? There’s no clue as to when we’re going to get another glimpse at Grand Theft Auto V. So, thirsty fans have gone ahead and made their own. The clip is made up of still images that have been released for the game, with little bits of limited animation…

This is Obviously a Heavily-Modded PC Version Skyrim Statue

Now available for preorder from the fine folks at Gaming Heads, this $299.99 statue of Skyrim‘s champion would not be possible without the PC modding community. You just don’t get this sort of visual fidelity with today’s game consoles. Now I’m not saying a great statue couldn’t have been based on the unmodded PC or…

New Sleeping Dogs DLC Lets You Be a Ticket-Writing, Ass-Kicking Cop Again

The hero of United Front’s hit open-world title spent most of the game undercover, acting more as a gangster and stirring up trouble to win the trust of the Hong Kong underworld. Now, Wei Shen finally gets to be an out-in-the-open law enforcement official in the new Year of the Snake DLC for Sleeping Dogs…

Blade Runner director Ridley Scott will be overseeing 12 new sci-fi shorts for YouTube mega-channel Machinima.

A game that explores how even the simplest things are difficult, if not impossible, when you have dysphoria.

My SimCity City Thrived Offline For 19 Minutes

I ran a test yesterday. I loaded the always-online SimCity—the game that EA says just can’t be easily made to run offline—and then pulled the proverbial cord. I switched off my Internet to see how long I could keep on playing. It didn’t last long, but what I discovered intrigued me. Prior to the official…

More Leaked Screenshots From Star Wars: First Assault Show A Glorious Cloud City

Yesterday we told you about Star Wars: First Assault, the troubled multiplayer shooter that may never see the light of day thanks to uncertainty at the development studio LucasArts. First Assault was to be a downloadable “predecessor” to Star Wars: Battlefront III. It was supposed to come out this spring, but LucasArts froze all hiring…

Journey to Hell is Just as Unpleasant as It Sounds

Gritty heroes fight demons from hell with guns in a brownish world spiraling out of control — if Journey to Hell‘s story sounds clichéd, that’s because it’s supposed to be. It says so right in the iTunes listing. “Cliché-packed Journey to Hell” the developers call it, an apt description if I’ve ever read one. Journey…

How To Increase Your Odds of Winning The Ol’ Dating Game

Ahh, first dates. You wash your armpits in the sink, bring extra breath freshener, and study up on the day’s trending Twitter topics, and yet you still feel hopelessly unprepared. Well, if you take the one-question survey below, you could be entered to win a $150 Ticketmaster gift card—the perfect cheapskate way to get 2…

Offer for 700 Free, Downloadable Marvel Comics Pulled Due to Technical Difficulties

In what might seem a wee bit familiar to fans of a certain city-building video game, the folks at ComiXology have had to apologize for offering a product that their servers can’t handle. Two days after the leading digital seller of comics announced a short-time offer for 700 free, downloadable first issues of Marvel comic…

GameStop’s former head of PR, guilty of stealing $1.7 million from the company, was sentenced to 51 months in prison.

Michigan Declared the Winner as NCAA Football 14‘s Election Crisis is Resolved

My fellow Americans, our long—and I do mean long—nightmare has passed, and we have peacefully chosen a new cover star for NCAA Football 14, restoring faith in our great democracy and the rule of law. Following a 77-day fan-voted election that actually saw the investigation of voting fraud, Michigan quarterback Denard Robinson has been declared…

Watch Players Pull Off Stunts With Battlefield 3‘s New Dirt Bike

You know what every first-person shooter needs? I mean, besides guns? Dirt bikes. And every other high-speed vehicle imaginable. Because if shooting a helicopter down with an RPG is fun, it’s even more fun when doing so while also riding a dirt bike. The latest expansion to Battlefield 3, End Game, introduced a few new…

Ouch: Surgeon Simulator 2013’s Brain Surgery Treats Patients’ Skulls Like Eggs.

So, Surgeon Simulator 2013 came out of nowhere (well, this year’s Global Game Jam) to be one of the most hilarious, disturbing games that some folks have played this year. And that was before the folks at Bossa Studios added brain surgery to their in-progress game. A new video gives a glimpse of just what…

Heart of the Swarm Has an Official Boy Band Music Video, and It’s Not Half-Bad

In the StarCraft community, making parody music videos has always been a big thing—just look at Husky‘s Nerd Alert or Temp0. Or New Zealand-based Viva La Dirt League — the closest thing to a StarCraft boy band we’ll ever get (though, let’s admit, they should be in a higher league) — whose latest video is…

Microtransactions for ‘Customization Items’ Come to Black Ops 2 on Xbox 360

Beginning Wednesday, Call of Duty: Black Ops 2 will begin offering “personal customizations” on the Xbox 360, the game’s community manager said this morning. The items don’t affect gameplay—they’re items like weapon skins, targeting reticles, and player calling cards. Moreover, the multiplayer map Nuketown 2025, originally a preorder incentive back in November, will be made…

Sony tells Joystiq that they’re changing the name of God of War: Ascension’s “Bros Before Hos” trophy via a patch.