A Survival Horror Game That Never Plays The Same Way Twice

The fear of the unknown is powerful. Darkwood takes that idea to heart: it’s a top-down procedurally generated survival horror game. This means that every time you play, you’ll experience something different. Adding to the tension is the fact that the game features roguelike elements and permadeath. You’ll also be able to craft items, build…

Now That SimCity Has Curved Roads, It Also Can Have…

The city in the above image was created in the beta for the new SimCity and demonstrated that, as always, if gamers can draw some male genitalia into a game, they will. Really, they will Previous SimCity games only let players draw straight rodes into their cities. The new game lets you draw curved roads,…

This Animated Zelda Cake Is The Most Impressive Thing You’ll See Today

Holy crap. Kotaku reader Will Turnbow and his wife made this cake for their daughter’s tenth birthday, and I think it’s no exaggeration to say this is the coolest thing you’ll see today. Based on The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword, the cake includes Skyloft, the Sealed Grounds, the Faron Woods, and a ton of…

In a Week of Big-Name Runner Games, This Indie is On Fire

It’s been a huge week for mobile running games. There’s a new Temple Run that’s tied to Disney’s Oz: The Great and Powerful. Mini Ninjas went for a jog, Sonic the Hedgehog busted out time-tested moves, and the Monday Night Combat folks launched the Outland Games. All of these running games based on popular properties,…

Ultima Creator Richard Garriott Revolutionized Video Game RPGs. Now He Wants To Do It Again.

The man known as Lord British has been gone from video games a long time. Yeah, he’s had the whole space travel thing going on. And there was a messy bit of business where he got half a million dollars stolen from him to buy fancy magician paraphernalia. But it seemed really weird that Richard…

They Want $250,000 To Make A DRM-Free Clone Of SimCity

A team of developers is looking to make a single-player city-building game that seems like the anti-SimCity—and they’re asking for $250,000 on Kickstarter to make it happen. Called Civitas, the project promises to be a SimCity clone that you can actually play offline, which might come as welcome news to fans burned by the recent…

Don’t Worry, God of War Isn’t Going to Run Out of Deities to Beat Up Anytime Soon

There have been five God of War games and, in each one, Kratos slaughters his way through significant portions of the Greco-Roman pantheon. Wow, you might say, is there anybody left for the Ghost of Sparta to be mad at? Yeah, there is. In a post on the PlayStation Blog, God of Ascension lead combat…

This Stunning Life-Sized Princess Zelda Statue Is Entirely Made Of Paper

According to papercraft-master minidelirium, even with instructions and templates it took more than 200 hours to build this stunning life-sized Princess Zelda. That’s a labor of love right there. She is 5’6″ tall (~170cm), made of really strong paper, and looks just like her equivalent in Super Smash Bros. Brawl And what did minidelirium do…

KingsRoad is the Closest You Can Come to Playing Diablo on Facebook

Launched just this week, Rumble Entertainment’s KingsRoad is about as far from a traditional Facebook game as you can get. It’s a Diablo-style action role-playing game with all the bells and whistles — including multiplayer — and it’s servers are running just fine. The people of Alderstone have lost their king, and a mysterious evil…

Our First Look at Shadowrun Returns in Action Shows $1.8 Million Well-Spent

Last year Jordan Weisman’s Harebrained Schemes raised $1,895,772 via Kickstarter to create the ultimate game based on the magic-meets-technology pen-and-paper role-playing game, Shadowrun. Today we get our first look at Shadowrun Returns gameplay, and so far it’s everything I wanted it to be. This should completely wash the bad taste of that first-person shooter from…

Phantasy Star Online 2 for the Vita is as Good as the PC Version

Back before the release of Phantasy Star Online 2 on the PC, one of its main selling points was that it would eventually be released on the PlayStation Vita as well. Now, nearly a year after the game’s PC launch, this has finally come to pass. And while the Vita version of the game remains…

This Isn’t Just a Plastic Model, It’s Also a Sex Toy

When you think of plastic models, you probably think about cutting out parts from those leftover frames (called “sprues”). Painting said parts. Then, putting the kit together to make a robot, a car, or an airplane. You probably do not think of sex toys. As Kotaku Japan points out, this plastic model kit isn’t your…

In South Korea, There’s Already a Line for StarCraft II: Heart of the Swarm

A short line, mind you. Just three dudes. But a very heroic line. It’s no secret that StarCraft is very much a thing in South Korea—and has been for some time. So it should not be surprising to see some of the country’s StarCraft diehards already in line for the game’s upcoming expansion These three…

Nearly 20 Years After its Release, Street Fighter II: The Animated Movie is Still the Best Fighting Game Movie I Have Ever Seen

Over the past few weeks, I’ve been thinking a lot about the connection between games and anime and how as a young gamer I would eagerly watch any game adaptation I could get my hands on. Sometimes (many times) I wound up entering a world of disappointment. However, other times I would come across a…

If Studio Ghibli Made Pixar Films, They’d Look Like This

Studio Ghibli still uses traditional animation techniques. You know, hand-drawn. And while it did loan out Totoro—well, a plush toy version—from My Neighbor Totoro to Pixar’s computer boffins for Toy Story 3, don’t look to Studio Ghibli to go all digital anytime soon. But if Studio Ghibli does, its characters would probably look something like…

According to MCVUK and Eurogamer, SimCity‘s UK launch seems “fine” and working “for now”. Wait until this weekend…

Hacking the Japanese Voices Back into the Games

Let’s face it, over the years there have been some pretty terrible English dubs of Japanese games. Moreover, these horrible dubs often replace an excellent Japanese voice cast. Now while there is nothing wrong with liking your Japanese games in English with English voices, have you ever wished you could just play some of your…

Why South Korean Gamers Are So Pissed about SimCity

Upset about the rocky SimCity rollout? Take heart. You are not alone. Gamers in South Korea are also not happy campers. But it’s not just due to the inability to play. Here’s what happened: When South Korean gamers couldn’t connect to servers, the official SimCity Korean Facebook page called out the country for piracy. You…

Oh My, How the Pokémon Anime Has Changed

The Pokémon anime debuted on Japanese television what seems like ages ago. The year 1996 is a distant memory. But last night, it came flooding back. As previously mentioned, Ash’s Charizard is returning to the Pokémon animated series as a regular character, er, Pocket Monster. What last night’s episode illustrated was just how different the…

Assassin’s Creed’s New Protagonist Sure Looks Like This Porn Star

At first glance, Edward Kenway—the protagonist of the upcoming Assassin’s Creed IV game—looks like your typical leading dude. Stoic, beefy, masculine. Nothing special, right? Those with more astute observation skills over at Reddit, like zinadello13, noticed that Kenway bears a striking resemblance to Capt. Edward Reynolds from Pirates. As in, the (in)famous porn from 2005…