Evan’s Top Ten Games of 2012

Like my colleagues, I had to come to grips with a lot of games this year. Some of them made me feel like video games as a medium did a significant amount of evolving in the last twelve months. But this list—in no particular order—assembles the games that captivated me while playing them and that…

This Snake Is Really Not All That Solid

Because he is made out of balloons, by Bruce Carr. And he looks like he is begging you to kill him. Metal Gear Solid [via Dorkly]

Microsoft Cracks Down On Unauthorized Halo-Branded Bullets

Any serious gamer who was watching the Discovery Channel’s “Dual Survival” show earlier this week may have recognized the logo that appeared on a box of bullets that were briefly featured in the episode. The box had the words “Halo-Point” on it, written in the font used for Halo, the phenomenally popular M-rated Xbox and…

Don’t Let the Limecat Fool You, This is One Kick-Ass Free-to-Play First-Person Shooter

Do you miss the early days of first-person shooters, when everyone was pretty much equal and the little guy had a chance of coming out on top? I just played a Free for All match of Offensive Combat, dropped in after the round had already started and still managed to win by one kill—and I…

Maybe What Far Cry 3’s Story Needs Is Something Crazy Like Mass Effect’s Indoctrination Theory

Oh, how we try to fix Far Cry 3. Despite noble intentions, everything about the actual story and writing is terrible and shallow. Kirk had an idea about how to fix it: make it so that Jason Brody turns out to be Vaas! But maybe that idea ain’t crazy enough. We need even more insanity.…

Are you a fan of Machinarium? Now you can pre-order this plush Robot Josef straight from the game’s designers

Why Boss Battles Matter

So I’m fighting this giant eyeball. I don’t know why it’s an eyeball—I guess it’s a demon or something, but I don’t know why it takes the shape of a giant eyeball—or why it’s surrounded by colored tiles, or why it keeps emitting clouds of fog. All I know is that it’s in front of…

17 Vatican Virtual Farmers and Other Entertaining FarmVille 2 Stats

They might have lost Kirk Hamilton and Stephen Totilo, but every day eight million other people still hop online to water their virtual crops in Zynga’s social farming sequel, FarmVille 2. According to the first FarmVille 2 Almanac infographic, 17 of those players are playing from the Vatican. I suspect something more sinister afoot. Are…

Phil Hassey made the super-fun Dynamite Jack. Go help him Kickstart a sequel to his great mobile strategy game Galcon

The Donkey Kong Rap, As Performed By Left 4 Dead Zombies

Some people might tell you that Donkey Kong 64 is an awful game. According to 10 year old me (my age the last time I played that game), they’d be wrong. But, hopefully everyone can agree that the Donkey Kong rap is fantastic? Now, take that catchy tune, and add the Left 4 Dead zombies.…

The Steam Holiday Sale Is Getting An Encore This Weekend

Miss any big deals during the Steam holiday sale that’s been going on for the past couple of weeks? No worries. Valve’s got you covered. This weekend, you’ll get a second shot at some of the bigger deals that have gone down this December/January. Here’s Valve: Gamers will have a final opportunity to get their…

The cool-sounding Lewis & Clark history-RPG Meriwether is about to hit its funding goal with a couple days left.

Tina’s Top Ten Games Of 2012

Last year was supposed to be the year I got a beast of a PC set up in my tiny apartment. It didn’t end up being that year. 2013 will be, though, PC gods willing. So even though I missed out on games that looked right up my alley—like Hotline Miami or Natural Selection 2…

We Need The Greatest Generation of Gamers To Save The Future Of Gaming

It used to be so simple. After consoles and PCs emerged from the collapse of arcades as dominant gaming platforms, a contract existed between the gamer and developer: you give me $60 and I give you about 20 hours of fun in a box. This treaty lasted for over 25 years and through seven generations…

ChefVille ‘The New Healthy’ Quests: Everything You Need to Know

As ChefVille‘s newest focus is on eating healthy, we’ve been given a new Healthy Eating Station with plenty of healthy cooking options for our virtual customers. Now, have a new set of three “The New Healthy” quests to complete from Ginger. While the Healthy Eating Station does have a lot of healthy options, we already…

I Finished These 23 Video Games in 2012

For the seventh straight year, I’m publishing a list of all the games I started playing in the past year and all the ones I finished. My totals have dropped yet again. I started 139 games, finished 23 of them. When I started keeping track of this, back in 2006, the idea of finishing games…

Evil is everywhere—in the soda, under the ground and in the banks—in this new DmC trailer.

Almost the Wipeout-Style Futuristic Hovercar Racer the iPhone Has Been Waiting For

I want to go fast—faster than modern day street vehicles are capable of travelling. I’ve felt the need for ground-based speed since I was a small-ish boy, so games like F-Zero, Wipeout and Extreme-G (remember Extreme-G?) have always been a passion. Plenty of mobile developers have attempted to capture the power and energy of the…

Why Super Hexagon Should Be Game of The Year

Earlier today, our own Luke Plunkett nominated Crusader Kings II for Kotaku 2012 game of the year, writing that it’s “the only game on this list that’s about sex and politics.” Sounds like a man who hasn’t played Super Hexagon, right? Or. Actually. No. Super Hexagon (iOS, Steam) isn’t about sex and politics. It’s not…

American McGee’s Studio Is Out Of Money To Finish Their Game, Wants Your $200,000 [UPDATE]

The studio of game designer American McGee—best known for designing the horror game Alice and its sequel, Alice: Madness Returns—has run out of money to finish their next game. McGee and his studio Spicy Horse have been working on a game called Akaneiro for the past year-and-a-half. It’s a free-to-play action-role-playing game set in ancient…