Gorgeous Games of 2012: The Unfinished Swan

As much as we all love visual eye-candy, there are times when less is more. If done right, you can leave more of a visual impact using simple splashes of black on white than all the technical tricks in heaven and earth. The Unfinished Swan is a testament to this. Continuing in our series of…

The Hobbit Feels Like A Video Game. That’s Not A Good Thing.

“That movie sure felt like watching a video game.” As I walked out of The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey earlier this week, that statement was bouncing around in my head. Bloated, histrionic, pandering and derivative, I found the film to be a resounding disappointment. And it really did feel like a video game. As we…

ChefVille ‘The Winter Feast Begins’ Quests: Everything You Need to Know

ChefVille has donned a Christmas-themed icon and loading screen for a while, but the actual holiday content has just started to roll out with new quests called “The Winter Feast Begins.” These quests come from Bello, and they introduce a variety of new ingredient stalls and cooking appliances to your restaurant. We’re here with a…

At Least 10,000 People Want Dark Souls II On Wii U

Dark Souls II! Announced at the Spike VGAs last week, the sequel to From Software’s torturous role-playing game is coming to PC, PS3, and Xbox 360 next year. No Wii U. Some fans—at least 10,000, for starters—are a little peeved that there are no announced plans to bring Dark Souls II to Nintendo’s new console.…

A Borderlands 2 360 Patch Finally Fixes Rank Glitch, Lets You Redo Challenges

Remember back in September when Borderlands 2 players were experiencing a reset in their Badass ranks? Well Gearbox finally released a chunky 360 patch to fix that, and many, many other issues. Your Badass tokens will be reissued to be spent as you choose. A notable addition that comes with this patch is the ability…

The Most Gleefully Random Card Game is Amazing on iOS

The card experts at Playdek prove their mastery of the mobile deck genre with an amazing port of Andrew Looney’s rule-bending card game Fluxx, now available on iTunes. Fluxx is the most fun two to four people can have with a deck of cards, a glorious cacophony of ever-changing rules and goals. The cards players…

Reality Check: There’s a Strong Chance We’ll Have a PS4 and Xbox 720 A Year From Now

We talk to people. It’s part of our job. And lately we’re not hearing any big bombshells about the next generation of game consoles, but we’re hearing the same buzz we’ve been hearing all year: the next generation of Xbox and PlayStation are right around the corner. Microsoft and Sony have been privately talking up…

You can now sign up for the beta for Company of Heroes 2 Watch this trailer and get hyped.

Here Are Three Possible Reasons For Including Rape In Far Cry 3

Here are a few things you can expect Far Cry 3 to include: shark-punching, pirate-killing, hang gliding and, oh, rape. For those playing, maybe that’s not surprising—as you go along, you suspect it’ll happen at any moment. Your friends have been captured, and two of these friends are attractive young women. One is an award-winning…

Check Out the First Gameplay From Cut the Rope Creator’s Pudding Monsters

It’s not as cute as Om Nom’s candy munching adventure, but it has potential. ZeptoLab’s Pudding Monsters hits the app store on December 20.

You’ll Have a Large Farva and a Liter o’ Fun with Smash Cops Heat

At first I didn’t really get how to drive in Smash Cops Heat. Then Fahey showed me. The gist of it is, you have the authority to drive really stupid. Once you realize that prerogative, the game reveals itself as a chortle-inducing demolition derby going lights-and-sirens through every fire hydrant and phone booth in town.…

Arma 3 has been delayed, and is now slated for a 2013 release. At least we’re still getting DayZ this year… hopefully.

Zynga Launches Mobile Gaming’s Answer to Battlefield Heroes

Available today on iOS and coming soon to Android, The Respawnables is Zynga’s first mobile multiplayer online shooter, bearing a striking resemblance to a pair of popular PC games. Developer Digital Legends worked on the mobile version of Battlefield: Bad Company 2, so drawing a little inspiration from the cartoony free-to-play PC entry in the…

The Story Of Gabe Newell, In One Minute

Brought to you by the same folks who told you everything you need to know about Uncharted in a minute and everything you need to know about Diablo in a minute, here’s Gabe Newell In A Minute. Of course it’d be impossible to sum up all of Newell’s accomplishments in just sixty seconds, but this…

Rockstar Wants to Connect All the Grand Theft Auto Cities In One Big World

Eight-year-old-spoiler: In Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas you can fly to GTA III‘s Liberty City. You can’t explore much of Liberty City but the intent in the 2004 PS2 game was clear: Rockstar’s GTA cities are connected, and players should be able to travel between them. And that’s just what Rockstar wants to let us…

Bubble Safari Goes Mobile, Under the Sea

Suddenly hip to the fact that folks love the hell out of some colored bubble popping, Zynga launches a pair of new games in the seven-month-old Bubble Safari series. Is it still a safari if it’s underwater? First off we’ve got the promised mobile version of the original monkey-powered Bubble Safari, available for free on…

You Can Finally Get a Taste of Rayman Legends in This Week’s Nintendo Download

I really freakin’ loved Rayman Origins when it hit consoles last year. And I loved the Rayman Jungle Run mobile game that showed up on iOS and Android a few months ago. Remember that I raved about the music in those games, too? So, you can probably guess that I’m psyched for Rayman Legends on…

Kotaku Timeline: The Last Guardian

The question whether video games are art has been bothering gamers, journalists and critics alike for a long while. Proponents might say that art is subjective, that anything capable of eliciting a deep emotional response could be considered art. Then, perhaps, there is no greater argument for calling video games art than Team ICO’s work.…

Kotaku Gallery: The Last Guardian

January 24, 2008 click here to return to our last guardian timeline! June 10, 2009 click here to return to our last guardian timeline! June 10, 2009 click here to return to our last guardian timeline! June 10, 2009 click here to return to our last guardian timeline! February 1, 2010 click here to return…

Old Hitman Games to Get HD Treatment

Confirming rumors that emerged this summer, Square-Enix tells us that we can soon expect high-definition re-releases of the earlier games in the Hitman franchise. Both Hitman Trilogy HD and Hitman Trilogy HD Premium Edition are slated to arrive January 29, for PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360, respectively. The compilations will feature: 3 classic Hitman titles…