Skyrim Mod Videos Look Like A Next-Gen Elder Scrolls Game

It’s one thing to look at screenshots and gape, but video of Skyrim looking like a next-gen game is something else entirely. Austrian PC gamer SkyrimTuner runs a YouTube channel where all he does is post footage of the game running with all kinds of mods, sometimes with over 150 going at once. It’s basically…

No, the Government is Not Paying $1 Million for People to Play Video Games

Did you know the government is spending $1.2 million to pay people to play World of Warcraft? I didn’t either! Maybe that’s because it ain’t true, but truth is a relative thing when you’re one of the assclowns leading an intellectually bankrupt legislature that can’t go two months without a self-inflicted hostage crisis. That describes…

Mojam is over; you may download the nine titles it spawned—like Endless Nuclear Kittens and donate here until March 2.

Watch the Oscars pre-show from your console. Xbox Live Gold subscribers get the AP’s red carpet coverage beginning at 6.

Ready for Some Football? On the PS4, Not Really …

David Halberstam was killed in a car wreck the day I bought my Xbox 360. I don’t mean to trivialize the death of a great writer—October 1964 is one of my favorite books, in any subject—but it’s God’s honest truth that his death is the only reason I remember anything about the day. The rest…

What If Sony Hired Leonard Nimoy to Pitch the PlayStation 4—in 1981?

Hats off to IGN for making the past into a prologue with this PlayStation 4 hype video demake starring a pornstached Leonard Nimoy from 30 years ago. My God, I think the last time I heard that opening synthesizer anthem was in a Raycom highlight show before Maryland and Duke played in the 1984 ACC…

The Week in Games: Brütal Retürn

You know it’s a slow cycle when Brutal Legend—remember that?—makes its PC debut, nearly five years after it came out on console. Star Wars Pinball, DLC for Borderlands 2 and Skyrim (on PS3) round out the week’s highlights. Monday • Dungeonland Dungeon Maestro Grimoire Pack (PC) Tuesday • Star Wars Pinball (PS3, Vita) • Driftmoon…

Cops Say Dad, Visiting Badly Burned Son, Stole Three Game Consoles From a Hospital

A five-year-old boy playing with a cigarette lighter set his shirt on fire and went to the hospital with serious burns on Wednesday. Cops allege that his father went to the hospital’s family waiting room, and consoled himself with a Wii, PlayStation and Xbox raided from a supply cabinet. Pittsburgh police say that Jim Skursky…

Kotaku ‘Shop Contest: Hands Down

Before you climb all over Bungie’s boy band for doing nothing and still looking ridiculous at the PS4 event, I want you to understand how damn hard it is get on stage and do nothing with your hands and not look ridiculous. This is why people still use handheld microphones or speak at lecterns they…

Sunday Comics: Might as Well Jump

Welcome to your Sunday read of the week’s best in web comics. Make sure to click on the expand button in the bottom right to enlarge each comic. Nerf NOW!! by Josué Pereira. Published Feb. 20. Read more of Nerf NOW!! Penny Arcade by Jerry Holkins and Mike Krahulik. Published Feb. 20. Read more of…

Kotaku ‘Shop Contest: Diggin’ in the Desert: The Winners

There are two types of people in this world, my friend: Those who start video game companies, and those who dig. Nolan Bushnell is both. A staged shot of Atari’s founder in the Dubai desert launched last week’s ‘Shop Contest. Though perennial all-star Sciteach got two entries in this week, he’s not the overall winner—uscg_pa…

Oh, look, Aquaman can win a fight after all. Oh, it’s against Cyborg … does that really count?

Captivate, Capcom’s huge annual showcase of upcoming games going back to 2008, won’t be held this year.

War Never Changes—It Just Gets Modded

The modern fighting force must be highly adaptable to enemies capable of asymmetrically modifying the theater of combat at any time. No general in history has ever said that, it’s just some official-sounding jargon-laced bullshit I thought up to explain why Pac-Man, Skyrim and Team Fortress 2 all fit together in this video by AndrewMFilms.…

Less Than Two Weeks Before Release, MLB 2K13 Gets a Trailer

Last month I cast doubt on the idea that MLB 2K13 would be noticeably different from MLB 2K12. This trailer from 2K Sports, released Thursday, shows me that I am wrong. MLB 2K13 will have the Houston Astros realigned to the American League, and they’ll be wearing their new uniforms. So if you are a…

Ubisoft Wants ‘to Improve Our Relationship’ with PC Gamers

Ubisoft’s name has been mud with PC gamers for a good long while. Ending always-on requirement to play games and other DRM restrictions helped it somewhat, but it is still widely perceived as a publisher most interested in Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 titles—and for good reason, as Rayman Legends fans might say. So the…

This is Boba Fett, one of the tables in Zen’s Star Wars Pinball series, which starts rolling out on Tuesday.

Judging by the .gifs, Microsoft’s Console Announcement Should Be Right Around the Corner

Scuttlebutt has it that Microsoft is eyeballing an April date to reveal its next console, in an event similar to what Sony held for the PS4 on Wednesday. While this is very, very thinly sourced, we’ve heard the same murmuring, and a domain registration by the company that handles Microsoft’s E3 keynotes has drawn a…

This Week in the Business: ‘$299 is the Magic Price Point for PS4’

What’s happened in the business of video games this past week … QUOTE | “$299 is the magic price point for PS4.”—Analyst Billy Pidgeon talking about what sort of pricing Sony needs for the PS4 in order to maximize sales while avoiding huge losses QUOTE | “Whatever launches in 2013 or 2014 or 2015, will…

The Moneysaver: Bio One, Get Another Free

Kotaku’s twice weekly roundup of the best discounts, combinations, offers and incentives in video gaming is brought to you by Dealzon Downloadables Green Man Gaming • Mar. 26 BioShock Infinite is $59.99 from Green Man Gaming and comes with several noteworthy bonuses: a $15 Credit or $14 Cash Back, the original Bioshock game, plus your…