Lazy People Can Play Real Arcade Games and Win Real Prizes in Real Time

Claw games, crane games, U.F.O. Catchers—whatever you want to call them—are iconic arcade machines. Unlike many other arcade games, claw games don’t get ported. They do now. Netch or “Net Catcher” is an online claw game that isn’t only real time, it’s real. On the site, there are a couple different crane games offering different…

Don’t Build This Model Gun if You Plan on Committing Crimes

In sci-fi anime Psycho-Pass, authorities take out individuals with a high probability to commit crimes. Their weapons of choice to suppress precrime are called the “Dominator” (above) and can only be used on those likely to do illegal deeds. As Otaku News pointed out, Japanese gun model maker Poseidon produced this full-scale Dominator model. A…

Soon, You Can Eat Kentucky Fried Chicken on Japan Airlines

Airplane food sucks, especially in coach. Even when it’s good, it’s so bad. No wonder Japanese air carrier JAL is looking beyond traditional sky meals. JAL wants its meals to be finger lickin’ good. Literally. From December to next February, JAL is collaborating with KFC for what it’s calling “AIR Kentucky Fried Chicken.” Clever! Japanese…

DRM Goes Haywire, Drops Skull & Crossbones on Game Sprites

Game Maker is a useful tool for indie developers, allowing them to craft simple games made from 2D sprites. Over the weekend, it got a whole lot less useful, as the program’s digital rights management system went haywire, branding many people’s artwork with a giant skull and crossbones. That’s normally the punishment for when the…

Well, Planetside 2 Looks Like One Enormous Murder Simulator

The whole point of Planetside 2 is that it’s a big shooter. Even by Battlefield or ArmA II standards, it’s enormous. Big maps, even bigger battles. To give you an idea of just how big, take a look at this amazing video. This is apparently 100% “organic”, in that none of the actions were staged…

There’s a Documentary About Crytek, And It’s Surprisingly Good

Being the result of a corporate partnership between Intel, VICE magazine, Kill Screen and whatever studio is being covered, the new Behind The Scenes web series should be the very worst in developer diaries. But it’s not. It’s really well done. I mean, yeah, in parts they’re selling you on Crysis 3, but for the…

I Think This is What Hobbiton Would Look Like in the Distant Future

Jason Stokes is an artist who worked for Guild Wars developers ArenaNet for nearly a decade, contributing to both games in the MMO series. He now owns and teaches at Futurepoly, a digital arts school that specifically targets the video game industry. If you want to see more of Jason’s amazing work, you can check…

Ubisoft Considering Co-op For Assassins Creed III Sequels

A report on website TGL claims to have screengrabs of a survey currently being conducted by Ubisoft, sounding out people’s thoughts on the future of the Assassin’s Creed franchise. The two pertinent questions they’ve posted give an insight into things Ubisoft is obviously thinking about. The first is asking whether people would be into the…

Nintendo’s President is “Very Sorry” About All Those Wii U Updates

When users first got a Wii U home after its launch, it was tough to just plug it in and play. There were firmware updates. Many services then required their own updates. You couldn’t play Wii games without downloading updates. Updates updates updates While it was an understandable inconvenience – come on, it’s a new…

Real-Life Mario Kart Race Ends in Broken Bones

For his school’s annual billy cart derby, 12 year-old Australian William Wong did the awesome thing and dressed as Mario, even building his cart to be a replica, of sorts, of the plumber’s more recent vehicles in the Mario Kart series. What’s more, via The Australian, he won the race! But then he started celebrating.…

This Week’s Android Charts: Incredibly Late Morning Edition

What’s that? It’s a little late for this morning’s weekly Android game charts? Poppycock! It’s never too late for the morning. Well, I suppose the next morning would be too late. Looks like I made it just in time for Ralph to wreck it once more. Now that Ralph and the magical Vanellope have finished…

Persona 4 Golden Takes On Twilight

What’s that? A book in Persona 4 Golden called Witch Detective? And it’s about vampires? Ouch. (via TinyCartridge)

If Only Sauron Had Xenomorphs On His Side

In honor of my (and our) recent rewatch of the Lord of the Rings trilogy, I thought I’d share this oldie but goodie forum thread that wonders: How would Xenomorphs from Aliens do in Lord of the Rings? This is my favorite kind of speculation, largely because everyone in the thread is so considered and…

Zelda Gets The Skrillex Treatment, And It’s Surprisingly Great

Yeah, I know. Skrillex game channels The Legend of Zelda. Seems like it might be bad, or at least, haphazard. But as it turns out, Skrillex Quest, a new browser game, is really pretty cool. It comes as something less of a surprise considering that it comes from Jason Oda, the same guy who brought…

Combining war, politics and the economy in a massive Cold War strategy game? Must be a Paradox joint.

After Watching The Japanese Launch Trailer For Professor Layton vs. Ace Attorney, I Really Hope It Comes Here

Not that I didn’t want it here before. But come on. Professor Layton and Phoenix Wright teaming up to solve puzzles and investigate murder mysteries? I WANT IN. Layton vs. Ace Attorney is out in Japan tomorrow. Still no word on U.S. release.

Far Cry 3‘s Intro Embodies Its Best And Worst Writing

As a game, Far Cry 3 shines quite brightly. As a story, it’s a little bit more of a mixed bag. It has some excellent moments, some fantastic characters, and some really funny writing. It’s also dumb when it doesn’t need to be, and misses some opportunities to tell a more interesting and subversive story.…

My 13-Year-Old Baldur’s Gate Review, Enhanced Edition

When PC role-playing classic Baldur’s Gate was released in 1998, I was writing for a small gaming news site called Videogamers.com. BioWare’s masterpiece was my first official PC game review. While Videogamers.com is long gone, the magical Internet Wayback Machine houses an archived version of the review, at least until I figure out a way…

Looks Like We’ll Be Getting More Dishonored Games, For Better Or For Worse

It warms my disease-ridden, whale-oil tainted heart to hear that the wonderful Dishonored was a financial success for its publisher Bethesda. In this age of sequels and iron-sights, games this original, smart and flat-out good don’t come around that often. As quoted by Destructoid, Bethesda PR boss Pete Hines said of the game’s success, “We’re…

Michelle Obama Had No Idea What a Wii U Was (But It’s OK, Some Kid Told Her)

You’d think being the First Lady of the United States would mean you’re on top of things, but not even the most powerful household on Earth is up to speed on everything Take Nintendo’s new Wii U, for example. Because it’s got kinda the same name as its predecessor, it’s understandable some people are a…