It’s Surprising How Much Art Goes Into Making Halo’s Multiplayer Maps

You normally associate great concept art with the act of building a world and its characters. You know, singleplayer stuff. But a shooter’s multiplayer maps still need to be designed and dreamt up, and in cases like this the art can be just as stunning. The pieces you’re about to see are by Michael Pedro,…

A Sad Farewell To The Game Studios We Lost In 2012

We may have played a lot of great games in 2012, but let’s not forget about one of the saddest facets of the video game industry: that even big, successful developers can be shut down at a moment’s notice. This video from IGN pays tribute to those studios and companies that, for whatever reason, had…

Valve’s Next Game Is So Popular Nearly 200,000 People Are Playing It And It’s Not Even Out Yet

Valve is pretty popular. So too are MOBA games like League of Legends. So I guess that explains why there’s now over 150,000 people playing Valve’s DOTA 2 at any given time before the game’s even technically out. As those without access are aware of, you can only get the game if you’re invited, as…

Wow, There Were Female Pilots Cut From Return of the Jedi

This is probably the most interesting piece of Star Wars trivia I have ever come across. Turns out that there were four female pilots cast and filmed for Return of the Jedi’s climatic Battle of Endor. Two of them were A-Wing pilots, the other two piloting an X-Wing, with one, played by Vivienne Chandler, having…

Assassin’s Creed III’s Credits Were The Worst Thing I Didn’t Play All Year

My heart goes out to Kirk for his struggles with the end of Assassin’s Creed III, because I must have failed that mission around 30 times before finally nailing it. As frustrating as it was, though, I have to disagree that it’s the worst thing about Assassin’s Creed III. The worst thing comes shortly afterwards.…

It’s Santa Vs. Snoop-Moses In A Rhyme-Slinging Throwdown

I guess the headline really sums it up. Santa and Moses have, apparently, had a longstanding beef that can only be settled one way: Rap-off. Also, Moses is actually Snoop Lion, whose name I will let slide into this article with absolutely no sidelong glance, K-9 reference, or anything. Good times. How’s everyone doing? Getting…

The Best PC Mods of 2012

They are, beyond control schemes and visuals, the single best reason to play games on a PC. Mods can, at their laziest, tweak a game so its settings or features behave more to your liking. At their most ambitious, they can transform your entire experience, leaving you with something that feels like an all-new game.…

The Smiths’ Greatest Hits, Re-Imagined As Classic Video Game Covers

Morrissey and his not-so-merry band of misfits could get a bit glum, and one wouldn’t think they’d fit with the candy-colored world of classic video games. One wouldn’t think Good thing there’s artist Butcher Billy to prove us wrong, posting this amazing gallery of classic Smiths tunes re-imagined as video game covers. I would hang…

Gorgeous Games of 2012: Assassin’s Creed III

Assassin’s Creed III was one of 2012’s most divisive games, but can we agree to enjoy a forest vista for a second? Look at that bird. Look at all those trees to climb. And, best of all… there’s no one to chase See more of Kotaku video editor Chris Person’s cinemagraphs of 2012’s most gorgeous…

Can’t Download Halo 4‘s Crimson Map Pack? Here’s What You Do. [Update]

Do you have the Limited Edition of Halo 4 or perhaps you’ve purchased the game’s map pass? If you have either of these you may also have had trouble downloading the new Crimson map pack that released just yesterday. Today I popped in my copy of Halo 4 to download the pack but was greeted…

Grammy-Nominated Journey Composer To Make Music For… Leisure Suit Larry?

Austin Wintory’s soaring orchestral score for Thatgamecompany’s Journey will not be forgotten anytime soon. Not only was it a fine collection of music in its own right, it is the first video game soundtrack to be nominated for a Grammy But of course, Wintory’s career hasn’t culminated with Journey. Like any professional, he’s moved on…

There’s A Hilarious Reason They Called The Game Warface

Warface? WARFACE. The people behind one of gaming’s most preposterous titles—a free-to-play shooter that somehow manages to combine the words “War” and “Face” without cracking a smile—have explained the rationale behind their decision. Speaking to Rock Paper Shotgun in a recent Q&A (which is worth a read!), Crytek boss Cevat Yerli answers the most important…

• Halo 4 is $34.99, at NewEgg, free shipping. Elsewhere it’s $50 or more. [Thanks, Dealzon]

Forza Developer: Cars Are Basically Big Trumpets

“The best way I’ve ever been able to describe a car is think of it as a really complicated wind instrument. The engine is sucking air in, it’s causing an explosion, and it’s sucking air out. That creates a note that resonates through the pipe much as you would with a brass instrument. By adjusting…

Hotline Miami Has Been ‘Torrented To Extraordinary Levels’

Hotline Miami is the sort of game that is unabashedly Not For Everyone. But it IS for people who like awesome things, and so it’s heartening to hear that it has sold well. Speaking with Eurogamer, Hotline Miami creators Jonatan “Cactus” Söderström and Dennis Wedin revealed that the game has sold 130,000 copies since its…

24 Signs Of How Far Video Games Have Come. Enough To Make You Feel Old.

We’ve already looked at the signs that show how video games have matured in the last year Pulling from the ESA’s 2012 statistics on video gaming, BuzzFeed has put together a list of 24 signs that video games have grown up in a much more simplistic way: namely, that they’re damn old now and maybe…

British Developers Get Tax Breaks For Including British Characters in Their Games

Say you’re a game developer in the UK. You’re working on a new game about, I don’t know, aliens planning a casino heist. You’re thinking about setting it in Las Vegas, or maybe Dubai. But wait… wouldn’t it be cool if you set the game in jolly ol’ England? It would be! And best of…

So, How Good Are You at Humming Music?

Hum a Song is a free social humming game for iOS. It’s like Song Pop, except you hum the songs. It’s rather fun. More importantly, it’s an opportunity to post a trailer filled with close-ups of people’s mouths. I never pass up such an opportunity.

Six Comics to Make Your Blood Run Cold This Week

If you’re here in the Panel Discussion programming block, you might be a lapsed comics reader, trying to find a way back to the JLA Satellite. Or you might someone killing time until you pick up your weekly Wednesday pull list. Or maybe you’ve said goodbye to dozens of longboxes to embrace the promise of…

The Art of Remember Me Previews the Look of Capcom’s Futuristic Action Game

It sort of seemed that Remember Me popped up out of nowhere (despite actually having been shown before) when Capcom screened it at GamesCom this year. The publisher seems to be keeping the hype machine for the game at a medium simmer, with a handful of glimpses that offer a sense of what heroine Nilin’s…