Battlefield 3 Will End Not With a Whimper But With A Dirt Bike [UPDATE: Video Pulled]

A YouTube user has uploaded the first teaser for Battlefield 3’s newest expansion, End Game. Among other things, the trailer features players chasing each other on dirt bikes, dodging helicopter fire with a dirt bike, and detonating explosives… while on a dirt bike. Dirt bikes! End Game is scheduled to arrive March next year. Battlefield…

Somebody Who Actually Researches Video Games Says Proof that Media Influences Violence Just Isn’t There

The flurry of private citizens and professional pundits opining about what role video games might have played in the awful Sandy Hook shootings probably isn’t going to stop soon. And while commentary has been ranged from inflammatory to poignant, the central issue of whether games influence behavior is far from being a fact. Just listen…

You’ll Want a Red Mage Muppet after Seeing This Final Fantasy Musical

Four years ago today, we featured a video from Brentalfloss—the New York comedian Brent Black—for the very first time. On that anniversary, we’re delighted to bring you what might be his finest work yet, a Muppets musical starring the mages from Final Fantasy. “I’ve been working on this video off-and-on for over 2 years,” Black…

As part of Zynga’s continuing consolidation efforts, Zynga Japan will be shutting down on January 31. [Dr. Zerkan Toto]

Minecraft: The Story of Mojang: The Kotaku Review

You’ve heard it a million times already. How Minecraft is not just some little game about surviving the night and making stuff, but a major milestone for the entire medium. Along with how it has forever transformed the way that games are made, played, even perceived. So on and so forth. But it’s getting to…

The Music in the Fanta Fruit Slam Game is Driving Me Insane

There’s a new Fanta advergame on Facebook and iOS, giving fans of the increasingly popular soft drink a chance to slowly succumb to the madness of its thumping, giggling theme music. Fanta Fruit Slam isn’t all that bad for a game that is advertising the syrupy-sweet fruit soda line. Utilizing Unity 3D, developer Fishlabs Entertainment…

Don’t Send Christmas Cards. Send Awesome Gamer Cards Instead.

OK, so maybe it’ll be too late for Christmas once you actually get your hands on these, but hey, you could always save them for next holiday season. The four cards, made by the talented Game & Graphics (I’ve actually got G&G shirt), don’t just look neat on their own, they also combine to form…

For Every Step Tales of Xillia 2 Takes Forward, It Takes Another Back

Back in June, Bandai-Namco announced that Tales of Xillia, the first Tales game designed specifically for the PS3, would be heading to America, Europe, and Australia in 2013. But while Western fans can do nothing but wait anxiously, Japanese fans have had time to play not only the original game but also its sequel. Tales…

The Best Japan-Only Games of 2012

Japan: The birthplace of Mario, Sonic, Final Fantasy, and Street Fighter—just to name a few. Each year scores of games are made and released here. The best of these come to the West—or rather most of the best do. Each year, a few great titles manage to slip through the cracks for whatever reason and…

Make My Battles Active-Time

I love JRPGs. Since discovering them in the sixth grade, I have played dozens upon dozens of them. But my primary reason for playing them has always been the plot—the epic 40-plus-hour adventure. The battle system, on the other hand, has tended to be rather a boring chunk of useless padding—it’s just something that comes…

Custom Metroid Action Figures Wage Epic Desktop War

Pictured above, two action figures. One, a custom piece based on Figma’s Samus (it’s got stuff like a new head), the other, a way more custom piece showing a Chozo. Both were done by Jin Saotome, a master toysmith we’ve featured here many times before. What’s cool about the Chozo is not just how he…

Behold, A Portal Gun. Signed By Valve.

Let’s say you’re a Valve super-fan. I know I’m reaching somebody out there with that label. And you want to buy yourself something nice. Something Valve-related that nobody else has. Forget lithographs or coffee mugs. You need to get this. It’s a replica Portal Gun signed by the development team. All proceeds go to charity…

There’s Another Deus Ex Movie Coming, And It Looks Amazing

This isn’t an official project. Let’s get that out of the way first. That’s still cooking. This is, believe it or not, a trailer for a fan-made short film, put together by a (relatively) small crew and making the most of some very talented actors, effects people and martial artists/stunt performers. This trailer, and the…

The Best Walking Stick On Earth is A Bungie Walking Stick. With a Sword In It.

When Brian “Joram” Little was diagnosed with Parkinson’s Disease, his friends—a group formed having played classic Bungie games Myth and Myth II—decided to get together and get him a present. He’d said, maybe as a joke, that “I will NEVER use a walker, but I will accept a lacquered black stick topped with a silver,…

A Black & White Look At Diablo III

Jean-Baptiste Monge is an accomplished fantasy illustrator, whose sketchbook style makes his drawings look as much like field journal entries as works of art. Monge was one of the artists who worked on Blizzard’s Diablo III: Book of Cain, an art book and guide for the action RPG released late last year In the gallery…

There Was, However Briefly, A Minecraft Christmas Song On The British Charts

There’s a Minecraft Christmas song. It’s by Area 11, a band from England. As of two days ago, it was apparently just outside the top 40 singles in the United Kingdom, given a massive boost by the popular Minecraft community program Yogscast. Those fearing that video game communities can somehow and suddenly sabotage the record…

You’re Not Getting Zelda LEGO, But You Are Getting Back To The Future LEGO

You asked for it, quite literally, and now you’re getting it: a small, but charming set of Back to the Future LEGO. Picked as part of the company’s Cusoo initiative, which rewards popular fan-made sets with the chance of becoming real products, next year we’ll be getting… something. The original plan from creator Masashi Togami…

Don’t Look Now, But People Are Talking About Mother/Earthbound Remakes/Re-Releases

Nothing shows Nintendo hates you more than the fact only one of the three games in the Mother series has ever been officially released in North America (while poor PAL territories haven’t seen any of them.). So tread very carefully around this talk from series creator Shigesato Itoi, who has taken to Twitter to say…

What Happens If You Actually Try An Assassin’s Creed “Leap Of Faith”

I’ve sometimes wondered, at least on the shorter ones, whether Assassin’s Creed’s “leaps of faith” were actually doable. Like, from a few stories up, some hay might actually break my fall, you know? Glad to see I’m not alone. A Leap of Faith [andrewmfilms]

This Persona 4 Arena Figure Forges A Bond That Cannot Be Broken

I don’t own too many video game figures. Thanks to my newfound fascination with Persona, that may have to change. For example: I would gladly put this garage kit figure of Elizabeth and her persona Thanatos pretty much anywhere in my house. The figure is the work of “Mr. Etsuo,” and you can see more…