Call of Duty: Black Ops II: The Kotaku Review

Six years after the death of Saddam Hussein—just a couple of days ago—I decided to watch the video of his death for the first time. I did this because in Call of Duty: Black Ops II’s attempt to explain its plot, I was shown a brief glimpse of a YouTube video showcasing the director of…

This Is Awkward: David Petraeus Is In the Next Call of Duty As America’s New Secretary of Defense

A sex scandal may have prompted David Petraeus to resign from running the CIA last Friday, but the new Call of Duty predicts that he’s got a really bright future. The new first-person shooter features the former general as the Secretary of Defense in the year 2025, serving loyally to a female President who looks…

I Never Saw The Moment Video Games Hit The Mainstream. It Just Kind of Happened.

When something “arrives”, in a popular culture sense, it’s never to the tune of trumpets and a standing ovation. Nothing can ever be that spontaneous. Instead, you just wake up one day and realise that something which used to exist around the fringes, which people may have been aware of but were never that into,…

Here’s Some Early, Rough Gameplay Footage of Chris Roberts’ Star Citizen

The debut footage for Star Citizen, which sees Wing Commander creator Chris Roberts return to space games after a too-long absence, looked awesome. It was also short on raw gameplay footage, something this test clip makes up for. Is it boring? Yes. But boring can be good, because boring is also real, and that’s what…

This Might be Your Next Gaming Keyboard. If You Like Blue.

I tend to like most of my peripherals—as I would, since I paid good money for them—but of all the gear plugged into my PC, I think I have the softest spot for my keyboard. It’s a Corsair K60, and it looks like it could kill a man just for looking at it funny. I’d…

There are Already Snakes on Black Ops II’s Motherf**king Plane

Some people in some parts of the world already have a copy of Black Ops II. Know what that means? Yup, they’re finding awesome glitches. This is the “snake”, a returning issue from the first Black Ops, which while hardly fair does at least redeem itself by looking stupidly hilarious. Now all we need is…

Before WoW, WarCraft’s Online Wasn’t Quite as Exciting

Continuing his epic look behind the scenes of Blizzard’s early games, former exec and WarCraft developer Patrick Wyatt educates younger fans on the quaint nature of online play in the franchise’s early days. And makes me feel very old in the process. The making of Warcraft part 3 [Code of Honor]

Nobody Told Me Assassin’s Creed III Featured Such Dapper Gentlemen

I haven’t played much of Assassin’s Creed III. I put the 360 version down around an hour in, figured I’d wait and play it on PC instead. So I have no idea who the guy above with the sharp uniform and the tiny dog is. But I like him These images are all the work…

NSFW: The PS3’s New Wonderbook May Have Adult Uses After All

Sony’s Wonderbook copped laughs at E3 because it’s for kids, and grown-up gamers on the internet simply can’t abide that. But just when you thought the fancy book-and-wand set was only of use for wee ones, here’s a video from GameSpot’s Danny O’Dwyer showing its more… adult uses. In case the saxophone kicking in immediately…

Microsoft Sending Xbox Live Veterans a Custom, Free Xbox 360 [Update]

A few hours ago, Microsoft’s Larry “Major Nelson” Hryb tweeted the following: Sounded largely unexciting, but then we got an email from a reader around the same time with these images, of a console his friend just got in the mail, emblazoned with Xbox Live 10th birthday graphics. In addition to a special box and…

You’ve Never Seen Star Fox Like This Before

Artist and reader Adam Vian certainly has a different art style. It’s more what you’d expect from the opening credits of a French movie from the 70’s than a major Nintendo video game series. Which is exactly why this looks so lovely. Star Fox Team [Adam Vian]

The Wii U’s Game Discs Have a Soft, Rounded Edge

Most have been so excited to get their discs open they haven’t been noticing, but Engadget have spotted something weird on the Wii U’s proprietary disc format: the discs’ edges are rounded. Because these are special Nintendo discs, and not DVDs or Blu-Rays, I guess the company needed to do something to differentiate their product,…

Listen to Trent Reznor’s Call of Duty: Black Ops II Theme Song (it’s Pretty Great)

That’s a headline I never thought I’d be writing, but it’s a funny old world we’re living in. Musician Trent Reznor, of Nine Inch Nails fame, has as we know lent his talents to the soundtrack for Black Ops II, with a theme song you can now listen to courtesy of the video above. It’s……

Guy Builds Bilbo Baggins’ House Out Of Balloons

Sometimes that’s really all you have to say: Guy builds Bilbo Baggins’ house out of balloons. And there you have it. The guy in question here is BallonGuyEnt, who makes Bag End out of balloons. At least when Gandalf hits his head in here, it won’t hurt as much. How’s everyone doing? Have a good…

Valve Was Once Making a “Space Pirate” Game

Whispers of the project have been doing the rounds for a while now, but last week Valve boss Gabe Newell gave the first confirmation that, yes, his studio had at one point been making a space game with the initials “SoB”. Where theories on what that meant ranged from “Stars of Barathrum” to the more…

Halo 4‘s Remote Detonator Has Already Reached Its Logical Conclusion

It stands to reason that most people who picked up the remote detonator in Halo 4 thought to use it in this way; but it was TheM0M0show who first documented the technique and put it on YouTube. Next time you see a mongoose cruising towards you, watch out. It may explode in your face.

Steven Sinofsky, the President of Windows and driving force behind Windows 8, has left Microsoft.

I’m Glad I Know The Lyrics To This Killer Persona 4 Song

Oh, how I love sunny days in Inaba. I know that Yukiko will be out on the street, or maybe Rise, waiting to hang out. My scooter awaits, and if I want, I can go to the beach. And best of all, every time it’s sunny, this song by Persona maestro Shoji Meguro, will be…

Darth Vader to Return From the Dead For New Star Wars Movies?

Chalk this up as either crazy or just wishful thinking, but Britain’s Daily Express is reporting that, according to a “film mole”, the new Star Wars movies will see the return of Darth Vader. You know, the guy who—SPOILERS—dies at the end of Return of the Jedi. So much so we see his body burning…

Natural Selection 2: The Kotaku Review

Natural Selection 2 is the first ever game I’ve enjoyed watching more than I’ve enjoyed playing. If that sounds like an insult, it’s certainly not intended as one. Rather, read it as perhaps one of the highest compliments I could give. Natural Selection 2 is good stuff—but playing it is only half its purpose. First,…