A History Of THQ, 1989-2013

For all intents it happened late last year, but today the results of an auction called it: THQ, formerly one of the biggest video game publishers in the world, is no more. It’s been a hell of a ride. While technically first formed in 1989 as Trinity Acquisition Corporation, THQ began business proper in 1990,…

This eloquent Kill Screen piece ruminates on why diversity should be important to the future of video games

See A Bunch Of The Classes In Fire Emblem: Awakening

Just a few hours before today’s news bonanza, Nintendo unleashed this trailer for Fire Emblem: Awakening, the upcoming fantasy strategy-RPG that will be out for 3DS on February 4. In it, you can see a whole bunch of the game’s classes, some of which are wayyyy overpowered (Myrmidon) but I won’t get into that right…

The Most Atmospheric Post-Apocalyptic Video Game Worlds

Post-apocalyptic worlds in video games don’t necessarily have to be grimdark, depressing or colorless. There are many fine examples where the game’s design either moves beyond these tropes, or develops them to perfection. We have collected a few of them below. Enslaved: Odyssey To The West source: Enslaved.uk World Of Ruin In Final Fantasy VI…

Damn, The New Sim City Looks Gorgeous When In High Speed

Watching a city buzz at night time is awesome—all the cars, all the lights. It’s hard not to feel awe. It’s even better if you’re watching a city’s downtown though. Things seem to move at a different speed, almost. Here is a video of a downtown in the upcoming Sim City; it’s buzzing at ‘cheetah’…

The Makers of Bayonetta Would Love to Buy The Suddenly-Endangered Darksiders Series

One of the sad and somewhat odd outcomes of today’s big auction of top games and studios from game publisher THQ is that no one—not EA, not Activision, not Take Two, not Bethesda, not Ubisoft… no one—made a bid for the action-game series Darksiders and Vigil, the studio that made those games. Look, even here…

Midweek Moneysaver: Ni No Haggling

This Wednesday edition of Kotaku’s The Moneysaver catches all the offers, promotions and bargains that can’t wait until the weekend. The Midweek Moneysaver is brought to you by Dealzon. Software • Yesterday’s release Ni no Kuni: Wrath Of The White Witch (PS3) is $57.99, free ship from J&R. Only two bucks off, but this is…

This Is Why Exploring Far Cry 3’s Islands Is So Seductive

The Creator’s Project series of videos continues, this time touching on the world of Far Cry 3. Specifically, they explore how a we’ve got the story—Jason Brody has to save his friends—and we’ve got the island’s allure and beauty calling out like a siren. Both are intended; the video goes into why. The effect is…

Some People Who Pre-Ordered Ni no Kuni Are Having Issues Getting The Game

A whole bunch of people who pre-ordered Ni no Kuni are having all sorts of issues getting their copies of the PS3 role-playing game, which came out Tuesday. We’ve been getting tons of tips about the pre-order issues for the past two days, and people have taken to publisher Namco Bandai’s forums to complain. People…

A Tiny Flying Squirrel Trapped in a Pinball Universe Is Your New Recipe for Fun

To paraphrase A League of Their Own, there’s no molerats in pinball. But this game—filled with rolling, bouncing mammals—this is a pinball adventure. And that makes all the difference. For some weird counter-intuitive reason, video-game versions of pinball fascinate me. Everything’s essentially fake in games like Zen Pinball. There’s none of the physicality that makes…

Rumor: 2K Sports Acquiring WWE License in THQ Aftermath

IGN, citing unidentified sources, says 2K Sports parent Take-Two Interactive will acquire the WWE license from THQ. [Update] A source with knowledge of the situation tells Kotaku that Take-Two will acquire the WWE license. Earlier rumors had said EA Sports acquired the license directly from WWE before the auction of THQ’s assets. EA Sports denies…

Darksiders, WWE Still Looking for New Homes After THQ Sell-Off

News has broken out about the sale of THQ’s assets and it looks like many of the defunct publisher’s signature franchises have been acquired. But, surprisingly, some seemingly bankable properties haven’t been snatched up. Many of the titles mentioned in a previously published assets list were sold off today. Most conspicuously, WWE isn’t mentioned in…

Court documents reveal that THQ Montreal is/was working on a game called Underdog. No word on just what that is.

A Sunglass-Wearing Bowling Polar Bear Signals WildTangent’s Move to Mobile

The company famous for making step one in setting up your new computer removing the WildTangent Games App takes its casual gaming show on the road with Polar Bowler 1st Frame, the iOS extension of the original inner tube polar bear bowling PC game. WildTangent is the casual version of Steam, giving potential players access…

THQ Is No More. Here’s The Letter The CEO Sent Employees Today.

Today, THQ was officially sold and auctioned off. Within the next few weeks, the struggling video game publisher will be no more. The company’s assets have been divided, pending final court approval: Sega agreed to purchase Relic (Company of Heroes), Koch Media has agreed to purchase Volition (Saint’s Row) and the Metro property, Crytek has…

THQ Is Getting Sold Off Today—Here’s Everything We Know [UPDATED]

The sale of THQ’s assets in federal bankruptcy court will be finalized today. Word is that the hearing begins at 3 p.m. Rumors already are spreading as to where THQ’s studios and the series developed there have ended up. A Relic Entertainment developer has said he’s now an employee of Sega—which it should be stressed…

A developer at Relic Entertainment, makers of the Company of Heroes series, says Sega bought the studio from THQ

Retired from Video Games, BioWare’s Co-Founder is Enjoying Lots of Beer

Greg Zeschuk co-founded BioWare in 1995 and left it in September, after seeing his studio deliver Mass Effect, Baldur’s Gate and some of video gaming’s most notable series over the better part of two decades. What’s he doing in his retirement? Well, he’s drinking beer. And producing videos about beer and brewing, and the people…

Wiki Quiz is an Excellent Way to Learn Moderately Accurate New Things

Available free today on Google Play, Wiki Quiz (as seen on SlideDB) is as simple little Android app that randomly generates multiple choice questions from the digital repository of the world’s accumulated knowledge, expurgated edition. The questions and answers are all pulled from Wikipedia, and most of the time the correct answer is fairly obvious.…

The Wii U’s Virtual Console Has Customizable Controllers And ‘Restore Points.’ Here’s A Look.

Wondering what the Wii U’s Virtual Console looks like? We downloaded Balloon Fight, the first Wii U VC game, and dove through the menus to find that the new interface allows for customizable controllers and “restore points”—or temporary save states (like the 3DS has). The Virtual Console, a system that lets you buy and play…