The Best Things In Video Games Are Broken

I finally saw Wreck-It Ralph over the Thanksgiving break. It was heartwarming, delightful, charming. It nudged at some big-name titles in ways that made me giggle and nod in recognition. It covered the bases of a handful of video game tropes. It made jokes in the form of clever puns and cute character behavior. But…

Black Ops II for Wii U looks nice, but falls short on framerate according to the people at Digital Foundry.

ChefVille Ranch Requests Quests: Everything You Need to Know

It sure is fun to cook on ChefVille‘s many appliances, especially now that we have a Mayonnaise Dispenser for sandwiches and a Cranberry Crate for Thanksgiving dishes. But there’s still a noteworthy lack of access to ranch in our restaurants. Tons of dishes require Ranch Dressing, and yet it’s one of the most ingredient-heavy items…

There Are Now as Many as 400,000 Wii U Owners In North America

It’s been just over a week since Nintendo ushered in the next-generation of home console hardware with the launch of the Wii U. In that time, the new device has sold 400,000 units. CNET reports that the Wii U just edged out the Wii, which sold 300,000 units in the same time frame. When the…

iPad Video Games Just About Killed Homer Simpson Last Night

People like to hate on The Simpsons these days, but I still find Fox’s iconic cartoon show enjoyable, if not always super timely. See: this clip of Homer discovering iPad games, from the episode that aired last night. If you missed last night’s, Hulu has new Simpsons eps on a regular basis. It should be…

Do Video Games Make Depression Worse?

Until recently, I had never considered the idea that my gaming habit, which could charitably be described as heavy, could be harmful to my mental health. It wasn’t just that I dismissed that idea; the idea had never popped into my head. But as psychological professionals debate whether or not “gaming addiction” should be listed…

Let’s Face It, The Best Bits Are the 8-Bits

From around the age of seven, I saw the world in 8bit color. The Nintendo Entertainment System was more than a revelation for my young eyes. It was a revolution. Even now, I love the look of 8-bit, those stark and sometimes saturated blocky colors. I love it so much that I downloaded this 8-bit…

Square Enix’s Latest Mobile Puzzler is a Delirious Whirlwind of Exploded Pixels

The creators of Motley Blocks painstakingly crafted a series of 80 simple images using colored cubes, creating a collection of nifty 3D pixel art covering a variety of subjects. Then they blew them all up, and you have to put them back together. So much work, this mobile gaming. Each level in Motley Blocks begins…

Here’s the Trailer for Mass Effect 3’s Omega DLC

The new single-player add-on for BioWare’s hit sci-fi threequel hits tomorrow and this video shows off new female Turian character Nyreen and some of the new enemies you’ll be facing down. It’ll be nice giving Aria some orders that she’ll have to follow for once.

Had Enough Cowbell? But Wait, There’s Cowbell Hero

Who’s ready for a game based on a five-year-old joke about a Saturday Night Live skit from twelve years ago? Thanks to the magic of the iPhone and iPad, Cowbell Hero becomes a real thing next month. I would be incredibly disappointed with Digital Hero Games (via PocketGamer) for making Cowbell Hero if they hadn’t…

All The Wii U Specs You Could Dream Of, Except The Ones You Really Want To Know

Way back when the Wii U first came out, lo in the day of the 18th of November in the year 2012, Nintendo’s console included the most curious thing: a virtual instruction manual that included within it an option called “product specifications.” By pressing the Wii U controller’s home button and then clicking on “manual”,…

Because There Isn’t Enough GTA V In This World Yet

Alright, fine. So we got a new trailer not even two weeks ago. And then that trailer was recreated in GTA IV, but that doesn’t count! Basically I won’t be satisfied until Rockstar releases the next GTA title, so creations like this one by Patrick Brown hold me over until then. Grand Theft Auto V…

This Week’s Facebook Winners and Losers: The Great FarmVille 2 Exodus

Smell that? That’s the fragrant odor of rotting vegtetation, courtesy of the nearly five million players that didn’t bother tending their virtual crops in FarmVille 2 last week. While some 50 million folks did log in last week to click on crops like there was no tomorrow, 4.6 million is a substantial chunk of players…

This German Screenshot Reportedly Says When Halo 4’s Map Packs Are Dropping

Lots of players—including Kotaku’s own Tina Amini—think that Halo 4 needs more maps. 343 Industries has said that additional multiplayer environments are coming but hasn’t clued anyone in as to the exact arrival times. But the screenshot above from a German Xbox 360 dashboard appears to reveal dates for the next three sets of maps…

The Sights, Lights (and Imagined Smells) of the World’s Biggest LAN Party

Over last week and the weekend, over 10,000 PC gamers from Europe and across the world gathered in Sweden for Dreamhack Winter, the world’s biggest LAN party As you can probably understand, the place was packed, as the thousands of attendees gamed, ate, partied and sometimes even slept their way through the four-day event. Since…

Celebrate Cyber Monday with These 200 Deals on Video Games

As we all know, one of the oldest traditions in America, going back to the time of the Pilgrims, is Cyber Monday. It takes the madness of taking a day off of work to buy crap on Black Friday, strips out the 3 a.m. line-ups, the tramplings, the beatings, and replaces it with buying stuff…

Getting Up Close and Personal with Square Enix’s New Engine Blew My Mind

This last Friday and Saturday in Tokyo, Square Enix held their 2012 Open Conference. While there was some talk about the relaunch of Final Fantasy XIV, the majority of the two-day event focused on Agni’s Philosophy: Final Fantasy. Agni’s Philosophy is the real-time tech demo of Square’s new Luminous Engine that was first presented at…

Parents, Please Don’t Name Your Kid “Pikachu”

For decades, no, centuries, Japanese parents were happy giving their kids regular Japanese names. Sure, there have been trends, but the latest one is producing some kids with peculiar names—and even worries about bullying. Japanese names are slightly different from English ones. Traditionally, first names were selected based on the number of brush strokes in…

Let’s Go With Uncle Go, One of China’s Most Interesting Indie Games

Over the last three years, I’ve been attending the Game Developers Conference China (not to be confused with the China Game Developers Conference) and I’ve had the opportunity to sit down and enjoy the creations of many independent developers show casing their work for the Independent Game Festival China. I’ve got around to playing FTL:…

This Bonsai Tree Made Entirely of LEGO Makes Me Wish I Had LEGO Scissors

Seeing the original Karate Kid as, um, a kid, I was amazed that there were little trees that needed to be cut with little scissors. Those trees, of course, are bonsai trees. Via botanical artist Makoto Azuma, come these bonsai trees made out of LEGO. All that’s missing are little LEGO clippers! As website Spoon…