White House Responds To Death Star Petition: ‘The Administration Does Not Support Blowing Up Planets’

The White House has turned down a popular petition to begin construction on a Death Star in fairly hilarious fashion. “The Administration shares your desire for job creation and a strong national defense, but a Death Star isn’t on the horizon,” writes Paul Shawcross, chief of the Science and Space Branch at the White House…

The Commodore 64 Game Bad Cat Had Some Pretty Amazing Music, Too

After I posted about how much I love the music for Time Surfer, game developer Steve Gaynor tweeted this music at me. I have never played Bad Cat (it looks, well, like a Commodore 64 game), but if this incredible music is anything to go by… maybe I should?

Sounds like Double Fine is interested in buying back a couple of games it made for THQ when the company goes to auction.

A Gearbox-Developed Call of Duty Could Have Happened. Imagine That.

Am I the only one that’s a tad bewildered by the idea? Apparently, Gearbox—the developers behind Borderlands 2—had the opportunity to make a Call of Duty game according to a translated Krawall interview. Nothing official, but they were in a position to consider it. Obviously, they didn’t go for it. Here’s why, according to IGN.…

Alleged Screenshots Surface Of A Long-Cancelled Half Life 2 Episode

For years now, there have been rumors and reports of a now-cancelled Half-Life 2 episode called Half-Life 2: Return to Ravenholm. The project, an overview of which can be found at the Combine Overwiki, was to be a collaboration between Valve and Dishonored-makers Arkane, and would, presumably, take players back to the creepy, zombie-infested village…

“Katamari news from 2005″

This is a tip we received today from someone we must now dub a Katamari Damacy expert: Hi, I have two items of news. One is that I have discovered a phrase that when Googled returns no results. The second is that in We

Sick Of Game-Crashing Walking Dead Bugs, Some Fans Want Their Money Back

The Walking Dead is a very buggy game, and despite the critical acclaim (and non-stop Game of the Year awards), some fans who bought it haven’t even had the chance to play the whole thing. A number of Walking Dead PC and Mac players are flocking to the forums of developer Telltale Games to complain…

GameFly Prevails Against Postal Service Once Again, If Anyone’s Still Renting Discs by Mail

In court today, GameFly triumphed once more in its seemingly never-ending fight against the U.S. Postal Service, which GameFly alleges has shown favoritism in how it sorts Netflix mail going all the way back a time when people actually rented movies by mail. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia told the…

A Fond Farewell to the Gaming App of the Day

It’s been two years since we started posting the Gaming App of the Day here at Kotaku, shining the spotlight on a single Apple, Android or Windows Phone game that stood out in their respective crowded marketplaces. It was a good system, but it’s one that doesn’t work anymore, so it’s going away. Late last…

Blonde Twins Playing Rolling Stones Music On Harps While Standing In A Cemetery

This video brought to you by Camille and Kennerly, the marvelous musicians behind such classics as Blonde Twins Playing The Elder Scrolls Theme On Harps While Standing In A Forest, Blonde Twins Playing A Metallica Cover On Harps While Standing In The Desert, and most recently, Blonde Twins Playing Final Fantasy Music On Harps While…

Joe Biden Sat Down With Gaming’s Leaders Today, And One Of Them Brought A Copy of Blastman III

This afternoon, U.S. vice president Joe Biden met with video game representatives to talk about the Sandy Hook shooting. Here’s a picture of the meeting in action. Hopefully it went well. Wondering who’s who? The AP’s caption: Vice President Joe Biden, center, speaks during a meeting with representatives from the video game industry in the…

Here’s The Chilling Teaser For Game of Thrones Season 3

If you have read the books, you might recognize this song as “The Rains of Castamere.” You might also know what’s coming this season (which starts March 31). Please don’t spoil anything for people who don’t know what’s coming. Get ready.

Fox Reporter Tries Hard to Get Gaming Expert To Attack Violent Video Games

Ready for an incredibly uncomfortable 3:39 of financial news? This schizophrenic clip from Fox Business starts off with a mention of Vice President Joe Biden’s meeting with video game industry representatives today and, from there, seems like it’s supposed to be a straightforward rundown of how sales trends are shaking out. But the numbers and…

A Metal Gear Rising DLC trailer shows off the pre-order skins Raiden can use in Konami’s upcoming title. [GamesHQMedia]

This Dead Space 3 Bundle Isn’t Just A Collector’s Edition. It’s The Dev Team Edition.

Dev Team Edition? You don’t often hear collector’s items called as such, but when you take a look at what this bundle—by Visceral and Treehouse Brand Store—has to offer, you might see why. It’s full of Dead Space goodies. We’re talking the standard art books and posters and neat statues… But what’s more fun about…

I Can’t Stop Listening To This iPhone Game’s Amazing Music

You guys. Time Surfer. It’s this game? It’s a lot of fun. Part of what makes it fun is how well it controls, how colorful it is, and the general feeling of momentum it imparts. And the time-travel part; that’s cool too. Those are all reasons to like the game, but the music is the…

I Guess Dennis Rodman is a Reason to Download a Card-Based Basketball Game

The last time I saw basketball bad boy Dennis Rodman in a way that registered with me at all was on stage at a Counting Crows / Live concert in the early 2000s. Now he’s helped Hothead Games make Big Win Basketball. I’m still only mildly impressed. I’ve been told the game was coordinated and…

It’s Too Bad This Awesome Fire Emblem-Themed 3DS Isn’t An XL

On one hand, this Fire Emblem-themed 3DS (already out in Japan, and coming to North America soon) is gorgeous and classy as hell. On the other hand, there’s a significantly better model available Seriously, if this baby was a 3DS XL, I’d pre-order it right now. Come on, Nintendo!

Crying Because Of A Video Game Shouldn’t Feel Like Losing A Battle With It

“Did you cry?” I ask it curiously, almost flippantly, whenever I talk to someone about the ending of The Walking Dead. (No worries, no spoilers about that here.) I’m not the only one that talks about the ending of The Walking Dead this way; crying, in its heartfelt sincerity has long been a (misguided) measure…

JRPG Combat Is The Best Kind Of Combat

“Oh, I don’t really like battles. I just play JRPGs for the story.” You’ve probably heard something like that before, or wrote it, or thought it. There seems to be a general consensus, for better or for worse, that a Japanese RPG’s merits, if they exist at all, lie in its story and characters and…