Spanish Cops Name an Investigation After Pokémon. No, Seriously.

Police in Spain have won the admiration of Nintendo nerds worldwide this year after naming a major sting operation after a bunch of Pocket Monsters. Operation Pokémon is the name given to an effort by Spanish police to stamp out corruption amongst the ranks of the nation’s politicians. Why “Pokémon”? There are two theories. One…

How to Buy Your Own Giant Mass Effect Reaper

It may not be quite 1:1 scale, but at 18.5 inches, this new Mass Effect statue is still one enormous piece of adult collectible. Only 1000 of these recreations of the villainous Sovereign will be made, with preorders available at BioWare’s store (below). If they’re not live when you visit, they should be ready to…

Dude, These Monsters Are Gross (But These Robots Are Great)

This is the work of Anthony Jones, a concept artist previously employed at Sony’s Santa Monica studio, and a man who can draw both monsters and robots better than almost anyone else on Earth. In the gallery below you’ll see examples of his work, which includes all kinds of stuff, from commission pieces to toy…

Your First Hilarious Look at Footage From the New Star Trek Movie

Director J. J. Abrams was on Conan tonight, and was dying to show off footage from the new Star Trek sequel. You know, the one that’s not even done yet. Surprisingly, Paramount Pictures let him! What follows is equal parts hilarious and disappointing. Star Trek [Conan]

There’s two million dollars up for grabs in the League of Legends Season 2 World Championships. Two. Million. Dollars.

The Real Winner of the Presidential Debate Was Pokémon

Let’s stop talking about the losers from the first US Presidential debate, and instead talk winners. Like the guy who got a Pokémon joke up on CNBC’s news ticker. Pretty sure both candidates would be Margikarps [Buzzfeed]

Can’t Get a Wii U? There’s Always eBay (and $1000+ Prices)

Let’s say you really, really want a Wii U for Christmas. Problem is, it’s pretty tough getting hold of a pre-order, because most places are sold out. What options are you left with? Two. The first is to suck it up and spend the holidays without a Wii U. The second is to take to…

Yeah, I Would Totally Wear These Game Of Thrones Chuck Taylors

Just this week, I bought a pair of Converse Chuck Taylors for the first time since… maybe middle school? I’d forgotten how much fun these shoes can be, even if they are a little bit hard to get on and off every day. But while my rust-colored sneaks are cool, they’re not as cool as…

EA Sports Dodges Questions It Recycled FIFA on the Wii

A week ago, Chris Scullion of Nintendo Gamer and Official Nintendo Magazine ripped FIFA 13‘s Wii version chin-to-groin, for being basically indistinct from FIFA 12 other than roster and uniform updates. Everyone knows the Wii is a dead console walking, but that does not excuse a major publisher palming off last year’s release like it’s…

You Can Fight with Cakes in Tekken Tag Tournament 2

When I see a video like this focusing on the special moves made possible by Tekken Tag Tournament 2‘s customization items, it just makes me want to grind even harder to earn more points. That Lei baseball pitch is awesome.

The Freaky, Disorienting Fun Of The Deadly Premonition Soundtrack

The confounding open-world thriller Deadly Premonition was a lot of things to a lot of people. Some said it was bad, some said it was good, some even said it was “good-bad.” It was a supreme example of idiosyncratic game design; a game that was somehow both profoundly ambitious and woefully half-baked; a haunting mystery…

This Gloriously Cheesy MIDI File Was Windows’ Greatest Hit

For the longest time, I had no idea that Canyon.mid was even recognized as “a thing” by the internet at large. And then, Harmonix’s Dan Bruno posted about it (always a fount of random internet yuks, that guy), and I realized that Canyon.mid is kind of famous. But then, of course it is. For a…

Make Chiptunes In Your Browser With This Awesome, Simple Sequencer

It’s gotten easier and easier to make chiptune music (or at least, music that sounds like chiptune music), but for the most part, you’ll still need to have some sort of digital audio workstation like Logic or Pro Tools. For those who want to record a simple chip melody without loading up a complicated audio…

New XCOM Trailer Is Filled With Explosions And Green Goo

Don’t worry: despite the theme and appearance of this launch trailer for XCOM: Enemy Unknown, the game isn’t a shooter. It’s a strategy game. Which makes it kind of hard to sell, but hey.

Six Reviewers Really Can’t Agree On Resident Evil 6

I don’t think I’ve ever seen such split opinions on a game like Resident Evil 6 Though one opinion seems to generally resonate: Resident Evil 6 is, at least, very flawed. It’s an ambitious project that offers multiple campaign paths, and even a few fun quirks, but mentions of clueless design on par with Raccoon…

Gwen Stefani and Her Band Settle Lawsuit Against Activision and Its Band Hero

The band No Doubt—basically, Gwen Stefani—put an end to its lawsuit against Activision for the means by which it was portrayed in 2009’s Band Hero, a spinoff of the Guitar Hero franchise. Terms of the settlement were not disclosed, but one can reasonably assume that money changed hands. Otherwise, Stefani and her cohort would likely…

This Video Shows Off The Best of What Indie Games Can Be

The Off-Book series of mini-documentaries, from PBS, has brought us insights on video games many times before. They’ve taken on the perennial argument of whether (and how) games are art, and they’ve delved into the 8-bit phenomenon of retro graphics and chiptunes. In this most recent installment, they delve into the indie game scene. Thanks…

Curt Schilling’s Blood is For Sale in the Aftermath of 38 Studios’ Collapse

Whether mocked, doubted or venerated, The Bloody Sock is a unique piece of sports memorabilia and it is the symbol of the Boston Red Sox’ cathartic championship of 2004, the one that ended 86 years of aching near-misses and collapses. And the reddest of socks may be put up for sale, collateral damage in the…

Not Even the Simpson‘s iPhone Game Can Escape the Treehouse of Horrors

The 23rd special Treehouse of Horrors episode of The Simpsons airs on October 7, but players of The Simpson’s: Tapped Out get a leg up on the festivities with fresh new content pulled directly from the twisted TV special. Writers, producers and artists from the show worked hand-in-hand with the developers of the app to…

Zynga chief blogs to his employees: He’s disappointed in earnings, proud of team progress, eager to do more casino.