When Mother Nature Lashes Out at Nerdy Cars

Recently, a typhoon rampaged through Japan, leaving destruction in its wake. Destruction like this in Naha City, Okinawa: a nerd mobile flipped on its roof. That looks to be a Suzuki Swift—but it’s hard to tell. I’ve never seen one upside down and covered with Clannad stickers. A first! 台風１７号：北部で４２００世帯に避難勧告 [沖縄タイムス] Kotaku East is your…

Final Fantasy XIV Wants To Be the Standard for MMORPG Console Gaming

Square Enix is busy readying the PS3 version of Final Fantasy XIV. The Tokyo-based game company isn’t just working on making sure the PS3 version is up to snuff, but it’s also aiming for it to become the standard for MMORPGs on home consoles. In the upcoming issue of Famitsu, Square Enix seems to have…

In Taiwan, There Are Pole-Dancing Strippers…for the Dead

“This is hard work but I need to make a living,” 18-year-old En En told AP. She earned the equivalent of US$100, but picked up some tips after letting men cop a feel. En En wasn’t just pole dancing at a strip club. She was dancing to appease the dead at a religious ceremony in…

In the latest issue of Famitsu, Shuhei Yoshida apparently said that there are lots of unannounced PS Vita titles. Noted!

What Bayonetta Loves More than the Wii U. For Instance, She Loves Her Fancy Outfit.

Bayonetta is one of the most iconic, memorable characters to appear this console generation. Whether it’s her glasses or her bodysuit, she’s iconic! No wonder cosplayers love dressing up as her. And since her debut in 2009, that’s exactly what cosplayers have done: Bayonetta often shows up on game and geek events throughout Japan, with…

Hey Readers! There’s a new indie Story Bundle as well as a Humble eBook Bundle. Both support charity and are DRM free.

This Poor Old Xbox Has Seen Better Days

Part of a nice gallery of Instagram photos over on Attract Mode, this pic shows one of two possible uses for an old Xbox machine in 2012. The other being, of course, an Xbox Media Centre. But that’s way less fun. A PICTURE OF FLAT SHADED POLYGONS, ON A FUZZY ARCADE MONITOR, WITH AN IPHONE…

This Halloween, C-3PO and R2-D2 Are Dressing up as Pokémon (or Mario)

Artist Andrea Gerstmann has some ideas for Star Wars‘ most famous droids. In particular, what they can wear this Halloween. It’s a little cosplayception, what with them being characters within characters, but I like it. I can hear them arguing over them already. “What makes you think there are Princesses over there?” “Beep Beep” etc…

Last One to the Giant Desert Truck Gas Station is a Rotten Egg

Jan Urschel is a concept artist currently employed at Lucasarts’ Singapore studio, where he’s working on 1313, the first big Star Wars game in years that isn’t set before the classic trilogy. Or, at least, too far before it. While you won’t find any art from that game here – it’s still under lock and…

The Most Terrifying Video Game Focus-Testing Imaginable

Given how they can often result in fence-sitting games that specialise in AAA blandness, gamers are right to be wary of focus testing groups. These girls, though, should have been wary for a very different reason. “I’m watching you, girls”. So creepy

This Guy Built Traffic Lights to Tell Him When His Pals Were on Xbox Live

Obviously feeling that the Xbox 360’s notification system wasn’t good enough, Kiwi Andrew F. went and built himself something a little more elaborate: this set of traffic lights. Basically an Arduino hooked up to the internet, it pings Microsoft’s servers every five minutes to see if Andrew’s friends are online. If nobody is online, the…

Ninja Gaiden Cosplay to Slice Your Eyeballs Wide Open

Snapped at DragonCon 2012 by Elysiam Entertainment, this is a human looking as close to Ninja Gaiden’s Ryu Hayabusa as a human could ever possible look. Amazing. ZomG Dragoncon 2012 Friday! [Elysiam Entertainment, via Cosplay Blog]

War of the Roses: The Kotaku Review

Despite the blockbusters out this week, and other more than worthy time-killers like Retro City Rampage, the game I’ve spent most time with lately is a multiplayer PC game called War of the Roses Developed by Fatshark, and published by Paradox, it’s a team-based multiplayer title that onlookers will say reminds them of a third-person…

XCOM Has HD Cutscenes, But They’re Hiding

If you’re playing XCOM on PC, you might have noticed a little discrepancy between the standard in-game visuals and those of the game’s cutscenes, which can look a little blurry. You can actually change that. Reddit user loinbread did some looking through the game’s folders and found that, in addition to the video files that…

See How Modern Warfare Shatters One Family’s Home

Every war has its tales, even ones from a video game. But this “soldier” has been more than a little rattled by it. The video from College Humor is pretty great—as long as you don’t take it seriously—but it does kind of teeter off near the end. Feel free to cut out early. Modern Warfare…

No Dog Has Ever Been Shamed As Badly (Or Hilariously) As This Poor Thing

Fortunately shaming also equals hilarity for us. And cuteness! Stick around for the end, it’s well worth it. Head over to the Talk Amongst Yourselves forum for more conversations, off and on-topic. The Ultimate Dog Shaming [YouTube via Modern Primate]

Looks Like There’s a Problem With Borderlands 2’s Compatibility Update [Update]

We’re getting emails from people who own Borderlands 2 on Xbox 360, saying that they can’t download the new Mechromancer compatibility update Seems that, when prompted to download the new content, they’re being greeted with the above message. My advice? You might have to sit tight. This is the same message you get when trying…

Microsoft’s New Gadget Lets You Control Any Device With A Mid-Air Gesture

Sure, the Kinect can recognize gestures your full body makes. But wouldn’t it be nice to get the finer details of hands and fingers reflected accurately on-screen? And better yet, wouldn’t it be grand not to have to stand in the exact two square feet of living room that the Kinect can pick you up…

League of Legends’ Playoffs Will Try Again Tomorrow

After suffering serious technical hiccups and even allegations of cheating, League of Legends’ World Playoffs will try and finish up tomorrow at 5pm Pacific Time. The three unfinished matches will be streamed on Twitch and Own3D, and they’ll take place at USC’s Galen Center. Riot promise that the broadcast and playing conditions will be to…

This Ad For The Wreck-It Ralph Arcade Is Straight Out of The 1980s

Disney’s upcoming animated feature Wreck-It Ralph, which stars a video-game villain trying to make good, is digging hard into gamer nostalgia. Disney made real-life versions of the fictional arcade machine the movie’s titular star springs from. Now, via Empire Oline, Disney has released this “vintage 1982” ad that further inserts memories that never were into…