This Game is Called The Adorables. Our Resident Adorable Expert Weighs In. [Update]

The first internally-developed game from mobile publisher Thumbstar Games, The Adorables is a dazzlingly colorful pachinko-puzzle sort of game, coming on Thanksgiving to iOS and Android, but is it indeed adorable? Update: getting cuter. It’s certainly pretty, and my predilection for raccoons and raccoon-ish creatures has me gaga over Sneaker, the obviously leader of the…

PC Version of Call of Duty: Black Ops II Comes With… Mass Effect 2?!

Some PC players of Call of Duty: Black Ops II report that disc 2 of their recently-purchased game is the wrong sequel entirely. Players on the Call of Duty forums, the Steam forums, and Reddit are reporting that when they insert disc 2 as prompted, they receive a Mass Effect 2 read error. The video…

If you shop at Old Navy early on Black Friday, you could win a Wii U or a New Super Mario Bros U game

DayZ’s Creator Has Only Killed Another Player Once

Zombie survival mod DayZ is rife with player-killing, and even though it’s an integral part of the game’s experience, most people nevertheless tend to frown on it, seeing as survival is the name of the game, not murder. But once in a while, you run into a problem that can only be solved by violence.…

Evangelion 2.22 is a Film That Plays On Your Expectations

We are now less than a week out from the Japanese release of Evangelion 3.0: You Can (Not) Redo. Over the past few weeks we have looked at my personal history with the Evangelion franchise in general and the first film in the Rebuild of Evangelion series, Evangelion 1.11: You Are (Not) Alone, in specific.…

All-You-Can-Eat Burger King? This Is Madness, Japan.

To mark the fifth year of Burger King’s return to Japan, the fast food chain is once again offering a special deal for a limited time: an all-you-can-eat burger buffet. Between November 17 and 21, those who order a large black burger meal deal between 2pm and 11pm get to stuff their faces with as…

Report: Pleas for Japan’s Most Infamous (and Frightening) Blogger To Stop

Japanese actress Aki Higashihara writes a blog—a blog that has been nicknamed the “Death Blog”. It’s called the “Death Blog” after Japanese manga Death Note, because her track record has not been good. Well, it’s been good at causing bad things, such as the death of the Nintendo Wii. As previously noted, here’s a round…

StarCraft II: Heart of the Swarm Will Be Unleashed Next March, Says Battle.net

The upcoming StarCraft II expansion, Heart of the Swarm, now has a release date. According to Battle.net (first spotted by Eurogamer), it will be out on March 12, 2013. The digital deluxe edition of the expansion is priced at US$59.99 and comes with Wings of Liberty There were hopes that Heart of the Swarm would…

The Bravely Default Browser Game is Deeper Than I Expected

Bravely Default: Flying Fairy is not the only game to bare the Bravely Default moniker. There is also a tie-in browser game called Bravely Default: Praying Brage. We’ve already had a look at some of the game’s… less than stellar artwork but luckily these character portraits do not reflect the overall art style of the…

Here’s How You Build a Giant Z.O.E. Statue

Ever wondered how Konami built that large Jehuty statue and then put it on a building in Tokyo? No? Well, here’s a photo montage that might clue you in. Kotaku East is your slice of Asian internet culture, bringing you the latest talking points from Japan, Korea, China and beyond. Tune in every morning from…

Japan’s Traditional Seals Get Very, Very Nerdy

In Japan and most of Asia, documents require a seal. The Japanese word for these stamps is a typically “hanko” (判子) or inkan (印鑑), and they’ve been used for over a thousand years. People’s names are carved onto them, and take the place of a signature when doing things like opening a bank account, getting…

You’ll Need to Clean Out Your Ears to Watch This Game in Action

Over the course of this generation in gaming, more than a few Nintendo-published Wii titles have never made it outside of Japan—despite it being the best-selling console of the generation. One of these unfortunate titles is Kiki Trick, a video game based completely around listening. Somewhat resembling music title Rhythm Heaven in both style and…

This Guy’s Geeky Latte Art Will Blow Your Mind

Meet Kazuki Yamamoto. He’s a latte artist. You’ve probably seen the work of latte artists before and how they can draw things like hearts or leaves in steamed milk. But you’ve probably never seen anything like this. Yamamoto draws anime, manga, and video game characters in latte—as well as celebrities and animals. Whether it’s Pokémon…

According to a Chinese newspaper, Apple will apparently start trial production next month for the iPhone 5S.

It’s Like China Is Making a Real Stargate Transport Ring

In the Stargate universe, there are these giant rings called, well, Stargates, that are portal devices that allow quick travel through space. In China, there’s this. Located in Fushun, it’s called the “Ring of Life”. According to Reuters (via The Atlantic), the structure is 157 meters tall, is built using 3,000 tons of steel (not…

Call of Duty: Black Ops II: The Kotaku Review

Six years after the death of Saddam Hussein—just a couple of days ago—I decided to watch the video of his death for the first time. I did this because in Call of Duty: Black Ops II’s attempt to explain its plot, I was shown a brief glimpse of a YouTube video showcasing the director of…

This Is Awkward: David Petraeus Is In the Next Call of Duty As America’s New Secretary of Defense

A sex scandal may have prompted David Petraeus to resign from running the CIA last Friday, but the new Call of Duty predicts that he’s got a really bright future. The new first-person shooter features the former general as the Secretary of Defense in the year 2025, serving loyally to a female President who looks…

I Never Saw The Moment Video Games Hit The Mainstream. It Just Kind of Happened.

When something “arrives”, in a popular culture sense, it’s never to the tune of trumpets and a standing ovation. Nothing can ever be that spontaneous. Instead, you just wake up one day and realise that something which used to exist around the fringes, which people may have been aware of but were never that into,…

Here’s Some Early, Rough Gameplay Footage of Chris Roberts’ Star Citizen

The debut footage for Star Citizen, which sees Wing Commander creator Chris Roberts return to space games after a too-long absence, looked awesome. It was also short on raw gameplay footage, something this test clip makes up for. Is it boring? Yes. But boring can be good, because boring is also real, and that’s what…

This Might be Your Next Gaming Keyboard. If You Like Blue.

I tend to like most of my peripherals—as I would, since I paid good money for them—but of all the gear plugged into my PC, I think I have the softest spot for my keyboard. It’s a Corsair K60, and it looks like it could kill a man just for looking at it funny. I’d…