Real-Life Mario Kart Race Ends in Broken Bones

For his school’s annual billy cart derby, 12 year-old Australian William Wong did the awesome thing and dressed as Mario, even building his cart to be a replica, of sorts, of the plumber’s more recent vehicles in the Mario Kart series. What’s more, via The Australian, he won the race! But then he started celebrating.…

This Week’s Android Charts: Incredibly Late Morning Edition

What’s that? It’s a little late for this morning’s weekly Android game charts? Poppycock! It’s never too late for the morning. Well, I suppose the next morning would be too late. Looks like I made it just in time for Ralph to wreck it once more. Now that Ralph and the magical Vanellope have finished…

Persona 4 Golden Takes On Twilight

What’s that? A book in Persona 4 Golden called Witch Detective? And it’s about vampires? Ouch. (via TinyCartridge)

If Only Sauron Had Xenomorphs On His Side

In honor of my (and our) recent rewatch of the Lord of the Rings trilogy, I thought I’d share this oldie but goodie forum thread that wonders: How would Xenomorphs from Aliens do in Lord of the Rings? This is my favorite kind of speculation, largely because everyone in the thread is so considered and…

Zelda Gets The Skrillex Treatment, And It’s Surprisingly Great

Yeah, I know. Skrillex game channels The Legend of Zelda. Seems like it might be bad, or at least, haphazard. But as it turns out, Skrillex Quest, a new browser game, is really pretty cool. It comes as something less of a surprise considering that it comes from Jason Oda, the same guy who brought…

Combining war, politics and the economy in a massive Cold War strategy game? Must be a Paradox joint.

After Watching The Japanese Launch Trailer For Professor Layton vs. Ace Attorney, I Really Hope It Comes Here

Not that I didn’t want it here before. But come on. Professor Layton and Phoenix Wright teaming up to solve puzzles and investigate murder mysteries? I WANT IN. Layton vs. Ace Attorney is out in Japan tomorrow. Still no word on U.S. release.

Far Cry 3‘s Intro Embodies Its Best And Worst Writing

As a game, Far Cry 3 shines quite brightly. As a story, it’s a little bit more of a mixed bag. It has some excellent moments, some fantastic characters, and some really funny writing. It’s also dumb when it doesn’t need to be, and misses some opportunities to tell a more interesting and subversive story.…

My 13-Year-Old Baldur’s Gate Review, Enhanced Edition

When PC role-playing classic Baldur’s Gate was released in 1998, I was writing for a small gaming news site called Videogamers.com. BioWare’s masterpiece was my first official PC game review. While Videogamers.com is long gone, the magical Internet Wayback Machine houses an archived version of the review, at least until I figure out a way…

Looks Like We’ll Be Getting More Dishonored Games, For Better Or For Worse

It warms my disease-ridden, whale-oil tainted heart to hear that the wonderful Dishonored was a financial success for its publisher Bethesda. In this age of sequels and iron-sights, games this original, smart and flat-out good don’t come around that often. As quoted by Destructoid, Bethesda PR boss Pete Hines said of the game’s success, “We’re…

Michelle Obama Had No Idea What a Wii U Was (But It’s OK, Some Kid Told Her)

You’d think being the First Lady of the United States would mean you’re on top of things, but not even the most powerful household on Earth is up to speed on everything Take Nintendo’s new Wii U, for example. Because it’s got kinda the same name as its predecessor, it’s understandable some people are a…

Play As Batman Or His Foes In The Upcoming Arkham City Board Game

Well this certainly sounds cool. Deck-building game designers Cryptozoic games are creating a new game based on Arkham City. In a cool twist, the game will cast one player as the caped crusader, and the other as all of his enemies, and they’ll duke it out for control of Arkham City. Using cards, in the…

Can We Be Childish For A Second? Because The Bromance In Hitman: Absolution Is Hilarious.

Hitman: Absolution is, for the most part, a serious game. It’s a great game. But there’s definitely some lowbrow humor at work. Kirk’s not the biggest fan of the back-to-back, incessant appearance of nasty jokes. But, and maybe it’s because I haven’t actually played the game yet, I find it hilarious in Achievement Hunter’s video…

Not Cool: This Game on Wired UK Copied an Indie Sensation [Update]

I really loved Thomas Was Alone, a charming indie puzzle platformer from developer Mike Bithell. Apparently, the folks who make games for Wired‘s UK division liked it, too, because they cranked out a game that cribs heavily from Thomas Was Alone CFBDSIR2149 Was Alone doesn’t have the endearing narration of Danny Wallace or the excellent…

Friendship Was Tragic for This My Little Pony Player

When My Little Pony for iOS and Android launched earlier this month I could count my Gameloft Live friends on two hands. Now I have 500. They say you can never have too many friends. In my case, too many friends destroyed Ponyville. In the screenshot above you’ll notice entirely too many chests. When players…

Pulled From The App Store, This Weird Boyfriend Simulator Lives On

It’s too bad that 36You’s surreal, hilarious fake boyfriend app Boyfriend Maker has been pulled from Apple’s app store. It was likely pulled because the games now-infamous “chat mode” opened up all sorts of bizarre and risqué dialogue. The game won a healthy following purely due to its strangeness, and thankfully, people who managed to…

The Impressive, Beautiful, Somber Super Move Of PlayStation All-Stars Battle Royale‘s Big Daddy

About a week ago we all got the opportunity to get our hands on Sony’s brawler, PlayStation All-Stars Battle Royale I mentioned in my review that BioShock‘s Big Daddy was one of the highlights, if for nothing else than his third-level special move. It’s gorgeous, and one of the most uniquely done action moves that…

An RPG About Guns, Dwarves, And The Power Of Basketball

We’ve known for a couple of weeks now that Barkley, Shut Up And Jam: Gaiden, one of my favorite role-playing games and one of the best indie RPGs out there, is getting a sequel Today, the creators have launched a ridiculous Kickstarter for the upcoming RPG. They want $35,000 to make it a reality. (Some…

Interested in a 50,000-word critical take on Spec Ops: The Line?

Your Ideal PC Gaming Hardware

Here at Kotaku, not everyone is a fully-fledged PC gamer. But some of us would like to be. Like a certain Tina who has a certain birthday coming up this Friday. Who also has a certain older brother who spoils her. See where I’m going with this? So he and I will be doing our…