Ubisoft Boss Hopes the Next Console Generation Doesn’t Last As Long As This One

Many of us would consider a long console lifespan to be a good thing, but Yves Guillemot, the CEO at Ubisoft, says it’s bad for the industry. Bemoaning a “very long” transition to new hardware, Guillemot told Polygon that “we are used to changing machines every five years.” At the end of a hardware cycle,…

Japanese Groom Ritually Destroys Love Plus Save Data on His Wedding Day

One day in college, a friend of mine* was awakened by the distinctive sound of a man’s porn collection in a garbage bag hitting the bottom of an empty Dumpster (which was right next to my apartment.) “Ah, someone must have gotten a girlfriend,” my friend said. A similar act of purification, contrition, devotion, whatever,…

Major Nelson died. No, not that one, the other one.

Space Harrier Going 3D and Coming to Nintendo eShop

If Space Harrier is coming to the Nintendo 3DS, strangely enough, that won’t be the first ever 3D treatment the Sega classic has gotten. Gamer, a Japanese publication, reports that Space Harrier is going 3D and will come to Nintendo’s eShop. A release date overseas was not specified, nor were any western release plans. Its…

Studio Says Antipiracy Measures in Football Manager 12 Helped Make 13 Much Better

Last year, Sports Interactive moved its management simulation/obsession Football Manager over to Steam, citing rampant piracy of the game. At the time, figures the developer cited said for every one person who bought Football Manager 09, four others acquired it illegally. How as Football Manager‘s Steam strategy gone? Miles Jacobson, the studio’s head, told MCV…

Hitman: Absolution‘s “Contracts” mode has seen more than 50,000 levels created by the community, Square Enix says.

“Hot Coffee” Scandal was an Attack on Video Games, says Grand Theft Auto Maker

The “Hot Coffee” scandal—a sex minigame found by a modder inside the code of Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas—still weighs on Dan Houser, co-founder of Rockstar Games, which makes the series. In an interview with The Guardian, Houser said he views the seven-year-old incident as an attack on video gaming in general. “We never felt…

GRID 2‘s Achievements Will Be Written by Achievement Hunters

Xbox360Achievements.org and PS3Trophies.org have been tapped to draw up the achievements and trophies in GRID 2, due for release by the end of March. Publisher Codemasters and the two sites made a joint announcement of the team-up yesterday. “For years we’ve been criticizing lackluster achievement and trophy lists, and now, we finally get the chance…

This Week in the Business: ‘Nintendo Has Set Up the Wii U for Failure.’

What’s happened in the business of video games this past week … QUOTE | “Nintendo has set up the Wii U for failure.”—Dan Hsu, editor in chief of GamesBeat, talking along with journalists and analysts about the mixed critical reception to the Nintendo’s launch of the Wii U STAT | $500 million—Amount that Call of…

Czech diplomats have been invited to Greece in the matter of two ArmA 3 devs held for 75 days on espionage charges.

Fans Asked to Pick Sonic & All Stars Racing DLC; Will Sega Hear Them Out?

Four days before the game’s release, Sonic & All Stars Racing Transformed was already getting suggestions from its community for future downloadable content additions. Steve Lycett of Sumo Digital, the game’s developer, popped into the thread, joked about how tough it was to please the fans, then set down a challenge: if they could come…

At a Tokyo Event, Sony Turned Western Games into Video Game Ambassadors

Today, Sony held the “World Game Project” in Akihabara, in which the electronics giant showed off twenty PS3 and PS Vita games. These titles were developed outside Japan, and the point of this hands-on event was to give Japanese gamers a chance to check out titles they might not otherwise and maybe remind them that…

The Best of Kotaku, This Week

Welcome to the Best of Kotaku, where I round up all of this week’s best content. I just had to showcase the awesome Scribbelnauts mash-up art with all of you one more time as this week’s best image. Moving on to our Best Of content this week, we kick things off as usual with a…

Get A Load Of This Goofy Hitman: Absolution Ice Cream Truck Easter Egg

Hitman: Absolution begins with 47 driving an ice cream truck, so it’s not that much of a stretch that one of the weirdest easter eggs in the game features the vehicle’s deadly return. Up top, the guys at Gamefront walk us through how to unlock a crazy easter egg midway through the game (I have…

Disney Epic Mickey: The Power of Illusion: The Kotaku Review

Up for consideration as the saddest noise in the world: the sound Mickey Mouse makes when he dies/gets knocked out/whatever in Epic Mickey: The Power of Illusion It’s a depressing, elongated “ohhhh ” groan that immediately makes you feel disappointed in yourself for letting a beloved slice of your childhood keel over. Childhood—both personal ones…

Can Someone Please Save This Cat from the Crane Game Machine? Please?

Children have accidentally crawled into crane games before, so why wouldn’t there be a cat in one? And look how comfy the animal is, just sprawled out on those soft, plush toys. Still, I do hope someone got the cat out—and not by using the claw. Ganar un gato en máquina de peluches [tinchovm85@YouTube]

All the Gaming Deals of Black Friday [UPDATED with 80 More Deals]

Our deals partners at Dealzon have scanned all major retailers in North America for the video game offers of Black Friday, the day after Thanksgiving when many Americans begin their holiday shopping. Whether you’re picking up something for yourself, a loved one or a friend, here’s more than 60 deals on current video games, gaming…

Show Us The JRPGs You’re Most Thankful For

As I write this, turkey is trying to burst out of my stomach, the Jets are embarrassing themselves on national television, and I’m using Persona 4 to distract me from the pain of both. Thanksgiving is great. So in the spirit of this wonderful, gluttonous holiday, let’s take some time to celebrate the genre of…

“There’s a lady on the ground” – Scenes of Black Friday Video Game Shopping Madness

Scenes of people shopping for video games today on Black Friday—specifically at Wal-Marts across the country—don’t resemble shopping as much as they resemble feeding frenzies. Why they do it like this is beyond me. This kind of thing is a great argument for downloading games or at least ordering them online. Here’s the video referenced…

Two of the Year’s Biggest PC Games Are Missing From One Country’s Steam Store

Two of Ubisoft’s biggest games for the year—and indeed, two of the bigger PC releases for the year—are Assassin’s Creed III and Far Cry 3. So it’s weird that, unlike most other places on Earth, neither is yet available on the UK’s Steam servers. “We’ve been in discussions with Valve about Assassin’s Creed 3 and…