Maybe “Bad” Games Are Just Lacking In Confidence

Renaud Charpentier, of Total War devs Creative Assembly, may have a point. So many “bad” games, which to be fair most people would call simply “average”, aren’t offensively terrible. They’re just boring. Bland. “Competent”. The ones that stick with us, even if they don’t play so well, stick with us for a reason. Like, say,…

A Second, Very Brief Look at Insomniac’s Next Big Game

Resistance and Ratchet & Clank developers Insomniac took to the spotlight at E3 2011 and revealed Overstrike. A game that we’ve basically not seen since. Well, it’s back, and with a new name, and once I stop thinking it sounds like the name of a racing game, I’m sure everything will be just fine. This…

One of the PC’s Best Strategy Games is Coming to the iPad [Update: No It’s Not!]

As hinted at a month ago, Paradox Interactive, masters of the big PC strategy game, will be shrinking one down for play on something a little more portable. Hearts of Iron, the company’s big World War Two series, will be hitting the iPad on October 4. Those wondering just how it’s been shrunk down, there’s…

A Giant Desert Party For Fans of Fallout, Wasteland, RAGE, etc.

Well, not just for you. Fans of Wasteland, RAGE, Borderlands or any other game set in a post-apocalyptic desert are more than catered for at Wasteland Weekend, which will be held in the Mojave Desert at the end of the month. While originally conceived as a Mad Max-inspired event, it’s since taken on wider influences,…

The Art of a Man Working on Blizzard’s Next MMO

The last time we featured the art of Nick Carver was in 2008, when the dude was looking for a job. Today, he seems to be doin’ OK, as he’s a senior artist at Blizzard. Having spent over five years at Free Radical, later Crytek UK, Carver has been at Blizzard since 2009, where he’s…

The Unpublished Nintendo Comic That Said “S**t”

Howard & Nester was a comic staple of Nintendo Power for much of the magazine’s run, but there’d always been one storyline kept out of the public eye. Until today. This issue was never intended to run in the magazine; instead, it was specially made and given to former Nintendo of America icon Howard Phillips…

Most Arcade Games From The 1980s Have Been Smashed To Pieces

While there are plenty boutique arcades and bars across the world that are home to old Asteroids cabinets, and private collectors who own working versions of Centipede, they account for barely a drop in the ocean of the total number of arcade cabinets manufactured in the 1970s and 80s. We’d like to think those machines…

First Footage of Wasteland 2 Stares a Robot Scorpion in the Face

Until now, we’d only seen artwork and a screenshot of the upcoming Wasteland sequel, but here’s your first look at the game in motion. OK, so there’s not much motion at all, and the scene in question is the same from the screenshot, but the point of this was to show off the game’s various…

Welcome To The Last Of Us’ Jungle In This Giant Gameplay Demo

Naughty Dog’s presentation of The Last of Us at PAX over the weekend ran for over fifteen minutes, and contained plenty of new footage for the upcoming game about post-apocalyptic interpersonal relationships / surviving hordes of angry plant people. It’ll be out next year.

Phoenix Wright is Back in These First Ace Attorney 5 Screenshots

Scans? Who needs ’em when you’ve got actual screenshots of the newest entry in the Ace Attorney series, which not only sees the return of Phoenix Wright, but marks the series’ first foray into 3D visuals. These official images, released by Capcom, are a mix of artwork and in-game shots, showing the game’s new 3D…

Glenn Beck vs One of The World’s Most Famous Game Creators

Conservative pundit Glenn Beck has his fans, but famed video game developer Warren Spector reportedly isn’t one of them. Talking on his radio show earlier this week, Beck recounts the tale of when one of his staffers ran into the Deus Ex and System Shock legend at the recent GameStop Manager’s Conference (the employee also…

David Byrne + St. Vincent + Saxophones. Oh, Yeah.

This new video from Talking Heads frontman David Byrne and wicked good looper/singer/music-maven St. Vincent is my jam. I mean… two of my favorite singers and a whole full-on sax-section groove. It’s like they’re trying to kill me with awesomeness. Best of all, you can preview the whole album, “Love This Giant” over at NPR.…

Half-Minute Hero is coming to the PC. It’ll be out on September 27. Please watch the trailer

The Boss Will See You Now in NBA 2K13

NBA 2K13 keeps packing off-court roleplaying moments into its career mode, more than any other sports simulation it seems. The release of a couple teaser screenshots today suggests that the player you create in the game’s “My Player” singleplayer career can now ask to see your team’s general manager to discuss whatever’s on your mind.…

This Fantastic Animation Is A Violent Showdown Between Team Fortress 2‘s Scout and Left 4 Dead‘s Witch

You might have to wait for part 2 to see what this animator’s vision on who would win this fight is, but I’m leaning towards the witch. Everyone knows once the witch has you down, there’s no getting back up. You can’t even fight from under her!

This Indie Action-RPG Channels Zelda And Wild Arms

Sometimes, when you’re sleep-deprived and jetlagged and sore and overworked, you’ll go up to the game Delver’s Drop and spend an entire video calling it “Deliver’s Drop.” Oops. Sorry, guys at Pixelscopic My dumb gaffes aside, this indie looks really interesting. Don’t expect it for a while, though: the team just started development about a…

Midweek Moneysaver: Secure Borders

This Wednesday edition of Kotaku’s The Moneysaver catches all the offers, promotions and bargains that can’t wait until the weekend. The Midweek Moneysaver is brought to you by Dealzon. Software • Sep. 18 release Borderlands 2 (PC download) is $36 from Green Man Gaming. Next best is $54. Best deal on Xbox 360 is at…

Would You Kindly Let Me Play With This Awesome BioShock Nerf Gun

Dead serious: I would pay real money to own a Nerf gun that looked like this. The gun, made by DeviantARTist AjlDesign, uses a modified Nerf Maverick to channel the awesome might of a Big Daddy. As you can see in the video above, it’s a heck of a little thing. AJDesign has put up…

First Look at the 3D Graphics of Ace Attorney 5

Upcoming game Ace Attorney 5 is slated for the 3DS. Since the game is headed to Nintendo’s glasses-free 3D platform, it will take advantage of that feature. What’s more, the game’s graphics, which have always been 2D, are going to be 3D. This is a complete change for the Ace Attorney series. So the characters—even…

Here’s Another Kojima-Ordered Look at Snake, to Prove He’s Not a Geezer in Ground Zeroes

Metal Gear fans thought they were getting Old Snake a second time after viewing the 10-minute in-game demonstration of Metal Gear Solid: Ground Zeroes, which series creator Hideo Kojima said was a misperception created by backlighting. Still, people continued to press the issue. So Kojima asked an artist to remove the goggles from this promotional…