Turns Out Jack The Ripper Was Pretty Gross

They never did catch that Jack the Ripper, did they? Some suspect it was all a Victorian plot. Others, a foe best left for the Dark Knight Turns out, at least according to this Halloween figure from Sideshow, he was neither. He was, quite literally, a monster. And quite a fetching one at that, if…

Awww, that sweet 3DS Circle Pad extension from Nyko that we saw in June isn’t actually going to be made. Bummer.

Ubisoft is Suing the Black Eyed Peas

Last year, Ubisoft and the Black Eyed Peas signed a contract whereby the publisher would release some video games based on the group’s music. One such game, The Black Eyed Peas Experience, was released in November 2011. As spotted by Player Attack, there should have been another one though, this time for Apple’s iOS devices.…

Meet Funomena, An Indie Studio You Should Probably Keep An Eye On

Last month, a new independent games developer was founded in the city of San Francisco. It’s called Funomena, and considering who’s on the payroll, it’ll be interesting seeing what comes out of the studio. As Venus Patrol points out, a couple of former thatgamecompany developers—Robin Hunicke and Martin Middleton—are at the helm, with the pair…

In Which Alex Plays a Video Game With a Pill Bug

That’s the name of the painting. “Alex plays a video game with a pill bug”. Pretty much nails it. All those little arms, one on each button. I bet he’d be super handy in multiplayer. Alex plays a video game with a pill bug [bijijoo, via Ian Brooks]

The Making of an Assassin

Alexandre Troufanov is employed at Ubisoft Montreal, where he works as a character modeller, which means he actually builds some of the people who inhabit the world of Assassin’s Creed You’ll see some examples of this in the gallery below, spanning the last three games in the series (not including the latest entry, the upcoming…

The PhotoShop Horror of a Wii U Controller That Looks Like a SNES Pad

It would be great if Nintendo released one of their Wii U Pro pads in a SNES finish. Preferably, a Japan/PAL colour scheme. Until they do, though, it’s up to third party manufacturers to cater to that market. Like this…hideous…thing. It’s popped up on EB Games’ Australian portal without so much as a manufacturer listing,…

Oh Boy, There’s an “Earth-Sized” Planet in Alpha Centauri

Anyone who’s played Civilization should be familiar with the words “Alpha Centauri“. That goes double for anyone who’s played, um, Civ’s spin-off Alpha Centauri. It’s the name of the closest star system to our own, and in Civ (and many other works of popular fiction), it’s the first stop on humanity’s inevitable march across the…

The Best Damn Video Game Trailer I’ve Seen This Week

Trailers are often criticised these days for showing little, or even no gameplay footage. It’s a fair complaint, but also one that should be shelved, at least temporarily, for this clip. Sure, it’s a trailer for the upcoming Need For Speed: Most Wanted, but it’s also a Freddie Wong video, and one which should be…

Can You Use the Wii U Gamepad on the Toilet?

In the latest Iwata Asks feature on Nintendo’s website, some of the key men involved in the design of the upcoming console’s quirky controller get talking about one of the most important elements of the pad: its range. Being a wireless controller, and one that you can use for more than just playing games on…

It’s West Side Story. With Lightsabers.

I’ve always enjoyed the kinda-sorta-dance-fights in West Side Story, especially the tragic knife fight in the rumble between Riff and Bernardo. But you know what would make them better? If instead of pocket knives, the Sharks and Jets had used tiny lightsabers. Watch the video, uploaded by YouTuber speederbikedad. Yep, way better. What other classic…

Security Company Finds Chink in Steam’s Armour

Of course, an online security company has a vested interest in pointing out security loopholes, but still, this makes for interesting reading. Revuln has taken a look at how Steam runs and has found a tiny security loophole in the way the Steam browser protocol uses a URL handler to perform basic tasks like installing…

You Can’t Watch Halo 4‘s Intro Right Now [Update]

The leak, and subsequent piracy of (and perma-bannings for playing) Halo 4 resulted in a flurry of videos such as this one, uploaded by the YouTube user Madchinima. [Update] Microsoft is officially not screwing around with this leak. This video was taken down inside of 20 minutes. This is the opening of the game, not…

XCOM Isn’t Dumbed Down For Consoles, It’s Smartened Up

Every time a classic PC game is moved over to consoles, we tend to hear the same worries: It’s been dumbed down; it’s oversimplifed, rendered toothless and worthless. When XCOM: Enemy Unknown was released on both PC and consoles, it would have been easy to jump to the same conclusions. And in many ways, XCOM…

Obsidian’s New RPG Raises Almost $4 Million, Sets a Kickstarter Record

Earlier this year, Double Fine’s adventure game Kickstarter raised $3.3 million from fans. At the time, it was a record for a video game on the service, but that mark has now been passed by Project Eternity, an RPG from veteran developers Obsidian. The closing bell just sounded on their Kickstarter drive, and it’s raised…

Hacking Killed a Square Enix Online Shop [Update]

Last month, the Square Enix Official Goods Online Shop was compromised as the third-party server, which hosts its online retail store, was breached. Today in Japan, the company announced that its merchandising division’s official goods online store would be ending its internet shopping service. The Official Goods Online Shop specialized in Square Enix’s collectible figures…

She’d Never Played Video Games, But Wound Up Judging A Game Contest

Most video game-players have someone in their life—an uncle, a parent, a cousin, a co-worker—who just doesn’t play video games. Time and again, we try to poke and prod at those people, to better understand where they’re coming from and more importantly, how they view our favorite pastime/livelihood/obsession/etc. And so an article like this one…

Minecraft On Xbox 360 Gets A Big Pile Of Updates, Including Creative Mode

The Xbox 360 edition of Minecraft received a big patch today, to version 1.8.2. There’s a big pile of little tweaks and additions included in the update, from animations to new items to tweaked drops. The most fun, though, is the addition of Creative mode to the console version of Minecraft. In creative mode, enemies…

As You Play Dishonored, Don’t Forget To Listen To Your Heart

There are voices that want to be heard; so much to mention but you can’t find the words. The scent of magic, the beauty that’s been, When Dunwall wasn’t a stinking deathtrap! Those aren’t just (slightly modified) lyrics to Roxette’s 1988 hit “Listen to Your Heart,” they’re also words of advice for anyone who wants…

This Quirky Puzzle-Platformer Sure Looks Delightful

Looks neat, doesn’t it? This is Dokuro, a new puzzle-platformer by Game Arts (the Japanese dev behind games like Lunar). And it’s out for Vita today. Here’s Antonio Cara, community associate at Dokuro publisher GungHo Online, talking about the new game on the PlayStation Blog: As you progress through the treacherous castle, you are gradually…