Reality Show Ensures Zynga’s Hiring Process Just as Spectacular as Its Firing Process

Last month Zynga laid off more than 100 game developers in a firing extravaganza set against the backdrop of Apple’s big iPad event. Thanks to CBS reality show “The Job”, the company’s hiring of a new associate game designer will be every bit as spectacular and public as that mass termination. According to a Games.com…

The Fascinating True Story Of Monopoly

It’s one of the most-played board games in the entire world, a game so well-known that its rules have become household shorthand and slang. And yet, the full story of Monopoly is a good deal deeper, more interesting, and more tragic than you may have thought. Harper’s has taken a fascinating, lengthy look back at…

Return To New Vegas: Kleptomaniacal Ethics On The Wasteland

When I play Bethesda’s open-world role-playing games, I steal. A lot. I know I’m not alone in this—in fact, I’d wager that almost every single human who has played Fallout 3 or Morrowind or Skyrim has stolen something or other. After playing so many hours of Skyrim over the past year, I’ve noticed something odd…

One Of The Best Indie RPGs Ever Made Is Getting A Sequel

If you haven’t played Tales of Game’s Studios Presents Chef Boyardee’s Barkley, Shut Up and Jam: Gaiden, Chapter 1 of the Hoopz Barkley SaGa, you really should. It’s funny, awesome, and 100% free. (Download here.) If you have played Barkley, you will undoubtedly be psyched to know that the creators are developing a sequel, called…

Devil May Cry DLC Will Let You Play Dante’s Twin Brother

Some might say it’s a little strange to announce downloadable content before your game is out. Some might call it rude, obnoxious, greedy, money-hungry, whatever. Not Capcom! They want you to know all about the first piece of Devil May Cry DLC, called “Vergil’s Downfall,” which will cost $8.99/720 Microsoft Points—unless you pre-order the game,…

The Craziest Feats Of Halo 4 Multiplayer Get Mythbusted

Do you ever wonder about really specific theoretical feats in Halo 4‘s multiplayer? Like, say, whether or not you can deflect an oddball with a gravity hammer, or trick an auto-sentry with a hologram? Wonder no longer: The folks at Defendthehouse have got you covered with the first episode of Halo 4 Mythbusters This must’ve…

Thomas Was Alone—one of this year’s most clever, best-executed games—is on Steam now. You really should get it.

Call of Duty: Black Ops II: The Snacktaku Review

I don’t know if it’s the “rating pending” box or something specific to the Xbox 360 version of the game, but I’ve been chewing for hours and all I’ve got to show for it is disc shards slicing painfully into my gums. Thanks a lot, Activision. Snacktaku is Kotaku’s take on the wild and wonderful…

It Isn’t All Fun and Frivolity — Gamers Have Problems Too

When non-gamers get on your case about sitting around fiddling with your game pad all night long, show them this. It’s a sobering look at the real problems that affect us as gamers, from the folks at BadWeatherFilm. As tongue-in-cheek as many of these entries, harvested from Twitter tag #GamerProblems may be, a couple of…

The Dorkly Weekly: Oh Come On, Everybody Loves Mortal Kombat‘s Toasty Guy

Don’t be like that, Dorkly! Dan Forden sounds like a great guy to hang out at T.G.I. Friday’s with on a Monday. Dan Forden, one of the four programmers that initially began working on the original Mortal Kombat, along with Ed Boon, John Tobias and John Vogel, is better known to the world at large…

Newest DirectX Upgrade Only For Windows 8 Systems

And so the inevitable march of Windows moves onward: DirectX, the software that Windows computers rely on to make games run, is getting an upgrade—but only for Windows 8. A Microsoft employee confirmed in a (tech-heavy) post to developers that “there is no plan for DirectX 11.1 to be made available on Windows 7.” Windows…

Assassin’s Creed III Is A Bummer! No, It’s Not! Let’s Talk This Out.

Last week, I wrote a lengthy article about Assassin’s Creed III and the many ways it’s disappointed me. My take on the game stands in contrast to Stephen’s—he liked the game fine. Clearly, there’s more to talk about here. Here’s Stephen: It is one of the best video games of the year, one of the…

Legends: Rise of a Hero is the Perfect Example of a Mid-Core Action RPG

“Mid-core” is a term being bandied about quite a lot lately, indicating the evolution of social games from passive clicking affairs to experiences that flirt with hardcore gameplay while remaining accessible to casual players. Need an example? Play Mob Science’s newly-launched Legends: Rise of a Hero Out today on Zynga.com, Legends is a mouse-based action…

The People Who Make Half-Minute Hero Want To Know If You Want The Sequel

Are you insane with envy that Japan got Half-Minute Hero 2, the sequel to Marvelous Entertainment’s lovely satirical PSP role-playing game, but we never did? Well, don’t get your hopes up too much, but the folks at Marvelous have been tweeting up a storm for the past week or so, asking Westerners to fill out…

He Went $63,000 In Debt To Make His Game

Video game development can take a terrible toll on a person’s mind, body, and soul. It can do even more damage to their bank account. Gordon Midwood, a developer whose game Derrick the Deathfin was released on the PlayStation Network at just about the worst possible time to release a game, says he went £40,000…

NatGeo’s Brilliant Doomsday Preppers Game is Tiny Tower, Only Underground

NatGeo’s Doomsday Preppers is a documentary series about people preparing for the end of the world, hording supplies, learning survival skills and building elaborate shelters in the hopes that when the big day comes the four horse-persons of the apocalypse might pass them by. In celebration of tomorrow’s launch of the show’s second season, G5…

Huge New Live Event This Weekend Kicks Off Guild Wars 2‘s November Update

Lion’s Arch is under attack! Or, well, make that, Lion’s Arch is under attack—again. The poor city just can’t seem to catch a break. Just as the Mad King himself burst into Lion’s Arch rather destructively on October 28, so too is something coming to the coastal city next weekend. And it’s not a nice…

SimCity Social ‘The Fabulous Baker Boy’ Quests: Everything You Need to Know

As Animal Week continues in SimCity Social, players can complete not only a set of “Accidentally on Porpoise” quests for a new Megaquarium and Dolphin Pool, but they can complete a set of quests titled “The Fabulous Baker Boy.” This set will reward players with a Creampuff Factory, if they manage to finish these quests…

Zenonia 5 Comes Alive on Android This Week

Gamevil’s ever-expanding mobile action RPG series turns five this week, with the release of Zenonia 5: Wheel of Destiny for Android devices. Has it really been five games already? That’s the joy of mobile gaming. While the console folks are still sitting around waiting for Square Enix to finish up a Final Fantasy game that…

Shoot People as Bobby Kotick Tomorrow In This Free Online Game To Celebrate Black Ops II

Tomorrow, you can play the new Call of Duty. Separately, you will also be able to play as Bobby Kotick, chief of CoD publisher Activision, in the free (well, mostly free) online shooter Offensive Combat Kotick’s character is called “Money Sack” and will be available for purchase of free rental in the game. Offensive Combat…