#firstWiiUproblems: Not Knowing Which Screen To Look At

I have a Wii U, so I shouldn’t be complaining. I’m not. I’m observing. And my observation is this, my friends: observing a Wii U game is a brand-new skill I have not yet mastered. When I play this new console, I’m looking at the wrong screen half the time! Or I think I am.…

ChefVille A Little Help Quests: Everything You Need to Know

While the first portion of the Jamie Oliver Food Revolution event may have expired in ChefVille, that doesn’t mean we’ve seen the last of this famous chef. A new two-part quest series has launched in our restaurants that once again sees Chef Oliver teaching how to cook healthy, delicious dishes. Here’s our complete guide to…

Tron Is Just the Place for Sweet Jumps in This GTA IV Mod

It’s true that the PC version of Grand Theft Auto IV has given birth to some truly inspired mods. But not many of them totally re-paint Liberty City in as spectacular fashion as this one does. Modder Quechus13 re-skins GTA IV’s open world with the iconic, neon stripes of the Tron movies and throws in…

Some Assassin’s Creed III: Liberation Players Encountering Save-File-Killing Bug

It’s starting to seem like fall, 2012 might just be best thought of as bug season. Assassin’s Creed III: Liberation, the PS Vita handheld companion to Assassin’s Creed III, has a nasty save-corrupting bug hitting some players. The issue, as reported by players on Ubisoft’s forums, is corrupting save games and causing players to lose…

This Week’s iPad Charts: The Angry Birds Death Star Approaches Completion

In case you hadn’t figured out how this works yet, Rovio releases a new Angry Birds game, and then it sits on the charts for months and months and months. This week we welcome the latest Rovio chart-sitter, Angry Birds Star Wars It’s a week of major releases on the iPad, unlike last week where…

I Was Ashamed of Being a Gamer. I Don’t Feel That Way Anymore.

Ever since I figured out how easy it was to be judged for loving video games, I felt ashamed of them. For years, I labored to widen the distance between my adult life and that comfy digital world I embraced during my formative years. I’d even say that distance bordered on rebuke as I left…

More Than 144,000 People Now Own Natural Selection 2

Natural Selection 2 came out last week, and the folks who made it have created this neat infographic to show off the performance of their new real-time-strategy/first-person-shooter hybrid. Notably: between pre-orders and sales, more than 144,000 people now own the game. Not bad for an indie made by a studio of seven full-time staff Click…

Halo’s Story Got You Confused? This Chart Might Help. [Update]

I’ll be honest, Halo’s story confuses the hell out of me. Not the general outline, I get that, but the specifics and history of the universe are presented as a mess for someone who just plays the games and doesn’t get knee-deep in the external fiction. Why am I here? Who’s that guy? When did…

Final Fantasy Games Have Never Been About Choice

Over the last week as I have spent more and more time with Bravely Default: Flying Fairy—a Final Fantasy in all but name—I have found myself thinking about the classic Final Fantasies and how they compare with the most modern non-MMO iteration, Final Fantasy XIII. When I first played FFXIII, many months before it came…

Japan’s Real Robot Lady Turned into a Small Plastic Model

HRP-4C Miim is a humanoid robot, kind of like Asimo, but cuter. Japanese researchers toiled away for years in order to bring her to life, enabling her to walk and bow. And soon, she’ll be immortalized as a collectible. According to Tomopop, next February, Miim is getting a snap together figure that is posable. It…

Bravely Default: Flying Fairy is a Classic Final Fantasy in All But Name

I vividly remember watching the Nintendo press conference right before the Tokyo Game Show in 2011 where they announced Bravely Default: Flying Fairy. I remember because I could not stop laughing for a good ten minutes after I saw the nonsensical title pop across my screen. I dismissed the game based on its name alone…

Silicon Knights Must Destroy Unsold Games

In 2007, Silicon Knights sued Epic over issues with the Unreal Engine (that it was unfinished and, thus, sabotaged Silicon Knights’ work). Epic won the legal tussle earlier this year and was awarded US$4.45 million. The headaches for Silicon Knights don’t end there. NeoGAF member Xenon noticed that page 41 of the court documents give…

The Valkyria Chronicles 3 Anime is So True to the Game, I Forgot I Wasn’t Playing it

As I’ve said before, I was a fan of the Valkyria Chronicles series from the moment I first saw its debut trailer. Not only was it beautiful but also it got me, a man who never liked strategy games growing up, to spend countless hours on them. I love the series (though VC2 has more…

This Japanese Children’s Book Will Give You Hellish Nightmares

Jigoku (地獄) is the Japanese word for hell. Jigoku is Japanese Buddhist hell, where brutal and bloody penitence is doled out. It’s also the subject of a picture book for children. The book is called A Picture Book of Jigoku, and it is a best seller—a best seller that makes some children very scared. Adults,…

Does the World Need this 3DS Product? Probably Not.

Japan’s CyberGadget is rolling out a “3DS dedicated” AR card holder. Sure, it only costs ¥500, and it can hold 120 AR cards, but I’m honestly thinking of one good reason why this product needed to be made. I’m also trying to think of the last time I used AR cards with my 3DS. CYBER・ARカードホルダー（3DS用)…

How Japan Turned the United Kingdom into a Cute Anime Girl

Italy looks like a boot. Romania looks kind of like a fish. And the United Kingdom? The country certainly has a distinctive shape—a shape that Japan turned into an anime girl. As website Japan Sugoi pointed out this week, a thread popped up on bulletin board 2ch online in Japan last fall. In it, the…

Victoria’s Secret Features an Unexpected Anime Inspiration

When you think Victoria’s Secret, you probably think lingerie. Makes sense! Because that’s exactly what the company makes and sells. You, however, do not think Japanese animation. Right now, though, you will. That’s because the famed underwear maker showed an unlikely inspiration at its recent fashion show. On November 7, Victoria’s Secret had its models…

North Americans, you can get the PC version of BioShock for free. Right here

Metal Gear Cosplay, Done Right

The Metal Gear series is a pretty popular one with cosplayers, both because it’s a famous franchise but also because a lot of the costumes are pretty easy to make! Not this one. This Grayfox costume looks like it took some serious work, not just to construct, but also to actually wear, since it can’t…

There’s One Less BioWare Studio to Worry About

Once was a time the name “BioWare” meant something. That you were going to get a game, most likely an RPG, with a rich world and expansive story-telling. It would also probably be awesome. But ever since EA bought the company, BioWare has become more of a brand, used not only for “traditional” projects like…