Weird Nintendo Swag Lets You Make Your Own Mario Moustache

Not that Nintendo needs to really sell the Wii U right now, since the first shipment is guaranteed to sell out on name alone, but they’re selling it anyway. Part of that sell is this random piece of retailer swag that…lets you…make your own Mario moustache? Shaped like a Wii U, you put the goop…

The Only Way to Survive the Zombie Apocalypse is With an Official Zombie Survival Kit

Obviously fearing for the safety of himself and his loved ones, designer Sam Proctor has done the CDC’s work for them and come up with this idea for a zombie apocalypse survival kit. Small enough to stash somewhere handy, it contains only the bare essentials: a mask, access cards to safe zones, a flare gun…

This year’s Independent Games Festival will feature 589 games, a new record. Check ’em out here

Capturing the Coolness of California Arcades in the Early 80s

Between 1981 and 1982, renowned photographer Ira Nowinski hiked all over the Bay Area, taking hundreds of photos of arcades. In all, he snapped around 700 images, and in awesome news for retro gaming fans many of them are now available for viewing, courtesy of their acquisition by Stanford University’s library (and Edge). Once you’re…

It’s The Hobbit’s First TV Trailer

Still not excited for The Hobbit, which opens in December? Maybe the movie’s first TV spot will do the trick. I can’t believe it’s been nine years since we had a Tolkien/Jackson joint debut in a theatre. That’s too damn long.

This Guy Has Been Luke Skywalker More Times Than Mark Hamill

Sure, he’s done amazing work behind a microphone over the last few decades, but let’s be honest. For most people, Mark Hamill is Luke Skywalker. At least, he is in three motion pictures and stuff like a Christmas special he would probably rather forget For over a decade, you’ve probably seen – or at least…

Unity of Command: The Kotaku Review

“You will not find it difficult to prove that battles, campaigns, and even wars have been won or lost primarily because of logistics.” – General Dwight D. Eisenhower Ike knew a thing or two about the machinations of war. He knows a lot more about it than most video game developers, whose efforts to replicate…

Tomb Raider’s Box Art Resists The Obvious Temptation

We normally only show an upcoming game’s cover if one of us takes a liking to it. So, yeah, I quite like Tomb Raider’s box art! Which doesn’t surprise me, seeing as I’m a fan of the game’s art direction in general (“Uncharted in bad weather”), but with a prominent female lead there was still…

Get a First Look at XCOM’s Fantastic Concept Art

While a few pieces were shown here and there in the lead-up to the game’s release, what you’re about to see is a collection of mostly never-before-seen concept art from the production of one of the year’s surprise hits. Drawing in works from all over the place, from mood-setting paintings to gun designs to ideas…

Check Out Halo 4’s New “Gameplay” Launch Trailer

Putting aside the fancy live-action stuff for a day, Microsoft tonight released this “gameplay” launch trailer for Halo 4. As pretty as it looks, “In-game cinematics interspersed with brief staged moments of gameplay from a third-person perspective” might have been a more accurate title. Though, admittedly, a little less snappy.

If You Don’t Watch Homeland, Claire Danes Will Cry On You

Homeland, ya heard? If you haven’t heard, I’m here to let ya know: It’s a pretty awesome show. I mainlined the entire first season, which you can now get on DVD, last week. Goodness. It’s a lot of fun. I describe it as, basically, “If 24 has been an actually good show.” That perhaps undersells…

What an American City Would Look Like at the End of Humanity

Whether you want to imagine the first days of Life After People, the next instalment of The Walking Dead or a sequel to Tokyo Jungle (Seattle Jungle?), you should check out these stunning images of what an American city looks like without a single person to be seen. Rather than be shot at dawn in…

Why Propose With a Diamond When You Could Propose With Portal‘s Companion Cube?

We’ve seen Portal proposals and Portal jewelry before. But putting them together into a Companion Cube engagement ring is a new one on me. The ring is stainless steel and, yes, the cube is a tiny exact replica with its little heart on every side. It was custom made by bmf jewelry for Justin Palmer,…

Return To New Vegas: The One Place You Just Had To Rob

Over the past couple of weeks, I’ve been getting my open-world RPG fix with Fallout: New Vegas. Yesterday I talked about how to mod the game to look nice and pretty, and from here on in I’m going to share some things I’ve noticed while playing the game. So here’s a thing: The Silver Rush.…

Mornings Just Fall Into Place When Your Coffee Comes From a Tetris Mug

To be honest, this Tetris mug would probably drive me crazy. I would fill it with my morning coffee and then wait for that one long piece to fall. And I’d be waiting forever, because it never, ever will. But the board will vanish as if it had, when I finish my coffee (or when…

Congratulations, EA, You Just Released Your 10th Military Shooter in 5 Years

It was a long time coming—longer than the gap between the announcement of the iPad 3 and the iPad 4—but Electronic Arts has finally released another military shooter. The game is called Medal of Honor Warfighter. It’s EA’s first military shooter since 2011’s Battlefield 3 (we’re not counting this past winter’s sci-fi first-person shooter Syndicate).…

Yes, We Could’ve Had A Diablo Set In Outer Space

StarCraft is cool. Diablo is cool. So what if… the two combined, letting you click demons to death in outer space?? Why, that would likely be pretty great. And it could’ve been a reality. Blizzard prototyped a version of Diablo set in space, according to an excerpt from David Craddock’s upcoming book Stay Awhile And…

The New Macbook Pro Looks Just Like A Certain 80s Film Star

The inner workings of the new Macbook Pro, unveiled today at Apple’s mini event, look familiar. In fact, if this thing had a laser on its shoulder, it could have had a successful film career in the 80s.

One Warning For Anyone Who Plans To Play Virtue’s Last Reward

Late Saturday night, I finally finished Zero Escape: Virtue’s Last Reward, the game that’s been keeping me up every night for the past two weeks. I clocked 26 hours and 20 minutes. It was fantastic. As I played, I had been bugging Kirk non-stop. “Dude, you’ve gotta play this. You will totally love this game.…

The Beautiful Hidden Paintings Of Dishonored

There’s no question that Dishonored has great art. But in addition to Viktor Antonov’s wonderful visual design direction and Sebastien Mitton’s art direction, the game also has a lot of great art. As in, there are some really cool paintings in the game? Okay, you get it. Bethesda has pulled together shots of all (I…