Why 1990s SNES Games Were so Damn Expensive

It’s easy to forget now, but back in the 1990s, many video games had the same price on the sticker they do today, which when you account for inflation reminds you that they were super expensive But just why did games cost so much? This infographic from a 1995 issue of British magazine Super Play…

Old Game Company Intro Screens Were The Best

“Saaaayyyyy-gggaaahhhhh” and Lucasarts’ efforts might be the most memorable, but a ton of console games of the 1990’s had great little intro screens, not for the games themselves, but for the publishers releasing them. Sometimes they were clever, sometimes they were funny and sometimes, in the case of EA, they’ve barely changed at all. Console…

A Hypnotic Video Showing All 151 Original Pokémon Being Stitched Together

The Bayeux Tapestry might be a big deal for the French and English, but come on. It’s old, the people look rubbish and it’s not even a real tapestry! It’s embroidery, just like this epic image of all 151 original Pokémon, and if I had to choose between which one I’d hang on my wall,…

The Triumphant Return of Half-Life 2 LEGO

We featured the work of LEGO builder ORRANGE back in 2009, with his brilliant take on Half-Life, but a recent playthrough of the game has got him returning to the universe to take more pictures. So thanks, Half-Life 2. And thanks ORRANGE, for reminding us all that a world in which these sets and minifigs…

How to Kill a Dragon (Hint: Stab it in the Head)

Chinese concept artist Yun Ling works at Volta, the same design studio that employs Ruan Jia, an artist we featured here last week Having previously worked for Electronic Arts, he’s got a great eye for both fantasy and sci-fi pieces, as you’ll see in the gallery below. You can see more of Ling’s work at…

I Had No Idea Scott Pilgrim’s Ramona Flowers Was a Real Person

I thought she was just a comic book character. Or, at best, there was that one lady who played her in a movie. But no, here, before my eyes, is Ramona Flowers, in the flesh, taking her hammer out for a walk, perhaps to buy some milk, or the morning paper. Ramona Flowers [Perspective is…

Final Fantasy Dimensions, a formerly Japan-only mobile entry in the series, will be out on iOS on August 31

You Don’t Have to Wait for NBA 2K13 to See Which Dream Team Would Win

If you want to face off the 1992 USA “Dream Team” of basketball versus the 2012 edition, without waiting for NBA 2K13, NLSC has the file you need, provided you’re playing NBA 2K12 on a PC. [via Operation Sports]

Oh Terrific, They’re Still Remaking Videodrome

Man, when will the pillaging end? When will they stop remaking movies that seriously, really and 100% truly do not need remakes? So now comes the news that not only is the a remake of David Cronenberg’s 1983 freakout film Videodrome is still happening, but ad-making talent Adam Berg, who has done some nifty ads…

Watch This Artist Draw the Insides of a Portal 2 Turret

Anyone who’s played a Portal game knows that Aperture Science’s charmingly neurotic turrets are full of bullets. And CEO Cave Johnson showed off their design in this teaser video last year But artist Andrew Gabbott has gone above and beyond in his turret love, rendering by hand an incredibly detailed breakaway view of the Portal…

Sleeping Dogs‘ New Add-Ons Are The Wrong Sort Of Downloadable Content

Like many of my Kotaku brethren and sistren, I really dig United Front’s Sleeping Dogs. I’m taking my time playing it, doing a lot of the sidequests, and I can tell that when I do finish, I’ll gladly pay for add-on content to expand the game. And look at that, I’m in luck! The first…

Another Look Inside ‘Copernicus,’ the Game You’ll Never Play

It was meant to be the “first triple-A, hundred-million-dollar-plus, free-to-play, micro-transaction-based MMO,” according to the studio’s celebrity boss, Major League Baseball all-star pitcher Curt Schilling. But plans for “Project Copernicus” vaporized when Schilling’s studio—makers of Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning went under back in May. Since then, screenshots and even this trailer concept have leaked out,…

I Can Predict The Entire Halo 4 Plot, Using Only The Halo 4 Soundtrack

Microsoft and 343 have been typically tight-lipped when it comes to plot details surrounding Halo 4. But today, that all changed: The track-listing for the game’s soundtrack was released. Oh yeah. You read that right. Using the track names from the soundtrack, I have pieced together some highly precise (ish) predictions about the story of…

Midweek Moneysaver: Ready for Some Football

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 • Aug. 28 release Madden NFL 13 (360, PS3) is $47.99, free shipping from NewEgg. Next best is $60. [Dealzon] • Aug. 28 release Guild…

Diablo III Designer Sorry For Insult, Sort of Sorry For Diablo III

Jay Wilson, the lead designer on Diablo III, has issued a lengthy and public apology after being caught calling Blizzard North co-founder David Brevik a “loser”. Earlier this week, an interview with Brevik was published which called into question some of the design decisions made on Diablo III. While they were hardly incendiary, Wilson and…

Bad Boys, Whatcha Gonna Do When The Skyrim COPS Come For You

Not all the guards in Skyrim are knee-injured former adventurers, and not all of their tasks involve capturing dragons and stopping marauding Dovahkiin. Some of them are just regular old working stiffs whose 9-5 involves cruising around and sorting out the drunk and the disorderly. This Nerdist video takes look at what the show COPS…

The Secret World Developer Lays Off “Around Half” Its Staff

Modern-day MMO The Secret World has a great deal going for it. The world is interesting, there are clear plans for regular content updates, and their new raid looks lovely. It even has a free trial now. But unfortunately, what it doesn’t have going for it is subscribers. Developer Funcom, based in Norway, had announced…

If Not This Year, Women’s Soccer Will Be In Video Games Soon, Says FIFA Producer

It’s inevitable that women will appear as playable athletes in a football title, the executive producer of the FIFA video game series told a petition organizer. But it’s far too late for that to happen in FIFA 13, and he couldn’t commit to any future year in which it might for his series. Still, whatever…

Best Game Ever: Wild Arms

Speak Up’s Best Game Ever segment rears it’s glorious head once more, this time with a comment swiped from TAY from good old Mr. Gilder, who tells us why Wild Arms’ Western-themed role-playing is the bee’s knees. The first three Wild Arms games are my favorite JPRG series. 4 & 5 are great too, but…

Watch Us Kill For Weapons In This New Counter-Strike: Global Offensive Mode

I promised you a video of the new Arms Race mode in Counter-Strike: Global Offensive, so here it is. The objective pretty much mirrors the game’s other modes: kill the enemy team. But navigating the much more open area maps quickly makes you lose sight of anything team-based. As you secure kills, you’ll move up…