Sadly, Only One Old Video Game is Called Lone Wolf & Cub

Lone Wolf & Cub, first published in Japan in the 1970s, remains one of the most popular and respected manga series of all time. The epic tale of Ogami Ittō, an assassin who travels across Japan with his young son Daigoro, has been turned into a number of movies and TV shows, but strangely, given…

What BioShock Would Look Like Running on Crysis’ Engine

The original BioShock was created using Epic’s Unreal Engine 3 2.5. Let’s imagine, though, just for a second, that it had instead been built using Crytek’s fancy new CryEngine 3. The same tech that powers Crysis 2, it would certainly have allowed for larger, more expansive depictions of Rapture than the 2007 original allowed. These…

Metal Gear Ain’t Metal Gear Without Yoji Shinkawa’s Iconic Art

Last year, Fine Art looked at Ashley Wood’s contribution to the Metal Gear universe with his scratchy, chaotic images. While those have become popular of late, for many long-time fans the man they think of first when they think of Metal Gear’s look is Yoji Shinkawa. Beginning his career on cult hit Policenauts, Shinkawa quickly…

Compare Skyrim’s Sucky Graphics With Its Awesome Graphics

Stuck playing on a crummy system and want to see how the Übermensch play Skyrim? Or, conversely, do you own a killer rig and want to see how the peasants make do? There’s a site for that. Nvidia have made this handy interactive slider, which lets you quickly and, in some cases, dramatically see the…

The Matrix’s Coolest Scene Incredibly Remade in Valve’s Source Filmmaker

Valve’s new Source Filmmaker is being used to create an unbelievable amount of original content, sure, but there’s also scope for people to pay homage. Like LiveCurious95 has here, with this ode to the Matrix’s “rescue” scene, swapping out Agents with Medics and Keanus for Nicks. The Matrix Remaked (SFM) [YouTube, via @kpereira]

The Next Plants vs Zombies Game is a…Multiplayer Shooter?

This afternoon’s great PopCap mystery may now be a little less mysterious: a Canadian industry source with ties to Electronic Arts has told Kotaku that a small team at EA’s Burnaby campus is working on a new entry in the Plants vs Zombies franchise. The thing is, it’s not another tower defence game. Apparently it’s…

Here, Let Me Play You A Love Song On This Plant

Hello, baby. How are you today? I just wanted to tell you I’m sorry. I’m sorry for the things I’ve done, I’m sorry for the way I am. Let me make it up to you. Let me play you a love song on this plant I brought. This video of “Botanicus Interacticus,” comest to us…

This Little Girl Cuts Everything With Her Freddy Krueger Hands

Childhood nightmares are the worst. Everything poses an irrational danger and we don’t have the mental faculties to know that there isn’t something horrendous under the bed. But I bet if I had crazy sharp appendages like the cute little girl in They Bleed Pixels, I’d have felt more safe as a kid. She uses…

It’s Donkey Bane Vs. Bat-Jumpman in This Retro Remix

Artist Julien Bazinet likes Donkey Kong. He likes other things, too, like Doctor Who, Aliens and Sesame Street. And when you can render graphics as exceptionally as Bazinet, well, there’s certainly nothing from stopping you from implanting those latter things into Donkey Kong. The results are pretty great. I especially like the randomness of the…

Terrifying True Tales Of Survival From The Front-Lines Of DayZ

“I could barely see my vision was so blurry and grey but I wasn’t going down without a fight. I squeezed off as many rounds from my .45 revolver into those blood thirsty monsters as I could manage. I dropped about 15 before I passed out from blood loss. I woke up to see more…

According to this job listing, Microsoft expects to release a “new version” of the Xbox within the next 18 months.

Mom Learns Lesson After Five Day Modern Warfare Marathon Sends Her Kid to the Hospital

And you thought gaming unto exhaustion was a phenomenon restricted to Asia. Well, somehow, a 15-year-old Ohio boy gamed so hard on Modern Warfare 3 he required hospitalization for dehydration. What’s more, the boy’s own mother told local news he was locked inside his room with the game for “at least four days. Maybe five,”…

A 29-Year-Old Game Store Owner is Selling Everything He Owns for $3.5 Million

How much is the American Dream worth? A Florida man pegs it at $3.5 million, his asking price on eBay for three video game stores that brought him so much success—and the nice homes, automobiles and collectibles going with it. Shane Butcher, 29 is the owner of R U Game, an independent retailer with stores…

Midweek Moneysaver: Dawn of a New Guard

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 • Last Thursday’s release of The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim—Dawnguard (PC DLC) is $15 from Green Man Gaming. List price is $20. [Dealzon] • Persona…

Silent Hill HD’s Bugs Get Patched for PS3—But Not for Xbox 360

“Plans for an Xbox 360 title update,” to Silent Hill HD Collection, “have been cancelled due to technical issues and resources,” Konami said today in an official statement. A PS3 title update, however, has gone forward, and it will fix problems involving frame rate and audio-synching, “and other reported issues. “Konami apologizes to any players…

I’m Ready To Trade The Scratches On My Discs For The Accessibility Of The Cloud

I grew up, like many, blowing cartridges and spending hours reading through game manuals. Then came the boxy jewel cases and CDs. The more I loved a game, the more scratches and nicks the back of a game would suffer. I’d show these off like happy scars on my knees gained from letting loose on…

If You’re Playing Madden 13, Unplug Your Kinect When Others Are in the Room

A dorm-room staple for two decades, Madden brings voice-activated commands—snapping the ball, calling time out, changing the play—that are at high risk of abuse in that particular environment. You may wish to turn them off unless you can be assured you’re the only one in the room. Madden NFL 13‘s voice-activated Kinect prompts work only…

MMOs Are More Magical When You Can Cast Spells on the Move

In today’s magic missile-casting episode of Speak Up on Kotaku, commenter Kyle DeBona discusses how wonderful it is not to be frozen in one spot with a horrible monster bears down on you, desperately praying for the casting bar to finish. If you’re like me, you’ve probably played at least on game in time where…

Zynga’s COO and number 2 man John Schappert has left the embattled company as part of a “high level restructuring.”

Persona 4 Arena: The Kotaku Review

I’d imagine the Venn diagram comparing fighting game players to Japanese role-playing game fans doesn’t have much overlap. These are two wildly disparate genres. One caters to the competitive, requiring quick reflexes and the ability to perform lengthy, timing-intensive strings of input commands quickly and strategically. The other satiates the story-hungry gamer, asking only that…