The Power to Shape Entire Planets, Now Only $.99

It used to be if a guy wanted the ability the mold an entire celestial sphere to suit his fancy he’d need to make a pact with some sort of all-powerful otherworldly being. Today all one must do is drop $.99 on Topia World Builder More of a toy than a proper game, Crescent Moon…

You Can Voice-Chat On the Wii U While Gaming, But There’s a Catch [UPDATE 2]

The Wii U will support in-game voice chat, but you’ll be forgiven if you’re not sure exactly how that will work. Nintendo hasn’t shown an official headset for the Wii U and the Wii U’s Pro Controller—the one that looks a lot like an Xbox 360 controller—doesn’t even have a port to connect one. So…

Quite Possibly the Most Refined Video Game Artwork You Will Ever See

There’s something about a classically styled silhouette that just screams “high-class.” You can picture the shadow-etched profiles on the brooches of moneyed dowagers or hanging on the walls of old-money mansions. In fact, if I had a mansion, I’d have Olly Moss‘ fantastic silhouettes all over the place. I don’t have a mansion. Thankfully, a…

An Extremely Clever Way to Revisit a Ten-Year-Old Adventure Classic

Runaway: A Road Adventure is a classic point-and-click adventure game from 2001, one of the most beloved games in the genre. For its (slightly late) tenth anniversary, developer Pendulo Studios delivers a retelling of the tale through the eyes of its love-struck heroes, years after the flames of passion have died. In Hidden Runaway, available…

Bravely Default Is Killing It In Japan. Hey Square Enix, Time To Bring It Here.

People in Japan like Bravely Default. They really like Bravely Default According to new numbers from Japanese sales tracker Media Create (as reported by Siliconera), Square Enix’s latest 3DS RPG moved 141,529 copies during its first week on the marketplace. There’s even talk of a sequel As Siliconera points out, Bravely Default beat out its…

This Week’s Windows Phone Charts: Gold Coins and the Flow Free Conspiracy

Bring the mobile game ranking charts back to Kotaku this week has taught me a lot about the various mobile platforms. The iPhone and Android players have similar tastes. Windows Phone players can’t get many of the games from those other platforms, so they go insane. Oh, and everybody loves Flow Free exactly the same…

The 3DS’ Biggest Hits Can Be Pulled Straight from the Interwebs in This Week’s Nintendo Download

In the continuing saga of Nintendo getting a clue about how gamers want to get their experiences, the House of Mario is making Super Mario 3D Land, The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time, Mario Kart 7 and Starfox 64 3D available from their eShop storefront. These downloadable versions will cost $39.99 each, just like…

Do Doom 3’s Graphics Hold Up?

I’ve always felt strangely about Doom 3. On the one hand, it was a fairly revolutionary game, graphically. The lighting was striking. On the other hand, it looked kind of gross: humans in the game were starkly lit with strange, bump-mapped faces and odd, robotic movements. But is that a bad thing or does it…

Behold the Old-Timey Glory of BioShock Infinite’s Collector’s Editions

Collector’s editions come and go all the damn time in video games. But it’s not every day that one of a game’s principal creators makes like a carnival barker trying to lure folks into opening up their wallets. That’s what Irrational Games’ Ken Levine is doing for the two limited editions of BioShock Infinite: “So,…

Heaven is Kicking a Cartoon Rabbit Down a Hill

The last time we checked in on curious indie game Overgrowth wasn’t exactly under the most pleasant of circumstances, so let’s today focus on what the game does best: rabbit violence. An action adventure game, this clip focuses on some of the recent improvements made to Overgrowth’s melee combat system, which in terms of how…

Felix Baumgartner’s Great Leap of Faith

Don’t believe everything you read in the papers. Austrian daredevil Felix Baumgartner isn’t just a daredevil. He’s part of an order with a much longer, and more deadly past. Leap of Felix – Assassin’s Creed Parody [YouTube, thanks Liam!]

Here Are Some Of The New Voluptuous Ninjas Coming To The PS Vita

The boob ninjas are back. With Senran Kagura Shinovi Versus coming to the PS Vita next February, developer Marvelous AQL has released a new trailer as well as images and profiles for 5 of its jiggly new ninja girls. Click through the gallery to see the titular new characters. Senran Kagura Shinovi Versus is scheduled…

First Look: Battlefield 3: Aftermath, Ready to Shake Up Multiplayer

The next multiplayer Battlefield 3 expansion, subtitled Aftermath, is set in post-earthquake Iran and features four new maps. Other new features include three new vehicles, as well as a new deadly crossbow. Besides all this, there’s a new Scavenger mode, which EA describes as, “an objective based Conquest mode where lost soldiers armed only with…

There are Giant Teddy Bears Riding the Subway. They Seem Friendly.

With traffic congestion a nightmare, the subway might be the way to get around Chengdu, China. According to and Mop and New China (via MIC), the city recently had a handful of bears ride the rails to promote taking the subway and the soon-to-open teddy bear museum in Chengdu. 中国片刻：成都”泰迪熊”坐地铁引围观 [News China] 成都地铁完爆北京地铁！泰迪熊集体卖萌搞怪无下限！！！ [Mop via…

Check Out Assassin’s Creed III‘s Stunning Recreations of Historic Buildings

As anyone who’s been paying attention is well aware, Assassin’s Creed III will be taking place during the Revolutionary War in America: A historic time in the birth of the United States. Game maker Ubisoft is going to painstaking lengths to get an authentic feel for the 1700s New England which you can see with…

Long Distance Sex? There’s an App for That.

Next January, Taiwan’s LovePalz will be launching its long distance lovin’ pleasuring gadgets. The devices, which seem to be designed for straight couples, have gotten Western news coverage—and more recently, Japanese. The devices support iPhone, Android, and more, and the two set LovePalz has units for both males and females, with each being dubbed “Zeus”…

Japan’s Virtual Mafia Bad-Ass Reduced To Pulling A Ramen Cart

Kazuma Kiryu. The “Dragon of Dojima” and one of the main protagonists of the Yakuza series. This walking powerhouse of violence has come a long way from his youthful days of beating up biker gangs through the seedy underbelly of Japan’s criminal world and to prison and back. According to his character bio, Kiryu was…

Hey, Sexy Wolverine!

Hugh Jackman, star of the upcoming Wolverine movie, does the horse dance with Gangnam Style maven PSY. Both PSY and Jackman tweeted out pics of the singer’s visit to the Wolverine set in Australia. Hijinks, until somebody gets their arm sliced off! Slicing gangnam style!!!! [@RealHughJackman] Had a great time [@psy_oppa] Kotaku East is your…

Google’s Android Robot Looks Like an Ancient Chinese Relic

Via Chinese networking site Sina Weibo, someone noticed this archaeological find at a museum in northern China, pointing out its resemblance to Android’s iconic Robot mascot. According to MIC, one Chinese net user even wondered about an ancient relic that looks like a bitten apple. Android [Sina Weibo via MIC] Kotaku East is your slice…

3DS title Inazuma Eleven 1・2・3!! was pushed back in Japan to Nov. 29 from Nov. 15.