What Do You Know, Looking At Kittens Will Make You Better At Your Job

Every time I’m out of town, Tina takes over the off-topic to post some kitten-related thing or another. What do you know, those posts, and the kitten videos contained therein, actually make you more focused and better at your job As reported by Forbes, a new Japanese study has found that looking at cute baby…

Nintendo 3DS XL Coming Out in Black in Japan with Monster Hunter Bundle

On November 1, Nintendo is releasing a black color Nintendo 3DS XL for ¥18,900. The color will also be available as part of a limited edition Monster Hunter pack, Nintendo announced today via YouTube The bundle will include the same black Nintendo 3DS XL, but come with a download version of Monster Hunter Tri G…

Japan Gets Custom Mario, Animal Crossing Handhelds, And They’re Beautiful

Nintendo just announced two new versions of the 3DS XL handheld, both currently slated for release in Japan only. Which is deeply upsetting, because they’re amazing First up, this custom Animal Crossing 3DS XL, which will ship with the game when it’s released in Japan on November 8. Next, this New Super Mario Bros. 2…

You Can Explore Mass Effect‘s Citadel To Your Heart’s Content In This Painstaking Minecraft Build

Players re-create all kinds of amazing things in Minecraft, from the vistas of Game of Thrones to the bright world of Adventure Time King’s Landing really was impressive, but my heart belongs to this painstaking reconstruction of the Citadel Presidium, from the Mass Effect series. The eventual scale of it boggles the mind: the creator…

To Quick-Save Or Not To Quick-Save?

Everyone loves a good quick-save. You know, a one-button press that lets you save your progress mid-level in case you screw up. So fast, so easy, so reassuring! You’ve frozen a moment in time, and with the touch of a button, you can return to that moment whenever you’d like. In a lot of games,…

Serious Racism Allegations Levelled at Video Game Developer [Update]

San Francisco studio Kixeye is at the centre of some pretty serious allegations of institutional racism, after a person claiming to be an employee wrote a lengthy blog post [Update – since removed] outlining repeated acts of discrimination against he and other black colleagues. Writing as Qu33riousity, the apparent employee – who says he is…

Modern Warfare 3 Gets Two New Map Modes To Go Kill Everything In

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 got two more multiplayer modes added to its playlist today, EGM reports. A tweet from Infinity Ward community coordinator Candice announced the additions. Both map modes, Money in the Denk and 3v3 Hardcore Face-Off, are available on all platforms. Have a peek at the video to see “Money in…

This Nifty Torchlight II Hack Lets You Easily Respec Your Character

One of the big differences between Torchlight II and Diablo III is that in Torchlight II, it’s much more difficult to re-spec your character and choose new skills. You can visit a vendor in town to undo your last three skill upgrades, but past that, you’re probably stuck with the options you’ve got. Choose well!…

Microsoft just announced a big price-drop for the Xbox 360 in Australia. Let’s see if other regions follow suit.

You Can Try Out The Sequel To 2010’s Best Adventure Game On Vita Today

Have you played Nine Hours, Nine Persons, Nine Doors? If not, you really should. It’s a wonderful visual novel-slash-point-and-click adventure with a tendency to make your brain explode, and I recommend that everyone take the time to experience it. If you have played 999, you’ll be delighted to know that there’s a sequel—Zero Escape: Virtue’s…

How To Split-Screen Borderlands 2 On A Single PC

Borderlands 2 is a game that lives by its co-op—it’s fun to play the game solo, but it’s even more fun to play with friends. It’s even more fun to play with a friend in the same room. The PC version of the game is truly fantastic, with great graphics, snappy load-times, a ton of…

Help Fund This Documentary Series about Video Game Design and You’ll Meet People to Help You Make Your Own Game

Most crowdfunding projects for video games work one way: you front some cash and get a game that someone else makes. Sure, you get warm fuzzies from helping achieve their dream and you might get a shout-out in the credits but it doesn’t get you closer to bringing your own game idea to life if…

I Wish The New Sherlock Holmes Game Respected My Intelligence A Bit More

One clear, overriding fact became immediately apparent, as I started up The Testament of Sherlock Holmes: Sherlock is a grade-A unrepentant jerk. I’m used to Holmes being a potentially unpleasant character. From Doyle’s original stories to the more modern interpretations of the character, one of the great detective’s universal traits is that he can be,…

Maybe Resident Evil 6 Is Actually About A Bunch Of Crank Addicts

Most of the critics agree: Resident Evil 6 is an overstuffed mess But what if there were more to it than that? Joseph Bernstein’s enjoyable review at Kill Screen puts forth the (half-serious) idea that, given the protagonists’ penchant for collecting and using crank(s), perhaps it’s actually a game about drug addiction? “The game is…

Before You Start… Tips For Playing Resident Evil 6 The Best Way

Are you going to play Resident Evil 6? Get your button mashing fingers ready, prepare yourself to twirl some analog sticks, and tape the following advice to your fridge. It may (hopefully!) help you get the most out of Resident Evil 6 There are no spoilers forthcoming. Just some advice… 1. Play The Campaigns In…

PlayStation Mobile Launches Tomorrow, and This Intriguing Rhythm Slasher is Coming With It

While the majority of the 20 or so titles launching tomorrow for the PlayStation Mobile platform on Android and PlayStation Vita remain up in the air, the ones I know for certain — Eufloria and this, Beatnik Games’ side-scrolling rhythm action game Samurai Beatdown — are certainly worth the price of admission. I’m a huge…

Steam Gives You Achievements For Creating Bugs In GameMaker

Steam is now selling non-game software, which means that, yes, non-game software can now get achievements. This has the potential to be hilarious, and GameMaker: Studio is taking advantage of that. The game-making software offers 24 achievements, allowing you to earn virtual medals for racking up compiler errors and getting your game to run on…

The SteelSeries Free mobile gaming controller I wrote about on Friday is now up for sale

See The Banner Saga‘s Tactical Combat In Action

We’ve been keeping an eye on Stoic’s Kickstarter’d strategy role-playing game The Banner Saga for a while now. The small studio, consisting of three ex-BioWare developers, describes their game as “role-playing meets turn-based strategy, wrapped into an adventure mini-series about vikings.” In this video above, the developers spend a long time (too long a time)…

Five Comics That Cross Boundaries This Week

If you’re here in the Panel Discussion programming block, you might be a lapsed comics reader, trying to find a way back to the JLA Satellite. Or you might someone killing time until you pick up your weekly Wednesday pull list. Or maybe you’ve said goodbye to dozens of longboxes to embrace the promise of…