Google Play Celebrates 25 Billion Android App Downloads with $.25 Apps

With an impressive 15 billion apps and games downloaded in the past year alone, Google has every reason to celebrate reaching the 25 billion apps milestone. And so do Android gamers, as a celebratory sale delivers titles like Angry Birds Space Premium and NFL Kicker 2013 for a quarter of a dollar. With more than…

The New Zombies Mode In Call of Duty: Black Ops II Is Pretty Much Its Own, Massive Crazy Game

The fan-favorite co-op zombies mode is back in this year’s Call of Duty: Black Ops II and the first trailer for it makes it look… ambitious. First of all, there’s not a whiff of hint in this trailer that Blops II‘s Zombies mode has any connection to the sequel’s near-future-America-under-high-tech-attack story. Instead, it looks like,…

Amazing Cosplay Videos Played To The Music From Drive Make Me Grin

This DragonCon 2012 cosplay compliation video by beatdownboogie is absolutely fantastic. Besides the fun cuts, in-the-moment poses/character acting and perfect music, I really enjoy the hundreds of impressive cosplayers featured above. And they’re all having so much fun. You can catch some awkward, hilarious moments that make me feel like I was a part of…

The Fall 2012 Games We’re Most Worried About

Cartoon mice and sci-fi shooters, vicious zombies and half-Native American assassins. There are a ton of cool-looking video games hitting store shelves this fall. Hopefully none of them suck. We’ve already shared the fall 2012 games we’re most excited about. Now it’s time for trepidation. Each Kotaku staffer has picked a couple of games that…

Wall-E Meets Limbo Is Great For Wallpaper, Not So Great For Smiling

This might be the saddest combination of characters/worlds ever. Thanks, z0h3, for making me go “aww” and then promptly “aww.” They were two totally different “aww”s, I swear. Check out the full size for all your wallpaper needs below: Wall-E [z0h3 via Samara Lex]

Obsidian’s Project Eternity has just hit $2,000,000 on Kickstarter.

Mass Effect Trilogy Compilation Brings All Three Games to Xbox 360, PC This Fall; PS3 Version Coming Later [Update]

EA has announced all three Mass Effect games will be available for the price of one when EA releases the Mass Effect Trilogy compilation on November 6th, 2012 for Xbox 360 and PC. The collection marks the first time that the original Mass Effect—which was released as an Xbox 360 exclusive—will be playable on the…

LEGO Gandalf Actually Talks, While Moving Through Movie Landscapes, In LEGO Lord of the Rings

The upcoming LEGO Lord of the Rings video game does, indeed, look to be absolutely adorable. But the Lord of the Rings films were more sweeping and epic than they were cute and cuddly. (Certain Hobbit and Shire moments aside, of course.) Can the game re-create that same sense? The developers certainly seem to think…

15 Simple Rules for Making a Successful Free-to-Play Game

Free-to-play is the driving force in today’s mobile and social games — we start playing them because there is no cost to do so. Whether or not we keep playing them may well depend on the 15 rules of free-to-play outlined by Gamesbrief‘s Nicholas Lovell earlier today at the F2P Summit in London. Edge‘s Nathan…

The First Look at Total War: Rome II ’s Gameplay Has Freakin’ Battle Elephants.

By the gods, this first glimpse of the the battles between the ancient empire of Rome and Carthage looks amazing. The video above is purportedly cut from in-game footage and this clip—coupled with the screens we saw during the summer—sure make it seem like Creative Assembly’s next strategy opus is going to be a visual…

Wonder Woman Is About to Stab Batman with Superman’s Baby Rocket. Guess They’re Not Friends Anymore.

This statue pictured above will be coming with the collector’s edition of Injustice: Gods Among Us, the fighting game that pits DC Comics’ most popular super heroes against each other. (Don’t worry; they fight villains, too.) The sculpture shows just how much the relationships must have deteriorated between the members of the Justice League, what…

Gameloft Live Brings Its Fancy 3D Avatars to iOS

What, Game Center wasn’t good enough for us? Gameloft Live brings the Xbox Live-ish experience Android gamers have been futzing about with to iPhone and iPad, complete with 3D avatars, social networking, multiplayer challenges and unlockable rewards. Look at me, I’m so damn skinny, and my virtual representation is far less lazy about shaving his…

Dishonored Characters Get Freaky Recreations on SyFy Reality Show

SyFy show Face Off—no relation to the film with one of Nick Cage’s most hilarious outbursts—is a reality show where makeup artists compete on projects with one another. Like Top Chef but with movie characters. Last night’s episode assigned said makeup artists to delve into the world of Dishonored, creating ogreish characters that I have…

Guns Made from Bones (Yes, BONES)

The materials artist Bruce Mahalski uses are hardly typical—neither is what he creates with them. He works with bones to produce, among other things, replica pistols and assault rifles. The result is beautiful, yet unsettling, and provides a stark reminder of the power that these weapons have. Yet, the artist doesn’t necessarily see it that…

Here’s the Wii U’s Official Lineup for Launch Day and Beyond

The Wii U launches in North America on the 18th of November, 2012. Here are the 23 games that are launching with the system, as well as those coming before March 2013. It’s a rather large launch window Nintendo has defined for the Wii U launch, giving publishers four months to make it onto this…

Japanese Beer Girls Inspired a Resident Evil 6 Monster

For years, Japanese beer companies have had famous pin-up models pose with frosty brews. Publicity posters were tacked up in izakaya (Japanese pub) style restaurants across the country. Those posters still exist (though they are on the wane when compared to a decade ago!) and live on in Resident Evil 6. Note: This post contains…

Japanese Man Arrested for Hamburger Fraud

Hamburger scamsters out there, take note! Thirty-five year-old Akira Watanabe was recently nabbed for trying to pull a fast one—with a hamburger and a hair. The unemployed man apparently returned a burger he had order, saying it had a hair in it and that he felt sick and couldn’t eat. The hair, it seems, was…

Hey, You’ve Got Nausicaä in My Final Fantasy IX

Since the Final Fantasy games have been so incredibly influential, it’s interesting to see where FF‘s designers have looked for their own inspiration. It’s no secret that Final Fantasy has apparently been influenced by Studio Ghibli. The Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind manga, for example, most likely inspired Final Fantasy‘s Chocobo—those big yellow…

The Foxconn factory that assembles the iPhone 5 is back online. Riots recently broke out apparently over labor tensions.

First Details on New Jiggly Ninja Game include Inevitable Destructible Outfits

When game designer Kenichiro Takaki thought about what he wanted to see in 3D on the Nintendo 3DS, one thing (er, two things?) came to mind. The result was Senran Kagura. Now the curvy ninja game is making its way to the PS Vita as Senran Kagura: Shinovi Versus – Young Girls’ Proof This week’s…