A Closer Look at the “Woodstock” of Video Games

One of the highlights of QuakeCon each year is the baked-in LAN party, in which 3000 people get together in a giant hall, plug their desktop PCs into a desk and just go at it. While it’s far from the scale of, say, Sweden’s Dreamhack, it’s still a massive party, and one we get a…

Tom Nook Has a Sweet Ass? I Never Noticed.

Of course, there’s already been an official Animal Crossing anime, released all the way back in 2006. But there’s always room for unofficial animated adaptations, especially when they’re this funny. Warning: this is a little NSFW, so keep the volume button handy. Game Grumps Animated – Silly Voices – by Flannelson [Game Grumps, via Go…

Make a “Shooter” Set in the 15th Century And Research Gets a Little Tough

Most developers creating games set in the present day do some amount of research. They go shoot the guns the game will feature, or go drive the cars, take some pictures of the city streets they’ll be recreating, that sort of thing. But what do you do when your game is set in the 15th…

Stunning Mass Effect Portraits (And Dragon Age on a Leash)

The images you’re about to see were all done by Benjamin Huen, an artist now at Valve who used to work at BioWare. They’re incredible. Especially the Mass Effect portrait pieces, which you’d demand be made available for purchase, if some of them weren’t…already available for purchase Also included in today’s gallery are Benjamin’s Dragon…

Nintendo, Please Make a Tiny Nintendo 64

You know, once was a time Nintendo were serious about releasing miniature versions of their consoles. The NES got one (the NES-101), the SNES got one (the SNES 2), but ever since, Nintendo’s been all “eh, the original model will do”. Which is a pity, because smackedsam’s shrunken N64 looks terrific! It’s not trying to…

Pokémon Inspired The US Army To Think About Building An Epilepsy Gun

By now, you should all be aware of the 1997 incident in Japan where a number of children were hospitalised after watching an episode of Pokémon. It was weird, and more than a little dangerous. So dangerous, in fact, that none other than the US military saw it as an opportunity to invent new and…

The New Neo Geo Handheld Seems Long and Clicky

Here’s our first look at the new Neo Geo X Gold handheld in action, courtesy of Japanese game mag Famitsu. Out in December, it looks…well, is that my eyes, or is the machine stretching the original 4:3 visuals to fit a 16:9 screen? It damn well better not be. Aside from that, the buttons sound…

If You’re Mexican, You Can’t Speak Spanish to FIFA 13. But You Can Speak French.

Mexicans cannot speak commands in their native tongue to their team in FIFA 13—but French-speaking Canadians can—in the version of the game now being sold to the three nations of North America. EA Sports’ FIFA, the highest selling and most popular sports video game in the entire world, this year enabled voice support through the…

Even Hawken’s Drab Future Can Have Sunny Days

Like almost every other game set in the future, multiplayer mech shooter Hawken looks bleak. Pollution, dark skies, it just seems a generally unpleasant place to spend any amount of time. Some days, though, the clouds part. The shooting stops. And hardened futuristic science warriors can kick back, have a beer and read the funny…

Halo 4’s New Guns Aren’t Purple, They’re Orange!

Halo 4 has new bad guys, and those new bad guys have new guns. Here are those new guns in action. I’m still unsure whether Halo 4’s marketing is just lying to us, or whether 343 has performed some kind of dark magic on the Xbox 360. Those are the only two explanations as to…

I’m in Love With a Giant Batman Figure That’s Made Out of Metal

Being a big Hot Toys fan, I’m super impressed with the company’s line of recent Batman figures. Yet realistic isn’t the only way to go about making incredible Batman toys. You can also take the stylish route. Based on comic artist Jim Lee’s recent interpretation of the Dark Knight, this figure’s torso, arms and legs…

In A Realistic Fighting Game, We’d Play As Drunken Pansies

College Humor tackles the fighting game genre today, shedding light on the reality of what (probably) most fights look like. Basically just two dudes in a bar, watching as the situation escalates and both totally hoping it will just go away. Or at least that’s what I imagine is going on in their heads. Realistic…

Midweek Moneysaver: A True Pandemic

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 • Yesterday’s release World of Warcraft: Mists of Pandaria (PC) is $35.99, free ship from Buy.com. Elsewhere $40. [Dealzon] • Yesterday’s release FIFA Soccer 13…

All three of the Ezio Assassin’s Creed games are being bundled on the PS3 and sold for $40. It’s out November 13

Represent Your Borderlands 2 Character With Some Fancy Wallpaper

Maya is the sexiest—and also the first character I chose to roll as in the recently released sequel to Gearbox’s hit FPS/RPG hybrid—so she’s obviously my first choice in terms of wallpaper. But the rest of these designs made by CodyAWilliams are just as suitable. Though, I personally prefer the more colorful designs. Take a…

This Left 4 Dead Fan Film Is Forty Minutes of Zombie-Shooting Fun

Brothers Colin and Connor McGuire wanted a Left 4 Dead movie… so they made one. The home project took them the better part of two years, including 3000 hours of editing. The final product is about the length of an “hour” long television show, clocking in around 40 minutes, and looks at least as good…

Rumor: Next Year’s Madden Will Include Actual NFL Referees

EA Sports plans to include real-life NFL referees in Madden NFL 14, according to two different sources close to the NFL Referees Association. One of them said the officials’ facial features have been scanned into the game, with an eye toward making their calls and explanations a part of the broadcast presentation for next year’s…

Get In The Heads Of Far Cry 3‘s Most Deluded Characters

Vaas and Buck are two of the most savage, brutal characters you’ll meet in Far Cry 3. They’re prone to stabbing, and setting tigers to feast on your limbs. But here’s the thing about being this particular brand of crazy: it’s usually followed by a heavy dose of delusion. Case in point: “We’re not the…

There Will Be No FemShep Edition of the Mass Effect Trilogy [UPDATE]

The female version of Mass Effect hero Commander Shepard finally made it onto the cover of a Mass Effect game this year—as long as you reversed the piece of cardboard in Mass Effect 3‘s box. She even finally starred in a Mass Effect trailer, a scant five years after hordes of players started playing as…

The Wonderful Surprise Hiding in the Wii U Launch Line-Up

Some facts hide in plain sight. You don’t notice them until you move them around a bit. Then suddenly, like some unscrambled Scrabble letters, there’s clarity. Un-jumble the launch line-up for the Wii U and here’s the fact that emerges: This fall, the Wii U is actually going to be a good console for… downloadable…