A Guy’s Mother Previews 2012’s Biggest Video Games

You’ve probably got a very idea of what to expect from 2012’s biggest games. You see the trailers, you see the gameplay and you figure, yeah, I can get into this. But could your mother? GamesBeat writer Mike Minotti sat down with his mum and showed her some big trailers for some big games, like…

Darksiders II Environmental Concept Art

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Darksiders II Screenshots

Mario’s First Kart Was, Well, a Little Crap

I’m guessing this is an advertisement of some sort for NES Open Tournament Golf or, as it was known in Japan, Mario Open Golf, a Nintendo Entertainment/Famicom golf game first released in 1991 One of the earliest attempts by Nintendo to shoehorn its platforming characters into a console sports game, it’s perhaps notable these days…

The Inside Story of the Making of Warcraft, Part 1

Luke’s Note: I’m handing the reins over tonight to Patrick Wyatt, a games development legend and former Blizzard executive who has played a big role in the success of games like StarCraft, Diablo and Guild Wars. This is the first part of his insider’s story of the making of Warcraft, which he knows a thing…

What a New Mario Game Could/Should Look Like

Part of the reason I’m not exactly thrilled about the Wii U isn’t because of its hardware, it’s because of the games. I want to see what a new Zelda game or a new Mario game looks like on the console. And when I say new, I mean new So I like what artist Luigi…

Razer Has a Fancy New Keyboard and VERY Fancy New Mouse

Razer today took the wraps off a few new products, including several models of its BlackWidow line of mechanical keyboards and a mouse that looks, and moves, like an evil Transformer. The first keyboard is the BlackWidow Ultimate 2013, going on sale next month and costing $130. Razer says the improvements include “green backlighting and…

Building The Art Of Darksiders II

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What the Average PC Gamers’ System Looked Like in June 2012

We haven’t checked in on a Steam system survey in a while, so let’s fix that today. Every month, Valve publishes the results of a survey that drags in all kinds of information on its customer’s computers, from what graphics card they’ve got installed to the kind of browser they’re running. If you want to…

Why Your Games Have That Stupid “Don’t Turn Off While Saving” Notice

If you play video games on a console, you will have seen it. Upon booting a game up for the first, tenth or thousandth time, a screen warning you to never, ever switch off your machine while a game is saving. It’s sound advice, because turning a console off while it’s writing the data can…

Covering The Westminster Dog Show While On Acid

“That dog is crazy.” Oh, man. Sometimes, as a reporter, you have these ideas to do something crazy. It isn’t that often that we get to follow through on those ideas. But every now and then, it pays off—as it does when Vice photographer Braydon Olsen covers the famous Westminster Dog Show while tripping his…

The Never-Ending Battle of PlanetSide 2 Becomes Three Minutes of Stunning CGI

Premiering live today at the 2012 China Digital Entertainment Expo & Conference, PlanetSide 2‘s ‘Death is No Excuse’ CGI trailer takes the spirit of Sony Online Entertainment’s upcoming massively multiplayer online first-person shooter and dresses it up in a fancy coat of blood-splattered CGI. If only the game were so pretty. That’s not saying PlanetSide…

Left 4 Dead 2’s New DLC is Only a Year Late

The add-on campaign created by the loyal Left 4 Dead community was supposed to launch about a year ago. It’s finally hitting Windows and Mac platforms today as a free update. The official site teases that the DLC will land on Xbox Live soon. Cold Stream [Left 4 Dead 2 official site]

Microsoft Reportedly Shuts Down Vancouver-Based Studio [UPDATE: Projects Cancelled]

Looks like Microsoft has laid off quite a few people at its Vancouver-based studio that was responsible for developing a core Kinect shooter Update: Microsoft has informed Kotaku that they have not shut down the studio but it has ended development on flight simulator Microsoft Flight and Project Columbia, a Kinect interactive TV project designed…

People Resort To Some Terrible Things For Survival In DayZ

From the YouTube creators that brought you the live-action video of the miserable experience that is finding each other in Arma II mod, DayZ, comes this latest live-action episode. This time, the two survivors are pushed to steal precious beans from an innocent bystander. Oh, the things we’ll do to win games. Shame on you.

Re-Watch A Great Austin Powers Scene, But With Team Fortress 2 Actors

The only thing that’s missing is Mr. Bigglesworth. And then I think the YouTube creator should outfit the entire movie in Valve’s Source Filmmaker. Source Filmmaker – Zip It [YouTube via Reddit]

The Newest Skylander is a Giant Bee, and They Didn’t Name Him Bee-Hemoth

Dear Toys for Bob, I know you folks are really good at making toys. I’m sure this Bob guy is completely overjoyed. Your Skylanders game wasn’t too shabby, and I’m really looking forward to the follow-up, Skylanders Giants. I love your work, but you really need to leave the character naming to the people most…

Midweek Moneysaver: What’s the Clearance, Clarence?

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 • Oct. 30 release Marvel Avengers: Battle for Earth (360 Kinect) is $37.99, free shipping from NewEgg. Next best is $50. [Dealzon] • Dark Souls…

Charlie’s Angels Screenwriter Says Diablo III‘s Story Is ‘Pretty Damn Weak’

The man who wrote movies like Charlie’s Angels and Big Fish has written an interesting blog post about Diablo III‘s narrative failures, calling its story “pretty damn weak.” John August, a Hollywood screenwriter with a rather lengthy resumé, has a few gripes about Blizzard’s action-roleplaying game. He says the story fails because your character has…

Now That’s Some High Quality Battlefield 3 Machinima

Awesomely produced machinima like this reminds me why machinima is so great to begin with. It’s often easy to forget, amidst the muck and confusion of what the hell machinima even is that seems commonplace on YouTube and elsewhere on the Internet, but Patwwa reminds us of the skill that’s meant to go in to…