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The Best of Kotaku, This Week
This week ends the summer for most people in school and for those who follow the rules regarding wearing white pants. But it’s not really over for gamers, since PAX is in full swing over in Seattle and the terrific rush of games for the fall hasn’t begun yet. As ever, it was a week…
By Stephen Totilo Published September 1, 2012 - Uncategorized
A Brand-New Final Fantasy XIII Means Exciting New Creatures to Kill
Fears of a new chapter in the Final Fantasy XIII saga bringing another 40-80 hours of battling the same old beasts were put to rest this evening, as art director Isamu Kamikokuryo showed off a series of decidedly different mythical beasts for Lightning Returns, from gigantic dragons to decaying undead. While I rather enjoyed Final…
By Mike Fahey Published September 1, 2012 - Culture
Soak in The Beauty of Lightning Returns: Final Fantasy XIII‘s Concept Art
Final Fantasy XIII heroine returns with, well, Lighting Returns: Final Fantasy XIII. The game is set in the world of Nobus Partus, 13 days from its demise. Here is a first look—a first good look—at the game’s stunning concept art. The urban setting of Luxerion looks very intriguing. Check it out in the gallery above.…
By Brian Ashcraft Published August 31, 2012 -
UncategorizedHere’s Square Enix Talking About The Next Final Fantasy
Check out these four videos to see Square Enix’s design team talking about Lightning Returns: Final Fantasy XIII, announced tonight both here and Japan for release next year on Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3. Square Enix promises more details on September 4
By Jason Schreier Published August 31, 2012 - Uncategorized
She’s Just Running With The Wolves, Man
David Semsei, take a bow. Your fan art isn’t just the knees, it’s the bees knees, a pair of knees so tiny and specialised they’re worth taking a closer look at. Just like this art! Resident Evil, Dark Souls, Metal Gear, even Deadly Premonition, there’s a variety of inspirations and a variety of awesome images…
By Luke Plunkett Published August 31, 2012 - Uncategorized
Lightning Returns: Final Fantasy XIII Makes Major Changes to the Series’ Formula, Ends Trilogy
Final Fantasy XIII heroine Lightning will be back in a new game, Square-Enix announced today. Lightning Returns: Final Fantasy XIII. This one is going to be a very different Final Fantasy Series director Motomu Toriyama began a presentation in Tokyo by showing an image of a rose, saying roses have many meanings. He then said…
By Jason Schreier Published August 31, 2012 - Uncategorized
Double Your Final Fantasy XIII Pleasure with This Limited Edition Pack
Over in Hong Kong, PlayStation’s Asia branch just announced a limited edition Final Fantasy XIII and Final Fantasy XIII-2 pack. The bundle includes both games (with English and traditional Chinese subtitles and the original Japanese voices) as well as eight eight post cards. It’ll be out September 13 in Hong Kong for HK$558 or US$72.…
By Brian Ashcraft Published August 31, 2012 - Uncategorized
A Closer Look At Borderlands 2‘s Spritely Robot-Summoner, The Mechromancer
At PAX 2012, attendees who braved the massive line at the Borderlands 2 booth were treated to a first look at the fifth character class for the game, the Mechromancer, which will now be given free to everyone who pre-orders the game. The character is a trendy, pixie-looking girl in metal armor who summons a…
By Kirk Hamilton Published August 31, 2012 -
UncategorizedThe Cosplay Of PAX: Day One
The Seattle Convention Center was covered in video game characters today for the first day of the Penny Arcade Expo. We saw all manner of costumes—the elaborate, the humble, the humorous, the bizarre. Tina, Jason and I captured as many as we could for our first gallery. Up top, three ladies re-create three famous Zelda…
By Kirk Hamilton Published August 31, 2012 - Uncategorized
Surprise Ending of The World Ends With You Remake Teases Sequel
Looks like we might be getting a sequel to The World Ends With You after all. A new teaser image at the end of the iOS version, sent in by Kotaku reader Michael, hints that the franchise could continue soon, and translator Brian Gray confirmed its legitimacy on his Twitter account today The past few…
By Jason Schreier Published August 31, 2012 - Uncategorized
Backhanded Box Quotes: Cursing Madden
Welcome back to “Backhanded Box Quotes,” a collection of measured, thoughtful criticism from the user reviews of Metacritic, Amazon and elsewhere. This week’s Backhanded Box Quotes concern a game that needs no introduction: Madden NFL 13, which has somehow managed to sell a zillion copies the past eight years despite not having anything good said…
By Owen Good Published August 31, 2012 - Uncategorized
You’ll Get Final Fantasy Versus XIII, When It’s Good and Ready
Square Enix is being tight lipped about Final Fantasy Versus. And from the sound of it, that game could still be a while off. According to Square Enix boss Yoichi Wada, who recently spoke at a Final Fantasy anniversary event in Tokyo, said that Square Enix was “diligently making Final Fantasy Versus XIII“, but added,…
By Brian Ashcraft Published August 31, 2012 - Uncategorized
Customer Service Sucks For Those Inside the Gaming Industry, Too
Console failures don’t just happen to the little people. No, they happen to gaming industry professionals, too, and we’re happy to report they don’t get a customer service batphone and valet replacement service just because they happen to work for a major publisher, as “Frank” does here. He gets to suffer through the same tale…
By Owen Good Published August 31, 2012 -
UncategorizedYou Can Close Your Eyes In This Game. It’s Profound.
You know what I hate? Audible character heartbeats in games. I can’t deal with that. It’s too stressful. I start breathing harder and I start to feel my own blood rushing as I start pondering the possibility that somehow—despite all logic—I’m about to suffer a heart attack. I mean, listen to my heart (which is…
By Patricia Hernandez Published August 31, 2012 - Uncategorized
Minecraft Helped Inspire Skyrim‘s Newest DLC
When the rumors started circulating about a new DLC called Hearthfire for Skyrim, people started excitedly speculating as to what new powers you’d go on in the expansion. Dawnguard brought vampire abilities to Bethesda’s hit RPG so Hearthfire would bring what? Magma-flinging? Dovahkiin sidequests involving arson? No one was really expecting house-building and adoption In…
By Evan Narcisse Published August 31, 2012 - Uncategorized
The “World’s First True Gaming Laptop” is Now More Powerful, Less Pricey
First revealed a year ago, the Razer Blade was a fascinating machine. Dubbed “The World’s First True Gaming Laptop” by its makers, the $2,800 17-inch machine, weighing less than seven pounds, was a bold experiment that traded power for portability, and portability for price. The experiment was an overwhelming success. Earlier this year the Blade…
By Mike Fahey Published August 31, 2012 -
UncategorizedThe Thousands of New Animations in NBA 2K13 Include This Insane Dunk
NBA 2K13 will include, for the first time, NBA All-Star Week competitions such as the Three-Point Shootout and the dunk contest. Bet your ass you’ll see this crazy dunk (at 1:15 in the video) in the latter. The 2K Sports motion capture team brought in a duo called the Team Flight Brothers to put on…
By Owen Good Published August 31, 2012 - Uncategorized
It’s Not Easy Being a Pinball Junkie in a Digital World
In today’s nostalgic episode of the TAY-powered Speak Up on Kotaku, commenter JonathanPonikvar laments the sad plight of the modern-day pinball fiend, forced to go digital to get his fix. I’m a complete pinball junkie who is forced to go without a fix. Local arcades in my area have completely vanished, except for one —…
featuring JonathanPonikvar Published August 31, 2012 - Uncategorized
Five Gaming Apps to Help You Survive the Long Labor Day Weekend
It’s Labor Day weekend in the U.S., a time for sitting around reflecting on all things labor-related and the contributions workers have made to our country. Contributions like sitting on the can at work playing some gaming apps instead of working. Games like this week’s five Gaming Apps of the Day! I realize it’s hard…
By Mike Fahey Published August 31, 2012