Should We Know Our Own Strength—Or Any Rating—In Video Games?

On Friday, Madden NFL 13 revealed the ratings for every quarterback in the league, inviting the usual pointless discussion about who should be ranked ahead of whom and why. It’s easy to laugh at meathead sports fans who take a great interest in Jay Cutler’s virtual throwing power compared to, say, Eli Manning’s virtual deep…

Sunday Comics: Friendship is Tragic

Welcome to your Sunday read of the week’s best in web comics. Make sure to click on the expand button in the bottom right to enlarge each comic. Nerf NOW!! by Josué Pereira published Aug. 4.—Read more of Nerf NOW!! Awkward Zombie by Katie Tiedrich published July 30.—Read more of Awkward Zombie Penny Arcade by…

Tell us all about the games you’re playing, loving and hating over at Talk Amongst Yourselves .

Kitchen-Aided Consoles: The Winners.

This might be the first time we have a Kotaku ‘Shop Contest roundup in which none of the finalists used the source image. Last week’s journey to the intersection of kitchen appliances and game consoles produced nine winners, plus overall champion AirCairo. Angryrider (2) gets started with the best use for a 3DO I can…

Gimped Madden on Wii U Doesn’t Speak Well of EA’s Relationship with Nintendo

Madden NFL was literally on stage with the Wii U, the day the console was formally revealed to the world. The unspoken message: No more cartoony, casual American football or minigame bullshit, this is a sports title you can actually take seriously on a Nintendo console. This happened more than a year ago, at E3…

Here, Bronies, Have Your Own Battlefield 3 Server. As seen on Xbox Live by reader Sid G.

Once Again, EA is Trying to be the Big Friend on Video Gaming’s Playground

This little exchange yesterday on Twitter says a lot about why Electronic Arts is suing the Facebook gaming giant Zynga, and how the publishing giant really sees itself in doing so. Nimblebit is the outfit behind Tiny Tower, which Zynga blatantly ripped off with Dream Heights earlier this year, and did little more than shrug…

Putting a Horse Behind the Wheel in Grand Theft Auto IV Ends Predictably

This horse, from the fount of zany mods on YouTube user Taltigolt’s channel, may have a smoother gait than ones you see in, say, Skyrim. But his hit box and mass still appear to be that of a regular person in the game. So a riderless steed charging through a public park isn’t quite the…

Video All But Confirms SSX is Getting Head-to-Head Multiplayer—Six Months After Release

A series of not-so-subtle Tweets and screenshots on Thursday hinted that SSX, which launched in February, will be getting true head-to-head online multiplayer races in the next title update. This video, released yesterday by EA Sports, practically confirms it. You can see the screen advising that the race will start once there are two participants…

Nintendo Bristles at Rumors That Seattle’s Baseball Team is For Sale

True or not, a baseball team owned by an aging Japanese magnate, two weeks after trading away a Japanese national hero, is an easy target for rumors that it’s up for sale. Add to that the fact Hiroshi Yamauchi, president of Nintendo in its ascent to video game dominance, is 84 years old, has never…

This Week in the Business: ‘PS Vita is an Utter Flop.’

What’s happened in the business of video games this past week … QUOTE | “PS Vita is an utter flop.”—Rob Fahey, veteran game journalist, talking about Sony’s losses with their games business QUOTE | “The Old Republic was sold as a story; very soon, it will have to double as a shop.”—Matthew Handrahan, staff writer…

My Awesome Sister is the Zelda Gymnast and Yes, She’s a Lifelong Gamer

It’s been a strange but wonderful week for my sister, Elsa García. Of course there is the excitement of being in London and competing in the Olympic Games, and representing our country, Mexico. And then there was the unexpected reaction to her choice of music in competition. You see, my sister is the gymnast who…

The Moneysaver: Go Pre

Pre-order savings of at least $10 can be found on four big upcoming titles between now and Nov. 20, so if you’ve already made up your mind, you can save yourself some jing today and still get it day one. Steam is holding a QuakeCon weekend sale giving you 50 percent off all the Bethesda…

The Best of Kotaku, This Week

Welcome to the Best of Kotaku, where I round up all of this week’s best content. It would make me insanely happy if kid Ryu and kid Ken went into an actual arcade to play as their adult doppelgangers in Street Fighter. Apparently it would also make deviantARTist randis happy, as well. Thanks to InsanelyGaming…

Here’s To Ginger, Our Favorite Dog With Person Arms

Tina started this week’s off-topic posts with cats, and I kept it going, but I thought I’d close out the week with some dogs. Not just any dog. Ginger, one of the internet’s greatest dogs. Look, I don’t know why it’s so funny. I mean, I know why it’s funny. But I still don’t know…

How Skyrim Should’ve Ended

I’ve been digging back into Skyrim, updating my mods (and downloading some sweet new ones) and getting ready to really get into Dawnguard now that it’s finally out on the PC. I also finally beat the storyline a few weeks ago. Considering that I didn’t love the story to Oblivion, the Skyrim finale was pretty…

Cold Stream, Left 4 Dead 2‘s long-overdue campaign, has finally arrived for Xbox 360. It’s 560 Microsoft points.

Andrew Lloyd Webber Is Making A Game And It Will Undoubtedly Embarrass You

Being caught belting out the entirety of Phantom of the Opera in your living room can be pretty embarrassing. (In my defense, I was nine and I could, in fact, hit those notes. Mostly.) This fall, you can at least try to recapture some of your dignity (you won’t succeed, but you can try) by…

Backhanded Box Quotes: Pro Hater Edition

Welcome back to “Backhanded Box Quotes,” a collection of measured, thoughtful criticism from the user reviews of Metacritic, Amazon and elsewhere. Good luck getting a job with Irrational Games if your game shows up here. NCAA Football 13 Released: July 10 Critic: guillermop (Metacritic) • “This game is alpha quality at best this game is…

There’s Nothing to Steal: Why Everyone Hates the Free-to-Play Switch

I’m not proud of it, of course, but I’ve profiled others according to skin color. You see, glowing, primary color skin on a character in D.C. Universe Online is a sure sign of a free-to-play player, especially if they’re low level. It indicates they really didn’t give a shit what they looked like when they…