• Kotaku East

  Famed Shoot’em Up Studio Just Unloaded Two PS Vita Titles

  Cave, the studio behind several classic shoot’em up games, just apparently stopped development on two games: one was social game Shirotsuku and the other was an untitled shooter. [ゲーム情報！ゲームのはなし]

  By Brian Ashcraft Published May 16, 2012
• Kotaku East

  Online Dating Leads to Jealous Boyfriend and Computer Wire Horror

  Be careful who you meet online. On May 8 in China’s Henan province, Gao Xin (not his real name) found out the hard way after going out with a woman he met on the internet. Later, the woman’s pissed off boyfriend approached Gao. The boyfriend, along with several friends, attacked him and inserted a 1.2-meter…

  By Brian Ashcraft Published May 16, 2012
• Kotaku East

  Three Mario Kart Shortcuts Were…Cut

  Nintendo released a mandatory patch for Mario Kart 7 that cut three shortcuts from the online version of the game. These shortcuts, however, will remain in offline play. [Wired]

  By Brian Ashcraft Published May 16, 2012
• Kotaku East

  Butter Your Bread with Pokémon and Hello Kitty

  Toast isn’t just something you eat at breakfast. Oh no. It’s also a canvas for cute character art. Why just spread jam on your bread, when you can cover it in Pikachu? The trend first started to pick up steam in 2008, but existed before that. New Zealand artist Maurice Bennet was exhibiting toast art…

  By Brian Ashcraft Published May 16, 2012
• Kotaku East

  Kotaku East Starts Now!

  Kotaku East runs from 4am to 8am Eastern. For more info about Kotaku East click here

  By Brian Ashcraft Published May 16, 2012
• 

  Uncategorized

  The “Best” of the Worst Diablo III Anger

  The rigamarole is always the same: Big game is released, problems ensue. But for Diablo III, the launch was bigger—twelve years in the making. And the problems? They seem bigger, too. And when that happens, people get angry As previously detailed, Diablo III’s “always-online” feature was problematic to say the least, and players have been…

  By Brian Ashcraft Published May 16, 2012
• Uncategorized

  A History of Gender in…LEGO Minifigs

  There was a bit of an uproar earlier in the year when LEGO introduced a line of modified products targeted exclusively at girls. To provide a little context for that uproar, social media marketer and LEGO fanatic David Pickett has written a great feature breaking down the history, and statistics, of just how many LEGO…

  By Luke Plunkett Published May 16, 2012
• Uncategorized

  Journey, Now Available for Cats

  While this is on one hand the very worst the internet is capable of conjuring, namely putting human clothes on cats, I don’t care. This is Journey cosplay. For cats. Since the guys in Journey aren’t really humans – humans have arms! – that’s how I’m convincing myself this is OK. No idea how they…

  By Luke Plunkett Published May 16, 2012
• Uncategorized

  Don’t Travel Through Hell, Play With Jesus Instead

  Looking mildly like Zynga’s first foray into religious Facebook scamming, Journey of Jesus is Lightside Games’ attempt to get us all putting down our other social games and start playing one where we can learn about Jesus instead. As a game, it’s horrific. It turns an educational yarn about the Bible into a grinding Facebook…

  By Luke Plunkett Published May 16, 2012
• Uncategorized

  You’ll Never Guess What This Incredible Iron Man Suit is Made From

  May is International Iron Man Cosplay Appreciation Month. Which means we get to see suits that actually light up and move, sure, but also things of a slightly quainter nature. Like this suit. Made by Englishman Mark Pearson, it looks like it fell straight out of a movie, but is actually made of cardboard Pearson…

  By Luke Plunkett Published May 16, 2012
• Uncategorized

  The Amazing, Official Art of Diablo III

  To celebrate the release of what will probably be the biggest PC game of the year (sorry Crusader Kings II, I still love you), here’s a big collection of concept and promotional art from Diablo III You’ll find character art, environment art, images that appeared on things like magazine covers, and even some amazing class…

  By Luke Plunkett Published May 16, 2012
• Uncategorized

  Right Now, a Final Fantasy VII Remake Isn’t The Most Important Thing

  Not for Square Enix. Final Fantasy VII character designer and current Square Enix bigwig Tetsuya Nomura spoke with Japanese game magazine Famitsu about the much desired FFVII In the interview, Nomura stated that the Final Fantasy must surmount the old FF games. Nomura acknowledged that there was considerable fan interest in a Final Fantasy VII…

  By Brian Ashcraft Published May 16, 2012
• 

  Uncategorized

  New Pokémon Game Trailer is More Like a Short Pokémon Movie

  This new Japanese promo spot for the upcoming Pokémon Black & White 2 doesn’t show a single second of gameplay. What it does show is over five minutes of impressive Pokémon animation, as trainers and pocket monsters beat the snot out of each other in the name of children’s entertainment. While there’s no English subtitles,…

  By Luke Plunkett Published May 16, 2012
• Uncategorized

  Sony Site Reveals New Mass Effect 3 DLC

  While there were whispers of this earlier in the month, Sony’s Hong Kong website has now officially lifted the lid on a new piece of Mass Effect 3 DLC. Sadly, it’s not the singleplayer “extended ending” DLC most players are hanging out for. Instead, it’s a new multiplayer pack called “Rebellion”. The Rebellion Multiplayer Expansion…

  By Luke Plunkett Published May 16, 2012
• Uncategorized

  When It Comes to Diablo III, Error 3003 Is The New Error 37

  Aren’t you cute, over there making fun of Diablo III‘s Error 37. So old-fashioned! Haven’t you been following the latest trends? Everyone knows that Error 37 is yesterday’s news. Today, the hot new error is Error 3003! Oooh, just look at it there, strutting onto your computer screen. So fierce, so present I bet you…

  By Kirk Hamilton Published May 15, 2012
• 

  CultureTotal Recall

  There’s Live-Action Diablo Footage…From Suburban America

  This old Diablo II commercial, from around the time of the game’s launch in June 2000, is notable for two things. The first is that it’s a rare example of official live-action Diablo The second is the use of the word Macintosh in the closing splash. For all the credit companies like Valve get these…

  By Luke Plunkett Published May 15, 2012
• 

  Uncategorized

  Remembering That One Diablo Thing Blizzard Didn’t Make

  Diablo is one of Blizzard’s tentpole franchises, part of a Holy Trinity of PC gaming that includes the universes of StarCraft and Warcraft. It’s reverence is well-deserved, as Blizzard has done a fantastic job with all three games. Old-time fans of the series may remember, though, that in 1997 a Diablo product was released that…

  By Luke Plunkett Published May 15, 2012
• Uncategorized

  Only So Many Flavors of Blizzard

  Hey, Kotaku. Today’s been wild, and I’ve been unable to track down the requisite number of random off-topic things for you to discuss. So instead, let’s pick an optional theme for tonight’s open thread. A reader wrote in to ask what I thought about how in their view, there are only a few flavors of…

  By Kirk Hamilton Published May 15, 2012
• 

  Uncategorized

  Call of Duty Accused of “Shamelessly” Ripping off Another Series, Legal Warfare Ensues

  Activision is facing another big lawsuit over its tentpole Call of Duty series, only this one has nothing to do with people who used to work on the series. It’s to do with a rival developer who owns the right to a name that Call of Duty uses a lot Fans older PC shooters may…

  By Luke Plunkett Published May 15, 2012
• Uncategorized

  Sparks Fly As This Sonic Figurine Sprints Through Emerald Coast

  Sonic just can’t get enough attention from collectible statue creators First 4 Figurines. Though committed to other franchises, and even introducing a few of Sonic’s friends in previous products, First 4 Figurines has covered Sonic, Metal Sonic and Super Sonic. But what about modern Sonic? As written in the product description, “He has a much…

  By Tina Amini Published May 15, 2012