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  Do JRPGs Need To Be Social To Survive?

  Some people believe that Japanese role-playing games are meant to be single-player experiences, enjoyed alone in the dim blue light of your living room during marathon binge sessions involving little to no contact with other human beings. Other people believe that the first group of people are totally boring and that the single-player-only model is…

  By Jason Schreier Published May 11, 2012
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  Calling All Comment of the Week Nominations

  Hello Kotaku and happy Friday. Let’s make this happy Friday even happier with happy nominations from you happy people. I’m sure you’ll happily oblige with some outstanding ones. Since Fahey nominated one early in the week, and since I and many of you seconded the nomination, feast yours eyes on this comment before placing judgment…

  By Tina Amini Published May 11, 2012
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  Rumor: GameStop To Start Selling MacBooks?

  Their main business may be games and related accessories but GameStop also sells refurbished iPods, iPads and iPhones. Pretty soon, they might just start selling MacBooks, too. An anonymous GameStop employee sent in a picture of the retail chain’s inventory screen that seems to suggest that you might be able to buy Apple’s popular laptops…

  By Evan Narcisse Published May 11, 2012
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  Hi. How Are You? We Doing OK?

  No cause for alarm. I just thought you might like to chat. I’m the editor-in-chief of Kotaku. You’re a Kotaku reader. How are things? How are we doing? Do you like our programming blocks? Kotaku Melodic? Kotaku East? Any others? Hate any of them? I’ve been enjoying Owen’s Anger Management more than I thought I…

  By Stephen Totilo Published May 11, 2012
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  Getting Prepared for Diablo III the SteelSeries Way

  As I prepare to spend Tuesday through eternity putting Diablo III through its paces, SteelSeries sent along a care package of diabolical PC accessories to help make the most of the experience. Red glow abounds! While other manufacturers release their own non-branded peripherals, SteelSeries, a Blizzard partner for a number of years, has the official…

  By Mike Fahey Published May 11, 2012
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  I Like The Sound of Call of Duty‘s New 1v1 Mode

  The new Face-Off mode that’s coming to Modern Warfare 3 next week seems pretty cool. It will let players compete in 1v1 and 2v2 matches on small maps just made for the mode. The brand-new, totally-official and only-slightly-confusing video from the Call of Duty folks explains and shows most of it. The confusing part, as…

  By Stephen Totilo Published May 11, 2012
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  I Buy My Mom Video Games Every Mother’s Day. It Helped Heal Her.

  Mother’s Day is this weekend, and so the commercials for flowers and jewelry and Hallmark cards are incessant and overwhelming. But this year, for a gift, I did exactly what I did last May: I went to Amazon and I ordered my mom a new video game. My mother and I get along very well,…

  By Kate Cox Published May 11, 2012
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  It Took Bubble Safari 41 Minutes, 31 Seconds Before That Facebook Game Thing Happened

  Most Facebook games make you pay if you’re having too much fun. Or they make you wait. Or they require you to bug your friends. The question is simply: how long will the game wait before it smacks me with this roadblock? Bubble Safari, the newest game from Zynga and the latest in a ton…

  By Stephen Totilo Published May 11, 2012
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  Learn How To Bake, Now With Portals And GLaDOS’ Snark

  Baking will never be as fun once you’ve enjoyed the company of (a male version of) GLaDOS to make fun of you doing so.

  By Tina Amini Published May 11, 2012
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  This Physics Puzzler is Amazeballs

  The idea of rolling a virtual ball around the screen is not new. Nor is the idea of a physics-emulating puzzler. What I’m looking for, when I try a mobile app fitting that description, is execution and charm. Amazeballs provides. It’s not complicated. At least, not at first. Press button for rotation, roll ball around,…

  By Kate Cox Published May 11, 2012
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  All Your Favorite Video Game Characters Are Saying Terrible Things

  All of the best moments in Unnecessary Censorship is brought to you in this Season 1 round-up. We’ve featured a few like it before, but these come from YouTube user WandTCorporation. I think I even spotted some necrophilia in there.

  By Tina Amini Published May 11, 2012
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  Gaming’s Greatest Mascot Gets A Metal Cover

  The only thing better than Segata Sanshiro, Sega’s greatest creation, is when people pay tribute to Segata Sanshiro. Witness this metal cover of Segata Sanshiro’s theme song and weep, my friends. Weep for the greatest mascot in history. Weep for a man who died to protect us. Weep for Segata. Segata Sanshiro – Metal Cover…

  By Jason Schreier Published May 11, 2012
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  Friday Watch This, Play This

  Watch! These games should be rated AO with this kind of language. Watch! You got metal in my video game music. Play! Kate has some difficulty with Amazeballs on her Droid. Watch! Now you can bake a Portal cake while GLaDOS makes fun of you.

  By Tina Amini Published May 11, 2012
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  GameStop No Longer Selling PSP Games In 25% Of U.S. Stores

  Gaming retailer GameStop is cutting down on its inventory, removing PSP games from a quarter of its stores, Kotaku has learned. “The consolidation is occurring to maximize the merchandising space in the smallest 25% of stores,” a GameStop representative told Kotaku. “It will also provide a greater assortment in those stores that will continue to…

  By Jason Schreier Published May 11, 2012
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  Finally, A Good Look at Beyond Good & Evil 2’s Detailed, Dirty Environments

  It’s been a virtual flood of leaks and glimpses this week for Beyond Good & Evil 2. There’ve been comments about tech requirements and a screenshot of the sequel’s gameworld. Now, a video flythrough of the environmental design has popped up. Now, this footage has popped up before in a presentation that developer Michel Ancel…

  By Evan Narcisse Published May 11, 2012
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  Now You Can Get Addicted To Jetpack Joyride On Facebook, Too

  Ridiculously fun mobile game Jetpack Joyride is now available for free on Facebook, which means you probably won’t do much work today. Check it out, if you haven’t already. It’s a simple idea, executed brilliantly. Also I totally got to like 5,000 once. Just saying. Jetpack Joyride [Facebook via Gamasutra]

  By Jason Schreier Published May 11, 2012
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  Talk Amongst Yourselves

  Look out behind you! Welcome to Kotaku’s official forum, known affectionately as Talk Amongst Yourselves. This is the place where we gather on a daily basis to discuss all things video game and existential. Want to talk about new games, old games, games that aren’t even out yet? Knock yourselves out! Here we have a…

  By Evan Narcisse Published May 11, 2012
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  The Dumbing Down of Diablo III? [UPDATE]

  Will I buy Diablo III? Yes. Will I play Diablo III? Yes. Will I play Diablo III more than once? Maybe. Will it matter how I build my character? No. From what I’ve read--and correct me if I’m wrong—if two players have max-level barbarians side-by-side in Diablo III, items and names aside, there will be…

  Jesse Ma Published May 11, 2012
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  And Then The Secret World Got All Naked

  When I first installed and started The Secret World earlier this week, I encountered a tiny graphical glitch: everybody was naked. Not completely naked, mind you. I mean, they all had underwear on, and some of the shirts still showed up. There were just an awful lot of topless women and pantsless men running about.…

  By Mike Fahey Published May 11, 2012
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  Eight Lessons Learned During My First Foray into The Secret World

  The first beta weekend event for The Secret World kicks off today, giving countless players their first tantalizing taste of Funcom’s modern day massively multiplayer paranormal role-playing game, but there are tales of a hidden server — a server where members of the gaming press have had days to explore the dark corners of the…

  By Mike Fahey Published May 11, 2012