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  That Other XCOM Game Just Got a New Coat of Paint

  While there are two official games coming based on the classic XCOM (or, really, X-Com) universe, there’s another, less official one in the pipeline as well: PC indie strategy title Xenonauts Originally unveiled in 2010, and billed as a spiritual successor to the original X-Com game, it’s just received a fairly substantial visual overhaul, which…

  By Luke Plunkett Published April 6, 2012
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  One of Batman’s Greatest Ever Fights, Immortalised

  If it wasn’t for the part where he beats the living shit out of Superman in the very same comic, the epic showdown between the Dark Knight and The Joker from Frank Miller’s 1986 classic The Dark Knight Returns might well have been Batman’s most memorable fight. Which means it’s awesome seeing its concluding moments…

  By Luke Plunkett Published April 6, 2012
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  Rest Easy. There is now a Yanni Video Game Contoller.

  With Nintendo’s Vitality Sensor MIA, this arcade fighting stick has just become the most new-age and relaxing video game peripheral around. Inspired by our story on a Michael McDonald stick, reader Sean and his buddy Chris went several times better and made a custom Brian Crecente Yanni fight stick. I don’t think I could bring…

  By Luke Plunkett Published April 6, 2012
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  The Road Never got a Video Game, but Deadlight Might be the Next Best Thing

  Spanish developers Tequila Works are working on Deadlight, an Xbox Live Arcade game that has you wandering around what’s left of a post-apocalyptic 1980s America. Calling it “a cinematic action-platformer with action-based puzzles”, I’m calling it “a game that’s already pushing nearly all my buttons”. It’ll be out on XBLA in the Summer.

  By Luke Plunkett Published April 6, 2012
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  The New Double Dragon Game Looks, Hrm, Well…

  Wayforward’s upcoming Double Dragon: Neon has its first gameplay trailer. If you liked what Wayforward did with its last homage to an old property, A Boy And His Blob, well…this doesn’t look anywhere near as charming. It’ll be out on XBLA and PSN sometime in the Summer.

  By Luke Plunkett Published April 6, 2012
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  What Journey Would Look Like on the 3DS

  PlayStation Network amazement-inducer Journey is very much a PS3 exclusive. But let’s just pretend, for a moment, that it was also on the Nintendo 3DS. It might look like this! Maybe. This may look like simple fan art, but it’s actually been drawn on the new 3DS version of painting suite Colors!, called Colors3D! Oh.…

  By Luke Plunkett Published April 6, 2012
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  Please, Start Making This Space Combat Game Again

  New Zealand developers Sidhe are best known for their local sporting games based on stuff like Rugby League. They generally release one or two games a year. Sadly, one game that’s not being released anytime soon is also one that looks damn impressive, especially for anyone who remembers a time when people actually made video…

  By Luke Plunkett Published April 6, 2012
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  Screw Kickstarter, This Developer is Selling Old Transformers to Raise Money

  Are you already as sick of seeing the word “Kickstarter” as we are? Yeah, probably. Remember, developers: not everyone has to jump on the same bandwagon to get money to make a video game. Instead of holding out your hands, you could always do what Finnish developer Petsku is doing, and sell all your old…

  By Luke Plunkett Published April 6, 2012
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  Watch as Dubstep Ruins Your Favourite Video Game

  Kotaku’s own stationary troubadour Kirk Hamilton has already shown you how some movies can be improved/ruined by the addition of dubstep. Now it’s time to see how video games can be improved/ruined by it. New games, old games, it doesn’t matter. These videos are taking a game, ripping its heart out, showing you a few…

  By Luke Plunkett Published April 6, 2012
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  CultureTotal Recall

  Unboxing the Mother Lode of Old PC Games

  If you think unboxing new games is fun, wait until you see how awesome it is when a guy finds a box of old PC games and spends seven minutes taking them out of a single, larger cardboard box Space Quest. Man Hunter. Police Quest. Gold Rush. I can smell the musty manual paper through…

  By Luke Plunkett Published April 5, 2012
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  CultureTotal Recall

  Atari’s Founder Also Made Kick-Ass Robots

  Nolan Bushnell, co-founder of Atari and also the man behind Chuck E. Cheese’s, won’t just be remembered for those two towering achievements. The guy also made robots. In 1981, having left Atari three years previously, Bushnell founded Catalyst Technologies, a venture capital group designed to help invest in technology start-ups. Catalyst in turn went onto…

  By Luke Plunkett Published April 5, 2012
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  Total Recall Starts Now!

  Time for your daily dose of video game history, Kotaku!

  By Luke Plunkett Published April 5, 2012
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  What Are You Up To, Hillary?

  Why hello there Kotaku. This is your Thursday night open-thread. Are you ready to do some serious chatting? Hope so! Here are some things gathered from around the internet for you to check out and enjoy. Ugh, I’m being too affected by a dumb Nike commercial – Curse you Don Draper! A new interview with…

  By Kirk Hamilton Published April 5, 2012
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  Today’s Most Entertaining Video Game Catfight is Now, Sadly, Over

  The slinging-handbags fight that boiled up when Take-Two Interactive honcho Strauss Zelnick gave THQ six months to live has been, officially and semi-politely, resolved. Backing up, THQ has been in a bathtub full of trouble for much of this year. The publisher has shut down its kiddie division, fended off rumors it scrubbed its publishing…

  By Owen Good Published April 5, 2012
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  Comparing The Witcher 2 on PC and Xbox 360

  The Witcher 2, one of the most visually impressive PC games going around, is getting an Xbox 360 port. If you were wondering how many corners needed to be cut to get the game running on a six year-old console, here’s your answer. There’s a lot of fog, and the lighting effects have been all…

  By Luke Plunkett Published April 5, 2012
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  Because Why Shouldn’t a Toy Helicopter Contain a Nuclear Bomb

  I’ve been working my way through the many, many, many games created during last weeend’s 2-day Peter Molydeux Game Jam. Now that there are videos, it’s much easier to share the ones that stand out, so yesterday I gave it a stab A list of five games feels woefully incomplete when placed against the insane…

  By Kirk Hamilton Published April 5, 2012
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  You Don’t Have To Sell Me On Your Kickass Soundtrack, The World Ends With You

  The World Ends With You was a game about shopping, so it makes sense that included a sales-pitch with its in-game music. Also, about being a teenager. And… playing Tin Pin games? And ghosts. And general confusion. It was a game about a lot of things, wasn’t it? Part Battle Royale, part Shibuya shopping-simulator… all…

  By Kirk Hamilton Published April 5, 2012
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  I Don’t Know If This Mass Effect Rap Is Awful or Amazing

  I think I’ve been spending too much time on the internet. I laughed for pretty much this entire video, even though I’m fairly certain it’s the most objectively bad music I’ve heard in a long time. It’s to the point that I don’t really know what to make of it anymore, so I’m putting it…

  By Kirk Hamilton Published April 5, 2012
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  The Great Anthems of Sport Belong in Video Games

  Today I wrote about “Augusta,” the theme of The Masters Tournament television broadcast since 1980, and its inclusion in Tiger Woods PGA Tour 13’s collector’s edition. The emotional violin, piano and guitar ballad is instantly recognizable, and you’re going to hear a lot of it this weekend as the tournament plays out on CBS. There…

  By Owen Good Published April 5, 2012
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  The Spacious Beauty of the Machinarium Soundtrack

  Holy heck, I loved Machinarium. I loved it for its art, and for its difficult puzzles and inventive hint system. And I loved it for Tomas Dvorak’s spacious, hugely evocative musical score. The track above is the first tune to play in the game, and it’s very much the moment when the game “reveals itself”…

  By Kirk Hamilton Published April 5, 2012