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  The Mystery of The Hunger Games Facebook Game

  The Hunger Games opened last Friday to sold-out theaters nationwide. Bringing in over $150 million in ticket sales, it claims the third-best opening weekend in terms of revenue in the history of blockbuster cinema. Where there’s a movie, there’s a game tie-in. For The Hunger Games, audiences were promised two. One is iOS side-scroller The…

  By Kate Cox Published March 27, 2012
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  They Hope Baldur’s Gate Will Revive The Classic RPG

  Classic Western role-playing games are hard to find these days. The most successful ones are chimeras, like Mass Effect 3 and The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim, games that graft a role-playing game’s quests and statistics onto shooting or action-based mechanics. Even party-based RPG series like Dragon Age can’t seem to emulate that thrilling classic notion…

  By Jason Schreier Published March 27, 2012
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  Gears of War 3 is Secretly a Masterpiece of Landscape Art

  The casual observer of the Xbox 360’s Gears of War 3 may notice the grunting warriors, the characters shooting each other to bloody bits or chainsawing each other in half. Refined eyes will spot beauty. They will see a triumph of modern landscape art, hiding in the background of a big action blockbuster. Watch these…

  By Stephen Totilo Published March 27, 2012
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  Talk Amongst Yourselves

  Welcome, wanderers, 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, game where you draw things? Knock yourselves out! Let the record show that this is the…

  By Evan Narcisse Published March 27, 2012
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  You Don’t Really Want An Assassin’s Creed: Japan

  Assassin’s Creed games can be set in any place at any moment of history. For a time, fans thought the clues in the early games ensured that Assassin’s Creed II or maybe Assassin’s Creed III would be set in Japan, the player’s assassin taking on the role of a ninja or other great martial artist.…

  By Stephen Totilo Published March 27, 2012
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  Saudi Arabia Banned This Shoe Shopping Game for Sounding Too Sexy

  Shoe Wars is a simple little iPhone jumper about a woman looking for shoes at the mall, an activity many would consider a blissful experience. A little too blissful if you ask Saudi Arabia. The relatively harmless free iPhone app features a woman carrying a shopping bag jumping from platform to platform in a never-ending…

  By Mike Fahey Published March 27, 2012
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  One Indie Developer Walked Away from Zynga’s $210 Million Acquisition of OMGPOP

  Zynga’s absorbed a lot of companies in the last two years, but few experienced the sudden shift in fortunes that OMGPOP did over the last few days. Within two months, the studio saw their Draw Something become a breakout hit, which lead their getting snapped up by the social game giant. A recent New York…

  By Evan Narcisse Published March 27, 2012
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  Preorders Begin for Old School Dungeon Crawler The Legend of Grimrock

  The first-person grid-based PC dungeon crawler rises again on April 11, when indie developer Almost Human releases The Legend of Grimrock on Steam and GOG.com. Act now and it’s far cheaper than it should be. You might recall The Legend of Grimrock from a story I posted about the developers changing the game to accommodate…

  By Mike Fahey Published March 27, 2012
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  In BioShock: Infinite, This Siren Will Raise the Dead

  In the above video, Irrational Games introduces the Siren—a creepy baddie who is able to raise the dead. In the above clip, BioShock: Infinite‘s creators talk about the character and briefly show game footage of her. Blink and you’ll miss it. BioShock: Infinite is slated for release on Oct. 16.

  By Brian Ashcraft Published March 27, 2012
• Kotaku East

  Why It Took Me A Year To Buy a 3DS

  When the 3DS was announced in March 2010, I knew it was only a matter of time before I bought one. It wasn’t the wonder of 3D or even the games Nintendo was sure to release that gave me this moment of clairvoyance. It was the simple fact that eventually, I buy every system. The…

  By Richard Eisenbeis Published March 27, 2012
• Kotaku East

  Marvel at China’s Movie Poster Rip-Offs

  If you think Hollywood (or the game industry, for that matter) isn’t creative, check out the folks working China’s dream factory. Many of the posters are straight up copies, while some of them *could* be kwinky-dinks, such as the Hero and the DOA: Dead or Alive posters. One of the most interesting things about Chinese…

  By Brian Ashcraft Published March 27, 2012
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  Kotaku East

  Five Songs That Must Be Added to Theatrhythm

  The Final Fantasy series has been renowned for excellent soundtracks since back in the 8-bit era. So it’s really no surprise that Square Enix would release a game like Theatrhythm: Final Fantasy. Despite hitting the streets in Japan back in February, it has only recently been announced for Western release. There are five songs from…

  By Richard Eisenbeis Published March 27, 2012
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  Angry Birds Developer Bought Finnish Studio

  Rovio, the folks behind Angry Birds, bought Futuremark Games Studio for an undisclosed sum. The studio is known for its sci-fi games Unstoppable Gorg and Shattered Horizon. [Reuters]

  By Brian Ashcraft Published March 27, 2012
• Kotaku East

  Namco Bandai Updates Its “X” with “Action Adventure”

  Thrilling! Day two of Namco Bandai’s drip-fed PR continues. In this installment of irritating corporate promotion, Namco Bandai added the words “action adventure” in Japanese, along with three question marks. I don’t know what the game is, but unless it’s something utterly fantastic, I already hate it. New Title [Namco Bandai]

  By Brian Ashcraft Published March 27, 2012
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  Kotaku East

  Theatrhythm‘s Three Types of Gameplay in Action

  Theatrhythm Final Fantasy is a music game much like Oendan/Elite Beat Agents where you tap the 3DS’ pen on the touch screen in time with the beat. There are three different types of stages (four if you count the unfailable opening and ending bonus songs): 1) Event, where the song path can move anywhere on…

  By Richard Eisenbeis Published March 27, 2012
• Kotaku East

  Akira Creator Is Returning with a New Manga

  Katsuhiro Otomo, the creator of Akira, is working on a new manga. It’s set in the Meiji Era, it’s a shonen manga, and it’s his first long-form manga since his iconic Akira. [Japanator]

  By Brian Ashcraft Published March 27, 2012
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  Kotaku East

  Using Giant Anime Breasts To Promote Cycling

  This promo clip looks like it could be promoting a myriad of things, the least of which is pro cycling. But that’s why the Nagoya Keirin Association had Japanese character designer Ikuo Nakamura and anime studio Madbox whip this up. The result is a jubblie anime lady named Pist-Star. Keirin is track cycling, which originated…

  By Brian Ashcraft Published March 27, 2012
• Kotaku East

  Capcom Is Opening a Store. A Real, Retail Store.

  Earlier this year, Capcom opened an official Capcom bar, where people can get hammered. And this spring, it’s opening an official Capcom shop, where people can buy stuff. Other Japanese game companies have official shops in Japan—Konami, for example, has a Konami store in Roppongi Hills. The Capcom store, which is called Capcom Official Shop…

  By Brian Ashcraft Published March 27, 2012
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  Kotaku East

  Lupin Makes Anime Cool and Sexy Again

  For a long, long time, Japanese anime has been moé. The word actually means “budding”, but it’s actually geek slang for cute things that give otaku warm fuzzy feelings. Screw warm fuzzy feelings. I’m sick of them! Aside from the momentarily blips of hope on the anime radar, the moé aesthetic has dominated Japanese TV…

  By Brian Ashcraft Published March 27, 2012
• Kotaku East

  Before There Was The Hunger Games, Japan Had This Brutal, Bloody Opus

  Were you one of the oodles of theatergoers who packed into American cinemas to see The Hunger Games? The movie is raking in the box office cash—and it’s being hailed as a smash hit. But in Japan, people are referring to the flick as something else: “Hollywood’s version of Battle Royale.” Based on a 1999…

  By Brian Ashcraft Published March 27, 2012