The People For the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) is expressing outrage over Mario’s Tanooki Suit. That outrage is not only misplaced, but shows PETA’s complete lack of cultural understanding—traditional or contemporary. “Tanuki are associated with shape-shifting tricksters in folklore, and are also seen as symbols of good luck in Japanese culture,” Yokai Attack author…
The Assassin’s Creed series, a long-running favourite here on Fine Art, finally has a coffee table book worthy of its production values with the franchise’s fancy encyclopaedia. I got my hands on a copy today, and while it’s not just an art book, the concept and promotional pieces dominating the pages certainly make that the…
If you’re going to pay homage to the classic Super Mario Bros., you may as well do it by making a very similar game, only with loads of blood in it. That and a delightfully floaty jump are the driving force behind Tiny Plumbers, an indie platformer Robot
Robin Williams loves The Legend of Zelda so much that he named his daughter “Zelda”. Zelda is a nice name—it’s not just a video game character. There have been other Zeldas, Zelda Fitzgerald, for example. Yet, for our generation, “Zelda” is Zelda. And for Zelda Williams, sometimes that’s a blessing and sometimes, it’s super annoying—especially…
You know those insane setups the military uses to train pilots on? They can cost millions, making owning one in your own home a pipe dream. But that doesn’t mean you can never own a fancy flight simulator! You just have to lower your aim a little, and instead of looking at something that costs…
Once upon a time, Hollywood was hot to trot on BioShock. Now? Less so. Making movies, especially ones that take place underwater, are expensive. Even though there was a director (Pirates of the Caribbean‘s Gore Verbinski), the project ultimately sunk. “I couldn’t really get past anybody that would spend the money that it would take…
Microsoft’s Brian Prince has told a panel at GDC China “you will be seeing things in the Xbox platform that’s cloud-specific. I’m already doing it, it’s really exciting, but I can’t tell you about it or else I’ll get fired.” [Gamasutra]
This Thursday, at the LA Auto Show, Nintendo will be in attendance. Yes, Nintendo. Why? We don’t really know, yet, but the company is showing off something it’s cooked up with West Coast Customs, the shop made famous by MTV’s Pimp My Ride While it’s probably got something to do with Mario Kart, since Mario…
There are key cultural differences between Japan and the West. It’s not just in linguistics, but in eroticism as well. Way back in 2005, Konami game producer Akari Uchida was frank about those differences. “You Westerners, listen,” Uchida, who had just designed wrestling game Rumble Roses, told Kotaku. “Eroticism is not only about nudity. That…
As far as PS3 role-playing games go, Ni no Kuni: Wrath of the White Witch is one family friendly game. In Japan, it’s rated all ages and promoted with one of the country’s most popular child stars. In South Korea, it’s a different story. The game is apparently rated 18-and-up, due to, according to our…
Over the weekend, the Monte San Savino show went down in Italy, bringing together some of the world’s best miniature painters for a competition. In this gallery, you’ll see some of the best on show. Some are from video games, like The Witcher, some are from Star Wars, some are from history and some are…
World War III throws the globe into chaos. Cities are being destroyed. People are fighting. People are dying. And what are the chickens doing? Dancing Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 was released on Nov. 8. It has chickens. MW3: SPAZZMATICA CHICKEN POLKA DANCE [YouTube Thanks, Scott!] You can contact Brian Ashcraft, the author of…
Even though the game has been available in some form or another since 2009, and has racked up over four million users, until now indie smash Minecraft has been in alpha, then beta, as first creator Markus Persson and then his development team at Mojang tinkered with the thing. By the end of this week,…
If you act like a dick on a forum, you deserve to be suspended or even banned from that forum. That’s fine. But when that forum account is attached to an account which manages games you’ve paid for, and stops you playing them as well, there are problems. And EA, right now, has some problems.…
Dovahkiin. Sounds saucy, but as those eyeball-deep in Skyrim will tell you, it’s also the label handed out to the hero of the game. It means “Dragonborn”, and like any other Elder Scrolls game, it’s about the only thing everyone’s character will have in common. Some people roll male. Others female. Some roll Nord, or…
Greetings one and all, for a new week of Kotaku open-threading! I sense you’re probably taking a break from any of the billion games that released last week, or maybe you’re hanging out in line waiting for the launch of one of the billions of games that come out tomorrow? No matter! Here is a…
Aah, morning. Such a lovely time of day, when the world feels new and possibilities are endless. I usually start the day by having some coffee and reading the news. That’s how I start my day in real life, anyway. In Saints Row: The Third, I tend to start things with a little bit more……
There’s a theory, spun by Grand Theft Auto super-fans, that an actor named Ned Luke is the man behind the gravelly voice we heard in the debut trailer for Grand Theft Auto V He’s the guy, they say. Well, let’s listen. The video here is a mix of that GTA trailer and Luke’s demo reel.…
Nintendo packed New York City’s Time Square with colorful platforms, warp tubes and piranha plants to celebrate the weekend’s release of Super Mario 3D Land Former Kotaku video superstar, and current FastCompany producer Adam Barenblat was on hand to capture the bizarre downtown event. Special thanks to Mark Crawford who scored the video. You can…
The theft earlier this month of two of Razer’s prototype Razer Blade gaming laptops shouldn’t impact the expected release of the device, the company tells Kotaku. Razer discovered the theft of the Razer Blade prototypes mid morning on Saturday, Nov. 5, after an alarm went off at the company, Heathcliff Hatcher, Razer’s director of global…
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