EA’s Origin Service Is Now Almost 1/4 As Big As Steam

EA’s Origin service for downloadable computer games now has 9.3 million registered users, the company said today. Rival service Steam is at 40 million registered users

SoulCalibur V Takes a Beating From Game Reviewers

With the past couple of years dominated by Street Fighter and Mortal Kombat-style 2D fighters, it’s nice to see the return of one of the big 3D fighting franchises. That is, unless you’re a game reviewer. Then it’s time to step into the critical ring. Picking up the story of SoulCalibur and the Soul Blade…

Open Your Mind to Syndicate‘s Chip-tastic Ways

In the bleak corporate future of Syndicate, an intracranial DART 6 chip brings you before the “gateway into ultimate consciousness.” This infomercial oozes Snow Crash-esque fiction, and know that in-game, you can toggle this augmented reality on and off. It coats your environment in a weird topographical aesthetic, highlights friends and foes through walls, and…

Halo: Helljumper Touches Down with First Episode

“Hey, you ever feel just a little strange? That we’re hopping around all these planets and humans are the only intelligent life forms out here?” Halo: Helljumper, the fan-made web series centered on marine culture in the Halo universe, begins before contact with the Covenant. These greenhorns won’t be finishing the fight. They’ve only just…

Three New Skylanders Enter the Retail Ring

Battling their way out of the post-holiday shortage, Activision and Toys for Bob have unleashed a trio of new Skylanders at retail, including one that should be familiar to hardcore Spyro fans, should such a thing exist. It’s nice to see some new faces on retail shelves, isn’t it? Three new toys are hitting store…

Why Dubai Is the Perfect Video Game Playground

Looking at a random aerial shot of Dubai might lead you to think you’re looking at a future New York. Or London. Or Hong Kong. But this place actually exists, newer than those places and more remote, too. The hyperreal city sits on the edge of the Arabian Desert, boasting skyscrapers and man-made islands unlike…

Reminder: We’re Talkin’ Portal 2 Co-Op at Kotaku Game Club Tomorrow!

Remember to come join our last discussion of Portal 2 at Kotaku Game Club tomorrow at 4pm Eastern!

Doom, Lemmings and Super Mario, Together For the First Time

Check out this student-made Flash advertisement for… an iPod skin? We’ll take it! Mario and Luigi cope with an invasion straight out of Lemmings and Space Invaders before reinforcements from everyone’s favorite Mars-bound marine. Things get 3D, and decidedly less innocent. Creator Rohan Liston’s website is still under construction, but we hope to check in…

In the Official Darksiders Novel Tie-In the Hero’s Journey Doesn’t Just Symbolize Death

Death and his pal War team-up to save the day this year in Darksiders: The Abomination Vault, a series prequel that takes place a millenia before the opening credits of the first game. Death might be a new player in Darksiders II, but he’s been around as long as people have been dying, giving author…

Going to Miss BlizzCon in 2012? Not as Much as This World of Warcraft Guild Will

Last month Blizzard announced that it’s annual fan convention would be skipping a year, returning in 2012 so the developer can focus on things like developing games. Some fans took this well. The Elysiam World of Warcraft guild on the U.S. Shadowmoon server took to song. Guild leader and lyricist Kayhettin pass along this video…

Spec Ops: The Line‘s Vision of Dubai

While My Guitar Controller Gently Weeps

As both a game developer and a gamer, I am sad to see the guitar controller fading into obscurity. Guitar controllers are a fun and unique interface to control games, but unfortunately, it seems as though their time may have passed. I reject that. Rhythm games have been popular for many years, but Rock Band…

Gameloft VP Talks True HD and Motion Blur in the First Installment of On Display

Hand-held devices are revolutionizing the gaming industry, and pioneers like Gameloft, the gaming powerhouse behind cross-platform social and media games such as Modern Combat and Spider-Man: Toxic City, have taken cues from the technological advancements of the LG Nitro HD. The True HD IPS Display with 16:9 widescreen capabilities are innovations that beget innovations by…

Stephen Colbert’s Biggest Campaign Supporter Made Rock Band

The biggest contributor to Stephen Colbert’s political action committee, Americans for a Better Tomorrow, Tomorrow, (who totally weren’t coordinating with Colbert’s joke Presidential run) was Alex Rigopulos, head of Rock Band/Dance Central studio Harmonix. $9600 given, notes the NY Times

Here’s How Skyrim’s Creation Kit Lets You Make Mod Magic

Bethesda previously announced the Skyrim Creation Kit, which will let PC users re-invent their hit RPG in unimagined ways. There’s no release date yet for the toolset but the publisher’s unveiled a new video that details the Creation Kit’s functionality and intergration with Steam Workshop. Skyrim’s going to get a lot more interesting very soon.

Gotham City Impostors Coming Out Next Week to Let You Shoot Bats or Jokers in Batman’s Hometown

There’ve been betas and release date push-backs but the game that lets you be a violent devotee of Batman or his crazy archenemy will finally hit platforms next week. The downloadable FPS will be available on February 7 for PlayStation Network and Windows PC users in the Americas and on February 8 for PSN users…

At Least One Person Believes Final Fantasy V is the Best Game in the Series

With this week’s release of Final Fantasy XIII-2 reopening the franchise discussion floodgates, commenter deuxhero makes an empassioned plea for the Final Fantasy game he believes is the best, even if nobody else does. Let’s Speak Up on Kotaku. Finally Fantasy V is the best Final Fantasy of the main series, and here’s why. The…

Lumines Electronic Symphony is a 34-Track Love Letter to Electronic Music

Years of playing games like the original Lumines, Harmonix’s Frequency, or Squid in a Box’s PC shooter Waves have left me with a voracious appetite for electronic music, which is why the 34 tracks included in Ubisoft’s Lumines Electronic Symphony have me drooling. Where else will you find music by Howard Jones and Art of…

Talk Amongst Yourselves of Love

Love is in the air as we slink into February in Kotaku’s official forum, and what do you folks love? That’s right, video games. In fact you even love talking about video games, so here we are. A brand new month brings with it a brand new TAY image, this time discovered via a site…

Puzzlejuice Blends Bejeweled, Tetris and Scrabble into an Addictive Treat

Peanut butter and chocolate. Trenchcoats and cyberpunk. Some great-tastes-that taste great-together are obvious. At first blush, the Tetris-and-Scrabble fusion that Puzzlejuice presents doesn’t look like it’s going to be appetizing at all. But, the indie iOS release winds up being one of the most delicious mash-ups ever. Puzzlejuice combines the falling-block puzzle gameplay of Alexey…