A Much-Improved Version of Gran Turismo 5 Hits Stores January 17

If you were one of those driving fans that passed up Gran Turismo 5 at launch in favor of waiting for a more complete edition of the game at a lower price, your patience pays off January 17 with the Gran Turismo 5: XL Edition The XL Edition of Gran Turismo 5 is the ultimate…

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I Finished These 28 Video Games In 2011

For the sixth year in a row, I have tallied the number of video games I played in the last year. For the sixth year in a row, it’s an absurd amount. But this year, my numbers have plunged. I played some 161 games but finished a mere 28 of them, down from 52 in…

Ninja Gaiden Sigma Plus Gets Motion and Touch Controls for Its PlayStation Vita Debut

Sony’s official rundown of titles had Ninja Gaiden Sigma Plus as a launch window game for PlayStation Vita but Tecmo Koei’s announced today that the action title will be available on the same day as the new handheld. And Ryu Hayabusa’s notoriously difficult PS3 game will be getting a bit of makeover when Tecmo Koei…

Three New Hall & Oates Tracks in Rock Band? I Can Go For That

Call me out of touch, but I can think of nothing I’d rather go for than three classics tracks from rockers Hall & Oates coming to Rock Band on January 10. Some might call them the most important band in the history of music. Then they’d sober up, take a nap, and forget they ever…

Batman’s Kill-Crazy Son Runs Away in This Batman & Robin #5 Preview

Batman’s a character often portrayed as the ultimate loner, but giving Bruce Wayne an actual, biological son has been the best thing to happen to him in recent years. A few years ago, writer Grant Morrison introduced the character of Damian Wayne—the result of the dysfunctional romance between Batman and Talia, daughter of archenemy Ra’s…

Avenger Controller Company Announces $10,000 Donation to Child’s Play

Some good may be coming out of the “Ocean Stratagy”/Paul Christoforo customer service debacle. N-Control, the company that makes the Avenger controller formerly repped by Christoforo, announced that they’d be making a large donation to Child’s Play. Child’s Play is, of course, is the charity organized by Penny Arcade, the popular video game website where…

Steam Sales More Than Double For the Seventh Straight Year, Valve Looks at the Big Picture

Disproving the power of packaged goods once again, Valve’s Steam digital download platform saw another year of massive growth in 2011, with sales more than doubling and the number of simultaneous users surpassing the five million mark. What gets five million people on Steam all at once? You can blame those damn Steam holiday sales…

An Angry Exit From Online Multiplayer

Commenter Seivewright has completely fucking had it with online multiplayer games, and he isn’t going to take it anymore. Find out why in today’s Speak Up on Kotaku. I’ve totally decided now. no more fucking online multiplayer whatsoever. No more “maybe this will be different…” No more “maybe if we work as team…” No more…

Final Fantasy XIII-2 Demo Incoming

RPG fans will get a chance to test drive Square Enix’s upcoming Final Fantasy XIII sequel weeks ahead of it’s release with a demo due January 10 for the PlayStation 3 and January 11 for the Xbox 360. [Square Enix]

How to Fix Pro Gaming: Forget TV and Change the Commentary

Television is an odd medium. It is traditionally designed to appeal to the widest range of people, the greatest common denominator. It’s no surprise, then, that the televised competitive playing of video games hasn’t taken off worldwide. Gamers, as a whole, fancy themselves wise to the tactics of most marketing ploys and thus carry around…

Creepy-Cute Scarygirl Jumps from Comics to Vinyl to Consoles in Downloadable Game

Borne out of mishmash of Eastern European fairytales, pop art and fatherhood, Nathan Jurevicius’ Scarygirl‘s one of those indie art success stories that manages to warm the coldest of hearts. Scarygirl started off as cartoon strips chronicling the the adventures of a monstrously adorable girl who washes up on a remote peninsula as she tries…

Talk Amongst Yourselves

It’s time to unleash the tiger on the dragon in Kotaku‘s official forum, the place for you to chat about video games. What does that mean? You decide! Let’s hope PETA doesn’t show up to protest Witch of Izalith‘s first every TAYpic submission! Join in the fun and submit your own TAYpic. Please do your…

See How An Ordinary Nerf Gun Transforms into This Brink Assault Rifle

The game may’ve met with a lukewarm reception when it hit last year, but the one thing that Splash Damage’s Brink had going for it was an amazing art style. Laurens Corijn, an artist at the British dev studio, brought that look into the real world by modding a standard Nerf Stampede into an amazing…

Play With Toys Past Bedtime in Wind-Up Robots

The appeal of Wind-Up Robots is rather simply understood, for kids young and old who have played with toys and personified their actions. In this sweet-hearted tower-defense title for iOS and the Kindle Fire, by Soma Games, the toy box supplies a force of earnest, mechanical friends who guard a sleeping boy against the midnight…

Prototype 2’s GameStop Pre-Order Exclusive Has Enemies Bending Over For You to Kick Their Asses

Everyone hates pre-order exclusives. Yes, everyone. I’ve never heard a person say “I’m so glad I plunked down $5 before Game X came out, so I could get Different Colored Gun and/or Different Ability That Really Doesn’t Change the Experience That Much.” One of the realities of this kind of thing is that retailers drive…

You Know Nothing, Garrus

Commander Shepard, Relax | Sara McSorley tones down the anger and presents the new female Commander Shepard in a more peaceful light. How To Get Banned Playing Modern Warfare 3 (and What a Ban Actually Looks Like) Let’s say you’re curious as to how, exactly, developer Infinity Ward determines whether an online offence is grave…

Putting the Difference Between GTAIII and GTAIV In Perspective

On the left, the complete script for Grand Theft Auto III. On the right? The complete script for Grand Theft Auto IV [via Rockstar]

Video Game Anagram Covers are Hilarious

For a while now, NeoGAF user jarosh has been making anagrams out of video game names, giving each not just a new title, but new box art to go with it. They usually involve a little Photoshop work to go with the new name, and as a result can be slightly NSFW, but the more…