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  If You Can Figure Out Minecraft’s PigTales, You Get a Cookie

  The Minecraft folks have teamed up with Mackapar Films to make…something. PigTales, the resulting website, features a customizable video of Minecraft pig sock puppets. You make up dialog, then post to the site. We’re still not sure why. [PigTales]

  By Jen Schiller Published August 22, 2011
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  Must We Compare Every Online Role-Playing Game to World of Warcraft? Yes, And Here’s Why

  In today’s thrilling episode of Speak Up on Kotaku, commenter Vezroth explains why people need to stop getting angry when every other massively multiplayer online game in the world is compared to World of Warcraft. I am, and have been a consistent World of Warcraft player since the Burning Crusade expansion. Vanilla I played off…

  By Mike Fahey Published August 22, 2011
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  Portal Turrets Invade Bastion

  The kid started a New Game+ mode in the celebrated summer indie game Bastion. He bought himself the Gel Canister and spawned some mean turrets from Aperture Science. He told himself he was only seeing this because he was now in the Steam version of the game, the one that came out last week, the…

  By Stephen Totilo Published August 22, 2011
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  How to Play Your Xenoblade Import on a North American Wii

  Xenoblade Chronicles is out in English right now, but Nintendo of America doesn’t seem keen to let North American’s play it, so they can’t. Not unless they import a copy from Europe and follow Joystiq’s guide for soft modding Nintendo’s Wii to play imports. Joystiq’s step-by-step guide takes Wii owners through installing the Wii Homebrew…

  By Mike Fahey Published August 22, 2011
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  Talk Amongst Yourselves

  You guys actually read what we write!! The call to arms has been answered, and we have a couple new TAYpics. But we’re not out of the dark yet! Keep those submissions coming! Gamescom is over this week, but don’t worry, PAX is right around the corner! Chat up your favorite convention, or the convention…

  By Jen Schiller Published August 22, 2011
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  A Visit To the Thousands-Strong Gaming Tent City of Cologne

  COLOGNE, GERMANY – For one week a year a very different sort of campsite forms along Cologne’s pebbled shores of the Rhine river. Tucked between the fourth largest convention center in the world and the towering, majestic Cologne Cathedral, more than 3,000 people set up a small town of tents, camp chairs, bonfires and video…

  By Brian Crecente Published August 22, 2011
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  Dragon Ladies

  Dress Up | TOKYO, JAPAN: A Konami event for Gree’s Dragon Collection mobile title. (Photo: Game Watch Impress) From Erotic Games to Murder Charges In 1999, a thirty-one year-old voice actress under the name Suzuka Yuna voice one of the lead characters in Japanese erotic computer game Triangle Heart 2. More » A Tale of Two…

  By Brian Ashcraft Published August 22, 2011
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  One of Japan’s Biggest Developers Will Be Smaller at the Tokyo Game Show

  Year after year, Level-5 is one of the biggest draws at the Tokyo Game Show. Except this year. Level-5 will be at TGS, but it’s most likely to be a meeting room, instead of a huge booth like in year’s past. Instead, Level-5 is holding its own event, “Level-5 World”, in October in Tokyo. “I…

  By Brian Ashcraft Published August 22, 2011
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  How Many People Visited Gamescom?

  Another attendance record for Gamescom. This year’s show drew 275,000 visitors, organizers stated in an official release.

  By Brian Ashcraft Published August 22, 2011
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  So Much Time, So Many Crappy-Sounding 3DS Games.

  The Nintendo 3DS gets flack for not having a killer line up. And so far, it doesn’t. That flack is largely deserved, but it’s flack that will, over time, disappear. But until that happens, dig in Japanese 3DS owners. As 2ch pointed out, here are known release dates for titles between August and November: •…

  By Brian Ashcraft Published August 22, 2011
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  This Guy Just Wants To Hold a Controller (So Do I)

  Game designer Xander Davis recently started a new game design show on YouTube called “THINK TANK!” (his caps, not mine), where he sounds off on game design. Davis most recently did the UI art for Transformers: War for Cybertron and is currently working on a new CryEngine 3 action role-playing game. In the above episode,…

  By Brian Ashcraft Published August 22, 2011
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  Battlefield 3’s Multiplayer Blows 128 Socks Clean Off

  Battlefield 3’s booth at Gamescom was not fucking around. Inside its cavernous hall, at the end of an hours-long wait, were 64 personal computers and an 18-minute round of the game’s multiplayer. It’s quite the experience. Taking place on the game’s Caspian Border map, an enormous expanse of creeks, hills, plains and buildings, the demo…

  By Luke Plunkett Published August 22, 2011
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  Namco Bandai Ready To Go After Mobile Games

  Namco Bandai established a start-up with Japanese mobile gaming giant DeNA to make social games. Dubbed BDNA, the company’s funded by Namco Bandai (75 percent) and DeNA (25 percent). DeNA makes the popular “Mobage” titles in Japan. [IT Media]

  By Brian Ashcraft Published August 22, 2011
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  With Warhammer: Space Marine, the Future’s so Dark You Gotta Wear Shades

  Upcoming title Warhammer 40,000 gets a a handful of short trailers that should loop in newcomers and get old hands excited. The trailer is heavy on heavy armor, big weapons, bad guys, and blood. But even though, this is a third-person action game, it doesn’t feature a cover system, which has quickly become a standard…

  By Brian Ashcraft Published August 22, 2011
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  When Gundam Meets Professor Layton

  Well, Professor Layton‘s creator, that is. Level-5 honcho Akihiro Hino is penning the new Gundam cartoon series, Mobile Suit Gundam Age Since Hino is known for his talky games like Professor Layton, there was a rumor that the Gundam in Age would actually talk. Hino called this a “misunderstanding”, and he added that the mecha…

  By Brian Ashcraft Published August 22, 2011
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  You Got Mario in My Jenga!

  Jenga and endless Jenga clones are popular enough in Japan for Mario to get into the mix. Called Super Mario Balance Block, the game is a spin on Jenga and has players use a Mario pointer to push the blocks out—there are also question blocks and mushrooms. But, like with standard Jenga, knock over the…

  By Brian Ashcraft Published August 22, 2011
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  Getting Up Close (and Very Personal) With the PlayStation Vita

  This video isn’t as sexy as it sounds (unless you start up some simultaneous saxophone). For those interested in the PlayStation Vita but who haven’t laid hands upon one, however, it is practical It’s a good look at the handheld’s thumbsticks. And its tiny (though excellent) buttons. And its very shiny rear touchpad.

  By Luke Plunkett Published August 22, 2011
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  Love Plus Brings Failed Upskirts to Japanese TV

  Japanese TV already has already seen upskirts (both failed and successful), but here we go, once more with feeling. This fall, Love Plus, that popular love simulator from Konami, is getting a 3DS version called New Love Plus. It has new features. Some of those new features, like the ability to stare at your Love…

  By Brian Ashcraft Published August 22, 2011
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  From Erotic Games to Murder Charges

  In 1999, a thirty-one year-old voice actress under the name Suzuka Yuna voice one of the lead characters in Japanese erotic computer game Triangle Heart 2 In 2000, she voiced the sequel, and during the following decade, she launched a reasonably successful voice acting career. But by summer 2011, she was arrested for murder. Yuna,…

  By Brian Ashcraft Published August 22, 2011
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  A Tale of Two Games of Battlefield 3

  I’ve got to play Battlefield 3 twice this week at Gamescom. Once on PS3 and once on PC. One was OK and one was amazing. We’ll start with the OK one first. That version was the PS3’s. Making its playable debut at the show, the PS3 edition was there to show off the game’s co-op…

  By Luke Plunkett Published August 22, 2011