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  Two Hours with Jonathan Blow’s The Witness, an Abbreviated Wonder

  The last time I’d been to the island, it didn’t make sense to me. I had exited a building that had birthed my presence into the island’s sun splashed terrain. I’d confronted some blue panels in the manner a driver confronts a stop sign. The panels were signs I didn’t know how to read. They…

  By Stephen Totilo Published August 8, 2011
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  The World of Warcraft Gaming Mouse Gets a Legendary Downgrade

  In World of Warcraft a legendary item is a piece of equipment of extreme rarity and power, a virtual status symbol for those that harness its powers. In SteelSeries gaming mouse parlance, legendary means cheaper with fewer buttons. The original and Cataclysm editions of the World of Warcraft Gaming Mouse were lovely devices, large, bulky,…

  By Mike Fahey Published August 8, 2011
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  Should We Just Wait for the Game of the Year Edition?

  In today’s award-winning edition of Speak Up on Kotaku, cold-hearted commenter Monsieur.Froid wonders if other gamers are beginning to catch on to this whole Game of the Year trend. So with Fallout 3, I discovered the advent of the gaming industry’s newest conception: the ‘Game of the Year’ edition. Sure, it comes in other flavours,…

  By Mike Fahey Published August 8, 2011
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  Watch a Master Modder Split an Xbox 360 Controller in Two

  In the latest episode of The Ben Heck Show, master video game console modder Benjamin J. Heckendorn creates an Xbox 360 controller for folks that can’t bring their hands together in front of their bodies. How does he do it? Well I figured he would split the damn thing in half, but I guess there…

  By Mike Fahey Published August 8, 2011
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  Talk Amongst Yourselves

  I saw Blink 182 the other day. It made me feel pleasantly nostalgic, the way I do when I play video games that remind me of my earliest days playing video games. Those days were pretty early too, because I’ve been playing for as long as I could hold a controller. Not that you should…

  By Joshua Rivera Published August 8, 2011
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  When A Book Becomes a Game At the Hands of Pixar’s Masters

  Born of Hurricane Katrina and the passing of a dear friend, The Fantastic Flying Books of Mr. Morris Lessmore is more than a poignant, interactive allegory, it is the budding metamorphosis of the narrative. In the interactive piece of fiction, readers flip through digital pages on their iPad, poke pictures into life, paint grey skies…

  By Brian Crecente Published August 8, 2011
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  Simple Physics and Jet-Age Design Get You Home in The Marbians

  A physics-based puzzle grading you out on a scale of one to three, by now, might be not a genre but a cliche in mobile gaming, But there are still concepts out there that can keep it fresh and one of them is The Marbians, a cheerfully dressed app for iOS and Android devices that…

  By Owen Good Published August 8, 2011
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  Would You Like Some Raw Pikachu with Your Miso Soup?

  Pika Pika | CHARLOTTE, NC: A Japanese restaurant spotted by a reader. (Photo: Tail Light) They’re Big. They’re Nerdy. They’re Papier-Mâché. Every year, the Asagaya Tanabata festival is held at a covered shopping arcade near JR Asagaya Station. In Which Samus Meets Adam West Got a crazy Fancy Pants for you this week, Kotaku readers.…

  By Brian Ashcraft Published August 8, 2011
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  Can You Spot the Error in the Absurd Controller?

  Let’s say, you ordered a large, 2.2 feet by 1.4 feet controller that costs $360. The controller’s production is contingent on people like you pre-ordering it. Then, you get the controller. And you noticed that something was wrong—off-—and made even more noticeable by the controller being so damn big. Can you spot it? Created by…

  By Brian Ashcraft Published August 8, 2011
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  In Japan, Deus Ex Is Sexual Object Free

  When Western games are released in Japan, it’s not uncommon for the more graphic elements to end up on the cutting room floor. Deus Ex: Human Revolution is no exception. According to Square Enix, the Japanese version will have one cutscene modified because it shows a character’s internal organs. In an area of the game,…

  By Brian Ashcraft Published August 8, 2011
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  Would You Like a New PS3 HDMI Cable?

  Because that’s exactly what you’re getting! In Japan, Sony’s launching a new HDMI cable September 8. According to the official press release, the 2.0m high-speed HDMI cable is priced at ¥1,800 is ideal for 3D movie and gaming.

  By Brian Ashcraft Published August 8, 2011
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  In Which Samus Meets Adam West

  Got a crazy Fancy Pants for you this week, Kotaku readers. Oh sure, there’s the normal array of people dressed up as people from Final Fantasy, Halo and Assassin’s Creed But there’s also some crazier stuff. Like a walking KOS-MOS from Xenosaga. A Samus Aran in honour of the lady’s 25th birthday. And, for good…

  By Luke Plunkett Published August 8, 2011
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  It’s Time to Play the Original Deus Ex in “High Definition”

  Not that you ever really use the term “high definition” on a PC, but if you did, this mod for the original Deus Ex would surely be described as such. It’s called Deus Ex: New Vision, and has replastered 75% of the walls in the game with remastered, high resolution textures that should make the…

  By Luke Plunkett Published August 8, 2011
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  Pokémon‘s Pokéball Explodes Across the Sky

  Every summer, huge fireworks displays light up the sky across Japan. The fireworks come in an array of colors, but the pyrotechnics don’t stop there. Some fireworks change color, some explode to form Saturn-like spheres or even Hello Kitty’s face. This year, a Pokémon Pokéball was spotted at the Nagaoka fireworks display in Niigata. Photo…

  By Brian Ashcraft Published August 8, 2011
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  Real Life Can Be Just as Scary as a Scary Video Game

  Amnesia: Dark Descent is a scary, scary video game. But just what makes it so scary? Can you, say, simply layer the game interface and soundtrack over the real world, and suddenly the real world is scary? Yes. Amnesia was released last year on the PC, and showed that scrabbling around in the dark with…

  By Luke Plunkett Published August 8, 2011
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  They’re Big. They’re Nerdy. They’re Papier-Mâché.

  Every year, the Asagaya Tanabata festival is held at a covered shopping arcade near JR Asagaya Station. At this festival, large papier-mâché characters cover the shopping arcade. Characters from anime, video games, and popular culture appear along side colorful orbs. Last year, there was even the Twitter whale. In the past, there’s been Sponge Bob…

  By Brian Ashcraft Published August 8, 2011
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  Saved by the Bell: The Video Game Is the Best Thing That Never Happened

  You know, it was one of the great tragedies of the 1990s that we never got a Saved by the Bell video game on the SNES. One heavily inspired by the Earthbound series, in which you had to help Zack do whatever he did for 23 minutes an episode. This clip, by the team of…

  By Luke Plunkett Published August 8, 2011
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  This Year’s Hardest Game Has Been Delayed (Briefly!)

  Dark Souls, the spiritual successor to Demon’s Souls, was supposed to be out on September 15. It won’t be. Instead, the game will be delayed a week to September 22. From Software, the game’s developer, stated that the game is being delayed “due to various circumstances”. From Software did not go into greater depth than…

  By Brian Ashcraft Published August 8, 2011
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  Owl Boy Takes his First Flight This Month

  There are two indie games I’m looking forward to above all others. One is Fez, but Lord knows when that will ever be released. The other is Owl Boy, which will be playable later this month. The platformer, which we’ve covered a few times here before, won’t be out for a little while yet, but…

  By Luke Plunkett Published August 8, 2011
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  More Nintendo 3DS Dpad Woes

  Soon after the Nintendo 3DS, photos surfaced of wrinkled 3DS buttons. The paint on the buttons and the Dpad seemed “warped”. The issue appeared isolated, but was related to the paint used on the 3DS. More photos have now surfaced showing how another 3DS had a warped D-pad that, over time, has started flaking and…

  By Brian Ashcraft Published August 8, 2011