When a Great Demo Hides a Bad Game

In today’s Speak Up on Kotaku, commenter Dracosummoner talks about a game that sold him with its demo and then let him down in full release. Has that ever happened to you? Have you ever played a demo that you absolutely loved, one that instantly convinced you to go out and play the real game…

Lord of the Rings: War in the North

Next Year Will See A Return To Metro 2033‘s Horrific Russian Underground

They call it their flawed masterpiece. Released last year, 4A Games’ Metro 2033 gave gamers a chance to experience a different sort of apocalypse, one untainted by Western views and culture. Metro 2033 was an apocalypse shaped by old world fears, and Russian ethos. Based on the novel of the same name by Russian author…

Talk Amongst Yourselves: Majora’s Mask

Today’s Talk Amongst Yourselves will be the best Talk Amongst Yourselves of all time. After all, anything that includes the subtitle Majora’s Mask is the best of its kind. Celebrate the excellence of today’s TAY by commenting here about video games. Side-quest: Go to #TAYpics and post suggestions of which public-domain painting we should use…

Nintendo Clearing Out Nintendo DS Lites for $99.99

The Nintendo DS Lite, rumored to be discontinued, is getting a price drop, down to $99.99 effective June 5, according to a Nintendo press release that went out this morning. That’s a $30 drop for history’s first non-ugly DS, a model that’s been supplanted by the DSi, the DSi XL and the $250 brand-new 3DS.

Relax, Spirits Will Guide You Through Your Next Wait In Line

The iPhone seems packed to the rafters these days with loud, violent shooters and games about money. So let’s take things a little slower, and relax with a puzzling platformer about some cute spirits instead. Spirits is an iPhone and iPad game by Spaces of Play that, at the risk of crudely comparing the game,…

Square Enix Making Social Game for the Nintendo 3DS

What is Heroes of Ruin? It is Square Enix’s stab at social gaming on the Nintendo 3DS. The game features a band of four heroes taking on monsters and other creatures that pop up in games involving bands of heroes. Heroes of Ruin uses 3DS StreetPass functionality for an in-game “Traders’ Network” that lets players…

How Call of Duty Elite Works, and Why You Might Be Paying For It

The people who make Call of Duty keep promising that they won’t charge you extra to play their hit game against other people. They shoot down any fears that they’re going to turn CoD multiplayer into a pay-per-month subscription service, a la World of Warcraft or HBO. But starting this fall, series publisher Activision will…

What Is This Man Thinking?

The Force | LAS VEGAS, NV: Filmmaker George Lucas appeared at CinemaCon earlier this spring. (Photo: Ethan Miller | Getty) Hands On With StarCraft II: Heart of the Swarm ‘s Campaign, Now With More RPG and Space Yetis StarCraft II: Heart of the Swarm is a mutated beast of last year’s real-time strategy game infused…

There’s Syphon Filter 4?

Maybe! Apparently the stealth game was accidentally revealed on the PlayStation.blog, but then taken down. There were apparently discussions of this on the PlayStation Community Forums, but they too were taken down. According to a post on GameTrailers.com, the game is going to be a PS3 title and will be out in late 2012. Sony…

Yang Will Kick You in the Face

On June 7, Yang is coming to Super Street Fighter IV: Arcade Edition as a downloadable player. Kotaku posted the first footage of him last fall. Here’s the latest look at him in action.

L.A. Noire DLC Offers Players New Cases to Play. New Ways to Pay.

A handful of downloadable content is coming to detective game L.A. Noire. The DLC includes standalone cases, in-game items and challenges. “With its blend of real crime influences and noir atmosphere, L.A. Noire contains boundless potential for new stories and new cases,” said Sam Houser, founder of Rockstar Games, in an official release. “The four…

Portal Dinner Theater

Fan films, like this Portal one, are impressive and all, but stage renditions are more impressive. Without digital effects or camera tricks, you’ve got to be creative.

The Forgotten Art of the Video Game Title Screen

Back before games had cinematic intros, and many of the biggest titles were still in arcades, the video game title screen was often one of the most important “lures” for a customer. Featuring big artwork and even bigger titles, it had to capture everything the game stood for. Everything it was about. Everything it was…

Group Claims to be Attacking Sony, Stealing Data. Again.

Over the past few days, broadcaster PBS has been the target of a concerted series of attacks on its online presence. Those hackers now claim they’ve moved onto targeting Sony. A tweet issued by the group, going by the name LulzSec, says “Hey @Sony, you know we’re making off with a bunch of your internal…

She’s Bayonetta, Brought to Life

As far as short nicknames go, hers must be on of the shortest. Going by the frisky sounding “H”, this cosplayer focuses her attention primarily on one thing: games made in Osaka. Her cosplaying efforts breathe life into characters appearing in titles from Platinum Games, such as the titular Bayonetta, and also characters from Capcom…

URL Link is the Hero of Code

What’s best is when you actually bother to read all the code. URL Link by Steven Rice

Samurai Warriors 3 Ready to Hack up the PS3

Remember when hack-and-slash title Sengoku Musou 3 (Samurai Warriors 3) came out on the Wii in 2009? A poster for Sengoku Musou 3: Empire reveals that the game’s latest iteration is apparently PS3-bound. No word on if it’s also heading to the Wii. PS3『戦国無双３ Empires』8月発売予定！　無双シリーズはWiiで続けるって言ったのに・・・ [オレ的ゲーム速報＠刃]

Call of Duty Elite’s Leaked Trailer Says a Lot [Update]

I always thought Activision overpaid for those Rolling Stones rights in Black Ops. Good to see they’re getting a bit more mileage out of them here, in this thoroughly chatty trailer for the new Call of Duty Elite service If you can stomach what sounds like nearly seven minute’s worth of TJ Miller’s voice, there’s…

Buy a Dreamcast That’ll Fit In Your Hand

A slightly iffy Japanese site is taking preorders for a portable Dreamcast that may not look like much, but promises to do everything you’d expect from such a unit. The all-on-one handheld has a screen, control surfaces and speakers, and plays retail Dreamcast games. They’ll ship next month, but at $470 each, only serious (or…