Stop This Senseless Video Game Console War

Why do we scream at each other? That’s what commenter Manly McBeeferton wants to know in today’s Speak-Up on Kotaku, recalling a simpler time when we used to play video games instead of arguing about them. Hardcore. Casuals. Gamers. Lend me your ear. It’s time to put a stop to console wars. It’s time to…

Gaming Skills May Have Saved This Man’s Life

When a semi-truck carrying 30 metric tons of sand jackknifed through the concrete barrier into oncoming traffic on Ontario’s Highway 401 Friday morning, driver Matthew Krizsan narrowly escaped what might have been a fatal accident. Krizsan and a female companion were driving along the highway on Friday morning with a dashboard-mounted video camera running when…

Talk Amongst Yourselves

This is Kotaku’s official forum. Jump into the comments section and talk about video games, okay? Thanks to Whizkid103 for today’s image. Submit yours to #TAYpics

Nintendo’s Big, Pricey Bet on 3D

Would you pay $250 for 3D gaming, movie watching and picture taking you can carry in your pocket? That’s the question Nintendo is gambling on this spring when it rolls out its latest in a long a series of what has been traditionally incredible popular portable gaming consoles. The 3DS hits the U.S. on March…

I Want You For The Weekend

Not me. The dancing tiger. Look at him get down! Attended a Buddhist “hoji” (or memorial service for Mrs. Bashcraft’s deceased grandfather) on Sunday in Himeji, Japan. Osaka and Himeji are only like an hour and a half by car, so it wasn’t too far. It was a nice service and a nice lunch, but…

Magic: The Gathering – Tactics Hits the PC Today

Free-to-play online tactical strategy game Magic: The Gathering – Tactics is now available for download at www.magicthegatheringtactics.com

Gal☆Gun Escapes, Underpants Seemingly In Tact

After checking out creepy cute shooter Gal☆Gun at last year’s Tokyo Game Show, Kotaku could safely confirm that the game was wall-to-wall underpants. Then, there were concerns those underpants were killed off. Now? Now it seems that they’ve returned to the on-rails shooters. The game has players blast pheromones at an onslaught of female admirers.…

Xbox 360 Hostess Game Helps To Ring In Akihabara’s Return

This past Sunday, Akihabara was re-opened to foot traffic, two-and-a-half years after a brutal killing spree that left seven dead. This weekend, folks came to pay their respects, and folks came to celebrate the return of “pedestrian’s paradise”. As thousands of otaku poured out on the main drag in Tokyo’s geek mecca Akihabara, the folks…

L.A. Noire Solving Crimes This May

Confirming the leaked trailer, detective thriller L.A. Noire will be out May 17 in North America and May 20 in Europe on the Xbox 360 and PS3.

Over 800 Children Herded Together For Handheld Gaming

If anyone wonders what a gathering of 800 people playing portable game consoles look like, it looks like this. Because that’s exactly what happened this weekend in Odawara City in Japan’s Kanagawa Prefecture. At the city’s shopping center Dyna-City, a meet-up kicked off for “playing handheld gaming consoles at the same time”. In a space…

Professor Layton’s Puzzles Paid For This Stadium

Well, it’s name. Fans of professional American sports will be used to seeing stadiums named after companies. Insurance companies, banking companies, telecommunications companies. It’s a shame, then, that unlike in Japan, none of them are named after video game developers. Hakata no mori Stadium, in Fukuoka, has that honour, as since 2008 it’s been known…

Why The Prettiest PlayStation 2 Game Wasn’t A Smash

In April 2006, Okami was released on the PlayStation 2 in Japan. The game was a critics’ favorite and a commercial flop. Selling a mere 66,000 copies the year it was first released in its native Japan, the Capcom game follows a Japanese sun goddess and uses game controls based on a brush calligraphy. The…

LittleBigPlanet: Good On PS3, Better In Real Life

Give this Show About Games Show clip ten seconds to let you know what’s going on. Give it thirty to warm your heart. Then give it around sixty to blow your mind. It’s Sony and Media Molecule’s LittleBigPlanet if instead of being a video game, it was a delightful little hand-made adventure where you had…

Gaming’s Funniest Designer Inspired By Film’s Artiest Director

Tim Schafer is a funny guy. He makes funny games like Grim Fandango and Psychonauts. And the idea for his newest game comes from an unlikely place. During the production hell that was the metal-inspired Brutal Legend, Schafer took a cue from Hong Kong director Wong Kar-Wai on how to break up post-production monotony. In…

It Took Five Video Games To Make This Image

This image is called “Captain Lights Part 2: Electric Boogaloo”. Looks nice, but it’s not entirely the artist’s own work, seeing as it’s actually a composite of five video games, a movie and a toy gun. Call it an exercise in synthesising modern popular culture, call it a man with a desire to throw random…

Only One Child Was Harmed Making This Angry Birds Video

Mobile sensation Angry Birds is one of the biggest games on the planet right now. It’s fun enough on a phone, but man, it’s way more fun when you’re pegging birds at small children instead of fat pigs. Did I say fun? I did? Well, add adorable to the list of things it is. Because…

The Father Of The Fitness Video Game Passes Away

Jack LaLanne, who appeared in a fitness video game long before Nintendo and EA made millions off the genre, has sadly passed away over the weekend at the age of 96. A noted health club pioneer and TV salesman, LaLanne lent his name (and likeness!) to 1979’s Intellivision title Jack LaLanne’s Physical Conditioning, which you…

Ballet Is For Girls (Who Love Nintendo)

Super Mario Bros. made the leap to the big screen, and that didn’t work. What about the leap to ballet? One school in Brazil tested out Mario’s twinkle toes. School plays are great. Handmade backdrops and colorful costumes. The kids at Brazil’s Maria Imaculada de Porto Alegre recently gave their ballet recital, titled “Super Mario…

These Children Need To Calm The Eff Down

You think new Pokémon Happy Meal figures get Japanese kids in television ads excited? You are wrong. They do not. A new McDonalds ad features three children, a sheepish mother and SpongeBob toys. SpongeBob is popular in Japan, where he’s translated into Japanese. But the kids in the commercial are way too excited. In fact,…

No More Heroes 2 Artwork