Why Don’t Foreigners Like Japanese Role-Playing Games?

For decades, Japanese role-playing games ruled gaming. These days, they don’t. Now, Western role-playing games get all the attention and praise. What gives? Noting the low popularity of Japanese role-playing games outside their native country, Sakaguchi believes that role-playing games need to break the stereotype they’ve created. Sakaguchi tells Nintendo president Satoru Iwata and Xenoblade…

All Your “Villes” Belong To FarmVille

Game developer Zynga built an empire on social networking games like FarmVille, FrontierVille and CityVille. Notice what all those games have in common? They all have a “ville” suffix, which is why Zynga is readying legal action against Facebook game Blingville, from developers Overtime Apps, claiming that the use of “ville” infringes on its copyright.…

The Earth Is Ruined, So We Must Kill Lots Of Robots

A.R.E.S.: Extinction Agenda is an indie action title released last week on Steam (though it’s been available elsewhere since December). I thought it looked pretty cool, so decided to give it a try. Won’t you join me? In A.R.E.S., you play a robot on a space station who has to kill a ton of other…

NSFW: Are Your Eyes Playing Tricks On You?

Changed, indeed. Mobile game Battle Spin goes balls out in its latest trailer. As seen on GameTrailers via オレ的ゲーム情報

Hey, This Fallout Movie Isn’t Too Bad!

When the trailer for a fan movie about Fallout was released a few weeks back, I was…sceptical. Which was stupid, because the movie is now out, and it’s actually pretty damn good. The short film is called “Nuka Break”, and is about the journey of a Vault survivor, his Ghoul pal Ben and a former…

The Nintendo 3DS Is The Anti-Game Boy

Inexpensive, low-tech and sporting an impressive battery life, the Nintendo Game Boy was released in 1989. Next month, Nintendo is releasing the 3DS. It’s everything the Game Boy wasn’t. It is the Anti-Game Boy. Designed by Gunpei Yokoi, the Game Boy was big and bulky with gray graphics. The machine was and is almost indestructible,…

Everywhere You Look, Minecraft

This is a shot taken from an upcoming documentary about Minecraft, by the same guys who did chiptune doco Reformat the Planet. Gameface is a photographic celebration of the people who make, play and love video games.

The Origins Of Pokémon (In Two Minutes)

The story of Pokémon is a long and ridiculous one. Cutting its origins down to a two-minute web animation saves us all a lot of trouble, heartache and having to actually watch an episode of the awful Pokémon cartoon series. DJChlorine has taken the very first episode of the long-running Pokémon animated series and broken…

When Street Fighters Go On A Gender Bender

French artist Bastien Vives has taken the cast of the Street Fighter series and reworked them. Most of them are now a different gender. Others are the same gender, they’re just…looking at the world in a new way. Guile, for example, is now a lady with a much more fashionable haircut. Dee Jay is also…

Kinect Delivers Its Ultimate Slap To The Face (Of A Small Child)

Start at 1:00 in. It’s OK to laugh. Because she survives. Actually, she doesn’t just survive, in the accompanying YouTube commentary her mother says “my daughter is fine” and “she doesn’t even have any bruises”, and commands us all to “watch it and laugh now!” If you say so, lady. The game in question looks…

Black Ops First Strike Screenshots

Here are some screenshots of “Stadium”, one of the new maps included with Black Ops’ first DLC.

Praying To The Anime Goddess

It’s said that there is a religion for everyone. Otaku are no exception. Ryohoji Temple, a Buddhist temple in Tokyo’s Hachioji, might have been built in the 16th century; however, it is anything but traditional. CNNGo reports that in June 2009, the temple’s chief monk Shoko Nakazato created a manga-esque sign to “tell the people…

Dead Space 2 Visual Guide

Rumor: Disney Guts Internal Game Development Staff

CNBC reports that up to half of Disney’s internal game development staff – think Epic Mickey and Junction Point – has been fired. And that’s not including the 170 from last week

NSFW: World Of Warcraft’s Porn Tribute Has An Ear-Jerking Trailer

When we first told you about BoneCraft, a pornographic tribute to the works of StarCraft and World of Warcraft developers Blizzard, we sadly had no trailer to accompany the news. There’s now a trailer. Warning: Elven toe licking follows. Actually, toe-licking is the least of our problems. Ear-jerking looks unsavoury, and Space Marine boners are…

Rumor: The First Official Shot Of The PSP2?

While the PSP2 is not yet official, there have been fan Photoshop creations. Apparently, this is not a fan-made creation. Apparently, this is a Sony-made one. But is it? Granted, this could very well be another slick Photoshop, but this week Sony is expected to unveil the new PlayStation Portable, which is currently being called…

The Best Way To Stop Game Piracy Is With Silly Pirate Heads

Video game piracy is seen by the industry as a dire problem, so much so that many PC games these days are burdened with digital rights management (or DRM) systems. They suck. Pirate heads are way better. Today, DRM is a contentious issue in the world of PC gaming. Several high-profile titles in recent years,…

Cookies, Comic Books And Frozen Pizza

Tonight’s open thread, where anything and everything is fair game for discussion, is ready for your comments after a weekend break. Won’t you come into this thread, my amazing friends, and chat about cookie dough and the Fantastic Four? I’ve got some Dead Space 2 to beat, particularly a very challenging flood of necromorphs, so…

Video Games Privately Turn Dads Into Britney Spears Fans

Chase’s dad is working out. Part of his workout regimen involves getting the hell down with some Britney Spears jams in Just Dance 2. We are the ones who benefit from Chase’s sneaky video of dad getting loose to “Toxic.” I’m not sure how Chase’s dad feels about this video hitting the internet, but it’s…

Monday Night Combat, Team Fortress 2 Have Steamy Item Swap Love Fest

Monday Night Combat is now available on Steam. To ensure that you buy the damn thing, Valve and Uber Entertainment are injecting Monday Night Combat with Team Fortress 2 stuff and Team Fortress 2 with Monday Night Combat stuff. Here’s the deal. If you buy a Monday Night Combat on Steam before 10 a.m. PST,…