THQ Raids Mattel’s Toy Box

Publisher THQ just got the rights to make video games based on a whole range of Mattel toy properties. Think Barbie, Hot Wheels, Fisher Price and, most promising, Masters of the Universe

Blowing Up Blocks Rarely Looks This Good

Would it be premature to say this already looks like one of 2011’s prettiest games? It’s Voxatron, an indie shooter in development at Lexaloffle. Sure, it’s a bit sparse, but games don’t look good on the basis of how many textures and models you can cram on the screen. They look good by virtue of…

From Boring Laptop To Awesome Arcade Cabinet

Lenovo – yes, boring old Lenovo – has one of the more interesting gaming-related products on show at this week’s CES: a box that transforms a laptop computer into a pint-sized arcade cabinet. All you do is pop the stick open and there’s room to slide in a laptop. Close it back up and you…

Kinect Can’t Just Read Your Motions, It Can Capture Them Too

We’ve already seen one way Microsoft’s Kinect can be used to help bedroom game developers, but here’s another, just as practical way: it can allow for home-grown motion capture. For professionals, motion-capture work is time-consuming, highly specialised and expensive. Indeed, it’s one of the big reasons Rockstar’s LA Noire has been so long in development…

Gaming’s Newest Console Is…A Bunch Of Blocks?

Meet the newest video game console on the market. It’s for kids and casual gamers, looks like a bunch of building blocks and is the most original piece of gaming hardware we’ve seen in years. The Sifteo is the brainchild of former MIT students David Merrill and Jeevan Kalanithi, who wanted to develop a gaming…

You Can Now Install Your Own “Custom” PS3 Firmware

Some tools released online overnight claim to allow the installation of “custom firmware” on a PlayStation 3. Capitalising on the work done last week by the fail0verflow team in breaking the PS3 wide open, KaKaRoTo has released a set of tools that allow users to alter their PS3’s firmware, making this the first practical step…

Modern Warfare Creators Taking Damage From Legal Fees

According to new documents released today, the ongoing legal battle between the creators of Call of Duty and the franchise’s publishers is beginning to take its toll on those involved. Last month, Activision sought to expand the scope of the lawsuit by including Electronic Arts, the publisher that is now home to the new studio…

PSPhone Shots

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Why Minecraft Is So Damn Popular

Minecraft was the undisputed indie success story of 2010. Yet much of its appeal seems to lie in what it’s not, rather than what it is It is, first things first (and before I am lynched by Minecraft fans), a good game. Maybe even a great game. It’s got an iconic look, it’s widely accessible,…

Portal 2’s Robots Are Trying To Escape Its Box Art

The first Portal’s marketing and art design was all about minimalism. Cold, stark science. Portal 2’s box art, on the other hand, says “we spent a lot more time and money on this game”. Those robots don’t seem terribly impressed, though, and are rightly trying to make a getaway. Portal 2 will be out on…

Viva Las Vegas

With the 2011 Consumer Electronics Show beginning, in a sense, tomorrow, portions of Kotaku are already in Las Vegas, ready to eat, drink and write—just no gambling. So, let’s talk about Vegas. As we do (almost) every night, take part in a little off-topic conversation while Mr. Crecente and I find some steakhouse or sushi…

Could This Be The Best Gaming Headset Of CES?

The Consumer Electronics Show kicks off tomorrow, and there Turtle Beach will be showing off the new Ear Force PX5 Programmable Wireless Surround Sound Headset, among other things. Is this Xbox 360 / PlayStation 3 headset really worth $250? Hopefully McWhertor or Crecente will get a chance to check out the PX5 during the show…

PlayStation Store Update: High Definition Tetrominoes

The PlayStation Store of North America rings in 2011 with a sample casual, addictive downloads, including seminal puzzle game Tetris for the PlayStation 3 and smash hit Angry Birds for the PSP. While the appeal of high-definition, 5.1 surround sound Tetris may have you opening up the wallet, other efforts like surgical shooter MicroBot for…

Colorbind Is The Excellent iPhone Game I Meant To Buy

When I misheard a friend’s iPhone game recommendation, I wound up accidentally buying Colorblind. Today, Kotaku’s iGame of the Day is the game my friend was actually recommending: Colorbind Colorbind is a puzzle game that has you drawing ribbons over circles. That’s as complex as it needs to be. You’ll see. You can download the…

What If Metroid Was Really Sad? And Had Hints Of Portal?

You’d have K.O.L.M., a Flash-based, Metroid-style adventure about piecing together a sad little platforming robot. And while K.O.L.M. may feel heavily inspired by some great games, its audio-visual style helps to set this game apart. There’s traditional “Metroidvania” item collecting, shooting, and puzzle-solving, but the tilting camera, the somber soundtrack and a few neat audio…

Pinball FX2: Marvel Pinball Tingles My Silver Ball Sense

I am not a pinball wizard. I never have been. But here I am, with itchy flipper fingers, rarin’ to shoot that silver ball. Pinball FX2: Marvel Pinball is ready to scratch that itch — comic book style. A paid add-on for the free download Pinball FX2, it features four Marvel-themed tables: Spider-Man, Iron Man,…

The Making of Tron Legacy Goes Beneath The Skin

Disney’s Tron: Legacy may have been about as good as the original—which is to say that it’s exceedingly average—but the 2010 follow-up to the ’80s video game adventure was certainly visually dazzling. Thank Digital Domain for that. “The Making of Tron: Legacy” gorgeously shows how some of that movie magic was achieved, like the virtual…

Viva Prey Tree

To: Ash From: Crecente I’m hanging out at Denver airport right now, waiting to catch a flight to Vegas and CES. The art installation in the video above always reminds me of Prey… Denver has such a great airport. What you missed Stunning Pictures Only a Gamer’s Eye Could Have Captured At Long Last, The…

No More Heroes For PS3 Boasts Big Beam Katanas

No More Heroes: Heroes Paradise is coming to North America only on the PlayStation 3 and bringing PlayStation Move controls right along with it. Here’s a new look at Travis Touchdown and Bad Girl of the hi-def No More Heroes. Publisher Konami hasn’t locked down a release date beyond 2011, but we hope they find…