Rumor: Big Publisher In National Government “Scandal” [Update]

According to trade site Develop, “one of the biggest game companies in the world” has “sabotaged” plans to provide tax breaks for UK developers. That’s one juicy scandal. The British government had pledged to provide the breaks, aimed at propping up a decline in the number of UK developers. That was until, Develop says, a…

Will Fable III Have Fable II’s Money Exploit?

In Fable II, lazy players like me (hello!) could use a loophole in the game to do something very important: Earn lots of in-game cash quick By setting the Xbox 360’s clock forward and then starting the game, Fable II would be fooled into giving players all the money have were supposed to have earned…

Final Fantasy XIV On 360 Doesn’t Look Likely

Final Fantasy XIV is definitely coming to the PS3 and PC, but Square Enix has previously been coy on an Xbox 360 version. There’s a reason for that. While a publisher will rarely, if ever say that a game is definitely not coming to another platform, it doesn’t look like Final Fantasy XIV will ever…

Studio Ghibli’s DS Game Also Looking Beautiful

Ni no Kuni, a collaboration between Japanese developer Level 5 and animation powerhouse Studio Ghibli, wowed us yesterday with the PS3 version’s glorious trailer. Don’t forget, though, that the game is also coming to the DS. It was originally revealed for Nintendo’s hadnheld nearly two years ago, and while many of you will no doubt…

Kanex XD Review: More Gaming On Your iMac

For the relatively small intersection between 27″ iMac ownership and those hoping to play their PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 on that iMac exists the Kanex XD, an HDMI to Mini DisplayPort that I now don’t want to live without. The powered converter performs a seemingly simple task for its $150 USD asking price, taking…

Kotaku Off Topic: Ring A Ding Ding

For relaxing times, make it Kotaku Off Topic time, where we talk about all things, not just video games. But we do talk about video games. I wish I had some booze right now, but a gut full of chili verde burritos and a copy of Adobe Illustrator will have to do. This artwork isn’t…

All Hail the Stanley Cup Champs; Opening Day is, Like, Tomorrow

Jesus, didn’t we just get done with the NHL? I did a little bit of checking and, yep, of the major team simulations, it has the shortest span between crowning its champion and the release of its next video game. Chicago’s Blackhawks (figuring in all but three of these 15 screens that EA Sports released)…

Twitter Comes To Arcades, Courtesy Virtua Fighter

Sega is letting the Virtua Fighter faithful update their friends and foes on their fighting game accomplishments, 140 characters or less at a time, with something new for arcades—Twitter support in Virtua Fighter 5 Final Showdown. The official Japanese Virtua Fighter web site broke the news today, via Versus City, that players will be able…

Team Fortress 2, by Heavy, Age 5

The mangled syntax and childlike enthusiasm of Team Fortress 2‘s Heavy is very much reminiscent of a five-year-old’s view of the world, the obvious inspiration for this crayon drawing about his friends and teammates. The entire thing is so damned large I have to link it here. Note: Yes, we know a child did not…

The ‘E3’ Of 20 Years Ago Also Had Its Share Of Motion Control

World Cup, fancy hands-free motion-sensing controllers,the Big Three battling for console dominance—as it was at E3 2010, so it was at the annual gaming expo’s predecessor, the Consumer Electronics Show 20 years ago. While the graphics may have improved and the business boomed, 1UP‘s great retroactive look at 1990’s equivalent of E3, the summer CES…

NHL 11 Screenshots

Fight Brews Over Game Crazy’s Remaining Inventory

Game Crazy went belly-up earlier this year, removing one more retail alternative to GameStop from American shopping centers and malls. The sell-off of its remaining stock is on hold while two liquidators battle over who’s bidding the most for it. Movie Gallery, the parent company of Game Crazy, wants a bankruptcy court to go ahead…

Finally, M.I.A. Offers Her Thoughts On Video Game Violence

Musical artist, apparent Sonic the Hedgehog aficionado and one of Time magazine‘s “World’s Most Influential People” M.I.A. answers a long burning question—what does the woman known as M.I.A. think of video game violence? According to an interview in Complex magazine, as relayed by CVG, M.I.A. seems conflicted on the matter, concerned more about her own…

Report: PlayStation 3 May Also Get Hulu

Reports of Hulu’s expansion to consoles appear not to have been greatly exaggerated. The TV and movie service, already pegged to come to the Xbox 360 and iPad, may also be on its way to the PlayStation 3. According to a report from Bloomberg, Hulu, which carries programming from NBC Universal, Fox and ABC, is…

Journey to the Center of a Vagina with Privates

No word if Microsoft has changed positions on Privates, the irreverent safe-sex-themed game still being produced for PC. Zombie Cow Studios has gone ahead with this trailer anyway. “Don’t touch it, you don’t want it growing all up your balls!” No word on its release either, except for the oh-so-clever signoff that it’s coming (pause)…

PC Has Arisen

To: Ash From: Crecente Re: About The Time The Car Got Stuck I once got a four-wheeler stuck in an enormous single-wheel pot hole. It sucked. What doesn’t suck is that my PC, down for the count all of yesterday, woke up just fine this morning when I rebooted it. Weird huh? What you missed:…

Armageddon Cat Will Ruin Your Team Fortress 2 Achievement Dreams

For the Team Fortress 2 player obsessed with joylessly grinding for Steam achievements, the community creates special maps. One of those achievement whoring maps has a special, apocalyptic surprise. A furious feline filled with lasers and bees. Bees? Bees!! Want to experience this furry armageddon yourself? Look for a server running “achievement_all_v4,” part of a…

NCAA Football 11 Demo Impressions: Warming Up the Pre-Game

With six additional teams and a slew of custom visuals, NCAA Football 11 released an uncommonly ambitious demo last week. Football is still a results-driven enterprise, and its video games are rightly held to the same expectation of on-field execution. That’s not to say this game can’t be fundamentally enhanced by pageantry and atmospherics. This…

The Art Of Darksiders Debuts At Comic Con

While Darksiders fans won’t see a sequel until 2012, that doesn’t stop THQ from rolling out the tie-in merchandise, starting with a 288-page art book coming from UDON Entertainment, debuting as a limited hardcover edition at the San Diego Comic-Con. Before he made video games, Darksiders creative director Joe Madureira was a prolific comic book…

Don’t Use The Word ‘Shmup’ Around The Creators Of Ikaruga And Sin & Punishment

Because, believe it or not, the people who designed some of the world’s best scrolling shoot ’em ups, including Ikaruga, Gradius V and Radiant Silvergun, claim to have never seen the abbreviated term “shmup” used to describe their games before. So says Masato Maegawa, president of Treasure and producer on the company’s latest bullet-filled video…