Left 4 Dead 2 New Changes Designed To Make It Less Rage Quit-y

Valve is making some noteworthy changes to the way Left 4 Dead 2 plays, the way it scores and the way it can sometimes infuriate players. When Valve polled zombie apocalypse enthusiasts on their rage quitting reasons, this was why. The official Left 4 Dead site outlines some, but not all, of those impending changes…

SOCOM 4 Loses Sight Of 2010, Takes Aim At 2011

Originally due some time this fall, Zipper Interactive’s SOCOM 4: U.S. Navy SEALs is now penciled in for release some time next year. The developer confirmed today that it’s delaying the PlayStation 3 game to give it some extra polish. The developer writes on the official SOCOM site “While we’re certainly aware that you’ve been…

The Assassin’s Green in Monday Night Combat

Continuing the tour of class warfare in Monday Night Combat, Uber Entertainment today introduced us to the Assassin, the fastest character type in the upcoming class-based shooter for Xbox Live Arcade, packing both cloak and dagger. A fact sheet put out by Uber says that Assassin’s cloak makes a noticeable hum when active, and a…

The War On Phallic Graffiti

To: Ashcraft From: Totilo Re: Why Are Little Kids So Messy? Artist Shepard Fairey (Obama portrait guy) paints a mural a few blocks from Kotaku’s NYC office. All month long, people have been trying to deface it, while other people try to clean it up. July 7 – smashed July 12 – Boarded up, but…

Kinect Could Make Carjackings, Stabbings & Execution Style Kills This Immersive

Rockstar Games wasn’t shy about utilizing the Wii Remote and Nunchuk as a killing tool in Manhunt 2, but will they follow suit and support Kinect for the Xbox 360? Could Grand Theft Auto V turn millions into sadistic mimes? Explore the vicious possibilities in this humorous look at how the next Grand Theft Auto…

Uncharted 2 Title Update Tomorrow

Uncharted 2 Title Update 1.09 arrives Wednesday, according to its creators. Among the tweaks: “Fixed ability for players to ‘super throw’ the treasure in Plunder matches” and “Cash awarded per kill in Elimination has been increased to $750 per kill.”

Terrell Ocho Uno Arrives In Cincinnati, Madden-Style

The revolving door psych ward that is the Cincinnati Bengals admitted another high-maintenance case yesterday with Terrell Owens. It might turn into a headache in real life, but with the focus in Madden solely on talent, the Bengals are loaded. Owens, at one time spectacularly talented, and a persistent clubhouse disruption over his entire career,…

Monday Night Combat: The Assassin

How To Fail At StarCraft II Multiplayer

Last night I played my first round of StarCraft II multiplayer. It was the first time I ever played any StarCraft game against a human opponent. It might also be my last. As mentioned during our Kotaku Talk Radio podcast today, I never played the original StarCraft, and while I am enjoying my time with…

You Can Now Drive The Lara Croft Way

Next time you’re in Derby, England, you can drive the Lara Croft Way. The city’s new road, named after the Tomb Raider heroine, is open for business, with a Lara lookalike for hard proof. As seen at the BBC

Terrell Owens Bengals Screenshots

APB Developer Rebuilds The World In Our Image

“What would it look like if Nintendo built Google Earth?” That’s the question used to describe Crackdown and APB developer Realtime World’s new project, a mix of social gaming, social networking, and traditional gaming known as MyWorld. Do you ever wish you could do with Google Earth? Sure, you can browse down to the street…

Confessions About The Games We Never Played, KTR Ready For Download

Boy, do we feel better here today after spending an hour confessing on Kotaku Talk Radio about the big games we never played. You can now download our confessions. How much longer can I go without playing Doom? Ah, but I ask you: How much longer can you go without knowing who was President of…

StarCraft II: Wings of Liberty’s Evil Easter Egg

StarCraft II: Wings of Liberty’s lava-filled planet of Redstone III has a hidden secret, a guest appearance from another Blizzard-created game. Nestled at the far edge of the map is the Lord of Terror, Diablo, stranded on an island and surrounded by molten lava. (So that’s why they call it the Devil’s Playground…) He’s unclickable,…

You Play Video Games Like A Cyclops

You might have a pair of eyes, but when you’re playing first-person video games, you’re no better than a cyclops. Neuroscientist Mark Changizi explains how our cyclops-vision helps pinpoint what we’re missing out on when we lose an eye. In the book The Vision Revolution: How the Latest Research Overturns Everything We Thought We Knew…

How To Pick Your Race In StarCraft II

Should you play as Terran, Protoss or Zerg in StarCraft II’s multiplayer? Good thing there are experts who can break down the options… StarCraft II player Duban has a great guide over at the official StarCraft II forums that begins with some welcome advice about which army to command. First, his warning: “you shouldn’t pick…

See Ghost Recon: Future Soldier’s ‘Alpha’ In Action For Yourself

San Diego Comic-Con attendees were given a sneak peek at the 20 minute short film Ubisoft is bankrolling to promote futuristic shooter Ghost Recon: Future Soldier. Now you can watch nearly a minute’s worth of “Alpha” online. Francois Alaux and Herve de Crecy’s action flick will serve as a prologue to the Xbox 360, PC…

Scott Pilgrim Vs. The PSPgo

In Scott Pilgrim book six, Scott plays Monster Hunter on “the hottest new thing.” Bryan Lee O’Malley must have written this bit a long time ago. As seen at Capcom Unity

Call Of Duty: Black Ops DS Declassified

Developer n-Space returns to the Call of Duty franchise this November with a portable companion to Black Ops on the Nintendo DS, complete with helicopters, stealth jets, and six-player online multiplayer. n-Space has done some pretty amazing things with the Call of Duty franchise on the Nintendo DS. Nintendo’s handheld is the last platform that…

What I Discovered From Gaming Like A Girl

When I had the opportunity to play a favorite game all over again with Persona 3 Portable, I was happy to do so. I didn’t realize a virtual sex change would make the experience anything but the same as before. The PlayStation Portable adaptation of Persona 3 adds an interesting twist: The ability to play…