Left 4 Dead…In Space!

Left 4 Dead’s world is a miserable one, no? Ruins, and darkness, and more ruins, and zombies. What the game needs is a break. A break in space Mapper Aigik has come up with Contact, a Left 4 Dead 2 map that puts both zombies and survivors in a sci-fi setting, with fancy lighting, holograms…

Resident Evil’s Jill Has Her Eye On You

Hot Toys, a Hong Kong-based toy manufacturer that has brought us stuff like Albert Wesker and Iron Man, today unveiled its latest work: a 12-inch replica of Resident Evil’s Jill Valentine. Going on sale later this year for $150, she is wearing trousers, and not tiny shorts. To make up for this oversight, she will…

Watch Out! June 24 Will Be Geekageddon

June 24 is going to be a big day for otaku games in Japan. Enormous. Gianormous. Huuuuuuuuuuge. Here’s why: On June 24, a slew (yes, a slew) of otaku-geared titles go on sale. An insane number of games. Crazy, crazy, crazy! From checking the calendar, I cannot seem to pin point why all these games…

Fashion Critic Dishes On…Superhero Costumes

Tim Gunn, fashion critic and “star” of reality TV show Project Runway, doesn’t just give his two cent’s worth on real people’s clothes. He’s got some harsh words for superheroes as well. Black Canary, for example, will always be in trouble, no matter how wide the weave on her fishnets. It’s a blast looking at…

Japan’s Biggest Cosplay Event Part 2, Electric Boogaloo

Cure Cosplay Festival 2 is Japan’s biggest costume play happening. It is so big that here is yet another post. The event was held in Yokohama this past weekend. Tickets were ¥1,800 and ¥2,500 (US$19 and $27) for cosplayers and non-cosplayers. More pics in the link below. ブラック★ロックシューター・東方などの人気作コスプレイヤーが中も海も魅せる 大型コスプレイベント「Cure Cosplay Festival Vol.2」レポ 【前編】 [moeyo.com]

If Mario Had Grown Up, He’d Look This Badass

Some game series grow older alongside their original audience. Get darker. More “realistic”. Metal Gear. Zelda. Grand Theft Auto. One series that has not done this is Mario. If it did, though, it may look like this. As seen on DeviantART, via Unreality

Have You Ever Seen A Gundam Restroom?

Now you have. The official Gundam Cafe is opening this Saturday in Tokyo’s Akihabara. Here is a look at what to expect — not just coffee, snacks and robots, but booze and spiffy staff outfits. As previously mentioned, there are other “Gundam cafes” across Japan, and they typically feature bars decorated Gundam models or Gundam-themed…

Why Did The Avatar Game Fail?

Avatar is the biggest grossing movie of all time. It’s video game version is not. It is, instead, a miserable failure. Why? In a keynote at the 3D Gaming Summit in Los Angeles, Wired.com reports that Avatar producer Jon Landau said movie studio Fox did not understand the needs of game company Ubisoft regarding the…

Seven Minutes Of StarCraft II In All Its Single Player Glory

For a video companion to our new hands-on preview of StarCraft II: Wings of Liberty’s single-player campaign, this seven minute long video of hot SCV on mineral action and giant laser drill management is just what the doctor ordered. Don’t expect drama, spoilers or sexy editing here. Instead enjoy the raw gameplay of StarCraft II…

Blizzard Toys, Once Exclusive, Now Available For Regular Humans

Blizzard’s “n00bz Marines”, collectible figures that were once only available to attendees of Blizzcon events, are now available for everybody to purchase via the company’s online store. Taking the standard form of a Starcraft Marine and adopting the disproportionate simplicity of vinyl figures like Munnys, there are four available: three based on World of Warcraft…

StarCraft II: Wings of Liberty: Once More Into The Campaign

While the rest of you are enjoying multiplayer scraps in Blizzard’s StarCraft II beta, we recently had an opportunity to go hands-on (again) with the single-player side of StarCraft II: Wings of Liberty. What has changed since last year? Plenty. This time, Blizzard showcased three new spoiler-laden missions from the game’s single-player portion, set about…

New StarCraft II Screens

Let’s X-Ray An iPad

We’ve already seen an Apple iPad taken apart, but we haven’t seen one x-rayed. Until now. The iPad is not on sale in Japan yet. One orthopedic surgeon from Fukuoka got his hands on an iPad and did what anyone with an x-ray machine would do. He…x-rayed it. No iPad was hurt in the process.…

Heavy Rain Actor Hanging Out With Madonna’s Ex

Motion capture actors might be gaming’s unsung heroes. Film director Guy Ritchie (Sherlock Holmes) might have something to sing about, though. British model Jacqui Ainsley did the motion capture for character Madison Paige in PS3 psychological thriller Heavy Rain. As video game website CVG points out, the picture up top is what Ainsley actually looks…

Madden 11’s Debut Trailer Is Both Simple & Quick

Here you go, your first look at EA Sport’s latest footballing juggernaut, Madden 11. It is, we are being told, simpler, quicker and deeper. Whether this is a triumph in sports gaming remains to be seen. It’s certainly a triumph in bullet point marketing, though. Has EA’s ad team been playing a little too much…

The World’s Fastest Robot Takes On The Nintendo Wii (And Humanity)

This is neither an episode of Astro Boy, nor is it a sequel to Robot Jox; instead, it is a real event, where the world’s fastest robot went up against a Nintendo Wii Remote. The Quattro, a sorting arm developed by Adept, was recently crowned “World’s Fastest Robot”. It’s used to, well, sort things. And…

Xbox 360: 40 Million Sold

Earlier today, Microsoft released its latest set of financial earnings, and amidst the boring stuff was a sales figure you might be interested in: the Xbox 360 has now sold over 40 million units. Launching in late 2005, that has the Xbox 360 selling at just under 10 million consoles a year. Good news for…

Seven Jump Ship To Form Modern Warfare Developer’s New Studio

It was only a matter of time. Having recently established a new studio to get away from former bosses Activision, Modern Warfare creators Vince Zampella and Jason West have wasted no time recruiting seven of their former Infinity Ward colleagues. Those seven are: – Todd Alderman, lead designer on Modern Warfare 2 – Mackey McCandlish,…

Kotaku Off-Topic: Meat, The Final Frontier

Remember that one episode where Captain Kirk had to fight the man-bratwurst, and made his own horseradish sauce out of naturally occurring materials on an alien planet? Man, that was awesome. Does it get any better than a replica of the starship Enterprise made of meat? What about a shoe made out of meat? Or…

Cultivated Play: Farmville

[This essay was given as a talk at SUNY Buffalo, 28 January 2010, the day after Howard Zinn’s death. I have left the text unaltered, to better reflect the spirit of the talk.] “I’m worried that students will take their obedient place in society and look to become successful cogs in the wheel – let…