This Was Kotaku’s Star Trek Week

Star Trek Online launched this week, which was a good enough reason to investigate what Star Trek means to games and gamers. Below are special links to all our Star Trek Week stories, from STO impressions to rants and recollections.

Finding The Art In Video Games

Where is art found in video games? Ian Bogost and a panel of experts tackled this question and more yesterday at The Art History of Games symposium in Atlanta, Georgia. The Art History of Games isn’t simply another venue to show off particularly lovely screenshots or paintings inspired by gaming. The event seeks to answer…

Somme people really love tower defense games…

These Doom Babies Will Eat Your Infant Muppets

As Seen On Ilafox(Thanks Ricardo)

Tournament of Legends Preview: Two-Fisted Combat

You’ve seen the ancient gods fight in video games before. You may have seen them use giant hammers. But have you seen a fighting game on Wii that allows for two-handed combat, shot from an unusual camera angle? Tournament of Legends is the next Wii game from High Voltage Software, makers of last year’s Wii…

Yale-Developed Game Teaches Young Children To Avoid HIV

The National Institute of Health is granting Yale associate professor Dr. Lynn Fielin $3.9 million over five years to develop a game aimed at helping children aged 9 through 14 say no to sex, drugs, and other HIV-transmitting behaviors. In my day, topics like sex and drug abuse were generally relegated to high school health…

Trenches Micro-Review: An Interesting Take on Tower Defense

I don’t know about you, but I’m getting tired of waiting for the perpetually delayed Plants Vs. Zombies to make its way onto the iPhone. Fortunately, Trenches has been satisfying my itch for side-scrolling tower defense gaming. Trenches drops you smack dab on top of enemy lines during World War I’s gas, artillery… and yes,…

Why There Are Two Sith Classes In The Old Republic

Not all Sith are created equally. In a post on the Star Wars: The Old Republic website, BioWare writer Rebecca Harwick discusses the reasons behind the creation of the Sith Inquisitor, the Emperor Palpatine to the Sith Warrior’s Darth Vader. As Rebecca points out, that comparison is apt, but it does sell the class short.…

It Sucks To Be An Aliens Vs. Predator Marine

No amount of heavy techno music can make life better for the Colonial Marines in Aliens Vs. Predator. As an Alien player, I feel sorry for the Colonial Marines. After all, the game is called Aliens Vs. Predator, not Aliens Vs. Predator Vs. Colonial Marines. Aside from being far too long a title, they simply…

World of Warcraft: The Audio Book

Richard Knaak’s World of Warcraft Stormrage is getting the audio book treatment, BlizzPlanet points out. Simon & Schuster will be releasing the novel as eAudio on Feb. 23, meaning that you’ll be able to play World of Warcraft and read World of Warcraft at the same time. Track down some World of Warcraft Game Fuel…

ModNation Racers Goes Portable

Like LittleBigPlanet before it, ModNation Racers, the next game in Sony’s “Play Create Share” arsenal is headed to the PlayStation Portable, with the PSP version launching alongside its PlayStation 3 counterpart. With all of the same creative tools found in the PS3 version, the only thing scaled-down about ModNation PSP is the graphics. Players will…

Australia’s Anti-R18+ Game Rating Attorney-General Sees Fake People

South Australia ‘s opposition calls for the firing of Attorney-General Michael Atkinson, the primary reason the country can’t give games a R18+ mature rating, after he suggested that a West Croydon citizen was an imaginary plant for the Liberal Party. In December, Luke Plunkett clarified the R18+ video game ratings mess in Australia for us,…

Perfect Dark Xbox Live Arcade Playable By Press Next Week

Perfect Dark, remastered for the Xbox 360’s Live Arcade with a 60 framers-per-a-second framerate, is making an appearance at next week’s Xbox 360 X10 gaming summit in San Francisco. Rare tells us that the game will be playable at the event, and that we can expect to “find out some more tidbits” concerning Perfect Dark’s…

Mario Vs Mario: How Three Wii Sequels Are Chasing Their Predecessors

The average amount of time a person plays New Super Mario Bros. is climbing quickly and could catch Super Mario Galaxy. Call of Duty is surging. But Wii Sports Resort is flattening. Here are three key Wii comparisons of satisfaction. (Click the charts to enlarge them) Each month Kotaku tracks the average playing time of…

Talk Amongst Yourselves

New moral choice for you. To comment about video games in TAY or not? If you do, you get more Adam. Confused about commenting on Kotaku? Read our FAQ.

G-Switch Runs and Flips

We need more mash-ups in video games. You know, like when a DJ takes two great songs, or two awful songs, and turns them into something all together different, but still recognizable. Take for instance G-Switch. It plays an awful lot like the bastard child of forever-runner Canabalt and gravity-flipper VVVVVV. And it’s pretty great…

Why Is It Called China?

To: Crecente From: Bashcraft RE: Get Lost With Your Lost Got a English tea set today. Any know why they call it china? To the internet! What you missed last night Death of A Wii Commander Shepard’s Toughest Choice Yet Microsoft: No More Original Xbox Games Over Xbox Live Want The Heavy Rain Demo Right…

Nippon Ichi Software, This Can’t Be Good

The developer behind the Disgaea series, announced its financial earnings. You may want to sit down. In the first nine months of this financial year, the company’s operating profit is down 97.5 percent. During 2009, the company released several titles in Japan, including Makai Senki Disgaea 2 Portable, Disgaea Infinite, A Witch’s Tale, Let’s Hitchhike…

PAL PlayStation Store Update: You’re Late, Squall

Six weeks after it arrived on the North American PlayStation Store, PAL users can finally relive what I, at least, think is the best Final Fantasy game of the lot: FFVIII. It’s the standout addition to this week’s store update, though there’s plenty of other good stuff to tempt you, from the Aliens vs Predator…

Konami Releasing A “Bootleg” World Cup Game

When the football World Cup begins later this year, EA’s FIFA series will be cashing in with an officially-licensed World Cup game. And what will competitors Pro Evolution Soccer be doing? Why, releasing an unlicensed World Cup game, of course. Announced only for the Japanese market, Winning Eleven Aoki Samurai no Chosen will put the…