Educator Claims ‘Damning Evidence’ Against Games, Offers Little

An evenhanded study last month about kids and schoolwork found “nothing evil about video games,” but not a Kansas educator, who bootstraps those findings to his claim that games are responsible for the widening achievement gap between boys and girls. John Richard Schrock, writing for The Wichita Eagle speaks of seeing “mostly women’s faces” when…

Is Portal 2 Coming To The PlayStation 3?

Developer Valve hasn’t announced a PlayStation 3 version of upcoming first-person puzzle game Portal 2—only Xbox 360, PC and Mac versions are official—but one magazine seems to think its coming, naming it among its “must-play PS3 games.” PSM3, an unofficial PlayStation-centric magazine from the UK, implies that Portal 2 is indeed coming to Sony’s current-generation…

To Make The Show Better, Go to the Minor Leagues

The mad geniuses at Operation Sports have put out a custom roster file that comprehensively updates one area that MLB 10: The Show cannot, according to its contract: Real minor league players. Any minor leaguer who has never appeared in the majors is off limits to Sony San Diego (it has to do with group…

PlayStation Store Update: Post-Easter Hangover

You might have noticed that the week’s list of new retail releases is a little slow following the Easter holiday. The same is true for this week’s North American PlayStation Store update. There are two new playable games for the PSP in this week’s PlayStation Store refresh—King of Pool and Freekscape: Escape From Hell—but if…

Walmart Said to Broaden Christian-Game Distribution Plans

The makers of the Left Behind series of religious video games says Walmart is expanding the Christian game test-market it opened last year in Texas, with an eye toward distributing such games nationally. The statement came in a recent SEC filing by Left Behind Games. The additional states weren’t specified, but the expansion was described…

The Tester: “Season Finale” Liveblog: All Good Things

It’s come down to this, the eighth exciting episode of PlayStation Network reality show The Tester, in which just three contestants are left in the fight for a PlayStation game testing gig. After the departure of Guitar Hero expert Star, the final three consists of Amped, Nauseous and Cyrus. Those PlayStation employee hopefuls will battle…

PlayStation 3 Owner Gets A $100 Refund For Losing Linux

At least one PlayStation 3 owner has found the silver lining in Sony’s decision to axe the option to install other operating systems like Linux to the console, obtaining a rather substantial refund from Amazon.com for his PS3 purchase. European PS3 owner and NeoGAF forum moderator “iapetus” received more than $100 USD (£84.00) in credit…

New Splatterhouse Also Throws In The Original 16-bit Trilogy

Namco Bandai’s gory re-imagining of the 16-bit side-scrolling classic Splatterhouse will come with an unlockable bonus: three 16-bit side-scrolling classic Splatterhouse games. The latest issue of PlayStation: the Official Magazine brings good news for the serious Splatterhouse fan. The PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 game will feature the original arcade version of Splatterhouse—the “uncensored Japanese”…

One, Two, Three

To: Ash From: Crecente Re: Let’s Trade Top Ten Listened Lists, M’kay? I don’t really listen to music that often while working. Too many interviews, phone calls, and questions from the fam. But here’s a list of what has most often played on my PC. While I’m a fan of Michael Jackson, the top listing…

Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker ‘Big Boss’ Pack Sneaks Stateside

Metal Gear fans won’t have to settle for the limited edition (and garish) “spirited green” PSP when buying their Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker bundle. The superior “Big Boss” pack is also coming to U.S and Canada. It’s coming to the United States as a GameStop exclusive, which may be bad news to some of…

Tebow Confirmed for All NCAA Football 11 Covers

Tim Tebow getting the cover of NCAA Football 11 was part rumor, part poorly kept secret, and all but assured. EA Sports has confirmed for Kotaku that Tebow will be on the cover of all versions of the game. Tebow’s appearance was first reported this afternoon by ESPN.com. Unifying the cover under him ends the…

This article does a great job of explaining the impact of net neutrality on gaming. I’d like to add a few comments. First, it’s important to note that the court decision is only about the F.C.C.’s current powers and does not reflect a position about net neutrality itself. Basically, the court is saying that if…

Chrono Trigger Figures From Six Months In The Future

Crono and crew come to life in this series of four Chrono Trigger Formation Arts Trading Figures from Square Enix, now available for preorder from Entertainment Earth. Crono, Frog, Lucca, Robo, Ayla, and Magus leap into action in this series of Chrono Trigger dioramas. First seen at Toy Fair in February, they capture the spirit…

Modern Warfare 2 Stimulus Package Arrives for PS3, PC in Early May

Modern Warfare 2‘s five-map, fifteen-dollar “Stimulus Package” will arrive for both PS3 and PC in North America on May 4, the game’s studio just said via Twitter. Infinity Ward’s Robert Bowling said Australia and Europe gets the PS3 version of the downloadable content on May 5. The PC release date of May 4 is global.…

How World Of Warcraft Could Change The Workplace

Stanford University communications professor Byron Reeves talks to The Washington Post about how the collaborative online model of games like World of Warcraft can help change real world workplaces and empower better leaders. Reeves is the co-author of Total Engagement: Using Games and Virtual Worlds to Change the Way People Work and Businesses Compete. With…

Should The iPad Ouija Board Have A Mind Of Its Own?

It might be your nervous hands or my deceased ancestors that make the pointer on a regular Ouija Board move. On an iPad Ouija Board, there could be another culprit: a computer programmer. Fair or foul? There are already three Ouija-Board style apps for the iPad, which may be the ideal device for virtual Ouija…

Baseball, Bikinis & Etrian Odyssey Top Japan’s Game Chart

This week’s bestselling game in Japan, which we’ll call Etrian Odyssey III, keeps Tecmo Koei’s Fist of the North Star game (aka Hokuto Musou) from enjoying a second week in first place. Kenshiro can’t be too happy about that. Sekaiju no Meikyuu III: Seikai no Raihousha—aka Etrian Odyssey III—sold 88,000 copies in its first week…

Final Fight’s Exploding Barrel of Goodies

Sure, Capcom knows how to make a good game, but they excel at building buzz for those titles. Whether they’re holding subterranean Fight Clubs, wrapping their press kits within the innards of deliciously retro game cases or getting people to buy mini-games that are little more than advertisements, Capcom is the king of getting noticed.…

Plants Vs Zombies 2 Guaranteed To Ship In Next Decade, Not In 2010

Just got done with an entertaining meeting with some of the top people behind Plants Vs. Zombies, Bejeweled, Peggle and Zuma. They don’t talk much about future plans, but made Kotaku readers one guarantee. “I promise your readers there will be a Plants Vs. Zombies 2 in the next one to 10 years,” Popcap co-founder…

Rumor: Gears Of War 3 Adds Underwater Combat, Mech Suits & More

Epic Games is planning to reveal its next video game within the week, debuting it on national television. Many are expecting it to be the third Gears of War. What might Gears of War 3 bring to the popular third-person shooter series? According to a new report from Edge, Gears of War 3 will introduce…